The Hunger Games (The Hunger Games, #1)

by Suzanne Collins

“I volunteer!” I gasp. “I volunteer as tribute!”

“As long as you can find yourself, you’ll never starve.”

“I want the audience to recognize you when you’re in the arena,” says Cinna dreamily. “Katniss, the girl who was on fire.”

Of course, I wasn’t, I was shooting at that apple because I was so angry at being ignored. I wasn’t trying to kill one of them. If I were, they’d be dead!

“Katniss, the girl who was on fire,”

I am not pretty. I am not beautiful. I am as radiant as the sun.

“Ladies and gentlemen, let the Seventy-fourth Hunger Games begin!”

It’s late afternoon when I begin to hear the cannons. Each shot represents a dead tribute.

Rue . . . so she made it through the first day after all. I can’t help feeling glad.

So Peeta is out there in the woods, wounded badly. But I am still in the dark on what motivated him to betray the Careers.

Girl he loves you

“You have to win,” she says. “I’m going to. Going to win for both of us now,” I promise.

RUE 😭😭

Impulsively, I lean forward and kiss him, stopping his words. This is probably overdue anyway since he’s right, we are supposed to be madly in love.

Gale’s not my boyfriend, but would he be, if I opened that door?

will not cry out, I will die, in my own small way, undefeated.

This is the first kiss where I actually feel stirring inside my chest. Warm and curious. This is the first kiss that makes me want another.

“I remember everything about you,” says Peeta, tucking a loose strand of hair behind my ear. “You’re the one who wasn’t paying attention.”

“Greetings to the final contestants of the Seventy-fourth Hunger Games. The earlier revision has been revoked. Closer examination of the rule book has disclosed that only one winner may be allowed,” he says. “Good luck and may the odds be ever in your favor.”

“Stop! Stop! Ladies and gentlemen, I am pleased to present the victors of the Seventy-fourth Hunger Games, Katniss Everdeen and Peeta Mellark! I give you — the tributes of District Twelve!”

I am still the “girl on fire.”

“Listen up. You’re in trouble. Word is the Capitol’s furious about you showing them up in the arena. The one thing they can’t stand is being laughed at and they’re the joke of Panem,” says Haymitch.

“Your only defense can be you were so madly in love you weren’t responsible for your actions.”

When I left the arena, when the trumpets played, I was supposed to be safe. From then on. For the rest of my life. But if what Haymitch says is true, and he’s got no reason to lie, I’ve never been in such a dangerous place in my life.

And right now, the most dangerous part of the Hunger Games is about to begin.

He’s kissing me and all the time I’m thinking, Do you know? Do you know how much danger we’re in?

Katniss Everdeen. A girl who lives in the Seam. Hunts in the woods. Trades in the Hob. I stare in the mirror as I try to remember who I am and who I am not.

take his hand, holding on tightly, preparing for the cameras, and dreading the moment when I will finally have to let go.