The Hunger Games reader's response by Alicea Mendez

             NOTE!: THIS IS A SPOILER ALERT!!!

               This book is about a girl named Katniss Everdeen. She lives in a place called Panem, a country where is located in what was once North America. She lives with her sister and her mom. Since her father passed away after being killed in a mining explosion, she had to become head of household, being that her mom went into such a deep depression, that all she did was sit in an old rocking chair, spaced out, while Katniss goes out and hunts game so that her family can eat.
               Panem is separated into twelve districts. It used to be thirteen, but after the Dark Days, in which the districts attempted rebellion against the Capitol, all districts were defeated, and District 13 was destroyed. So every year, in honor of the revolution and the Dark Days, the Capitol hosts an event called the Hunger Games. The Hunger Games is an event where, on the Reaping Day, each district chooses one boy and one girl, in the ages of 12-17, to compete in a fight to the death as tributes. Only one tribute is declared the winner of the Hunger Games. After the tribute wins, they receive riches for life, and food for their family.
              This year, Katniss' sister, Primrose(otherwise known as Prim), has to participate in the Reaping, meaning her name is in the bowl of the names of girls who can be selected to be in the hunger games. Katniss reassures her that they are not going to pick her to be in the Games: her name is only in there once, since she just turned 12. Prim still is very nervous, for the fact that if they don't pick her, they could pick Katniss...
             As the boys and girls of District 12 form in the middle of the square (which is just the backyard of an old broken down warehouse), where Effie Trinket, a representative from the Capitol, draws two names from the two bowls, one from the girl's bowl, one from the boy's. A moment of shock passed when Effie called out Prim's name (oh the irony). As Prim tried to make her way to the front, Katniss tried to run after her. Then Katniss yelled the unexpected:
             " I VOLUNTEER AS TRIBUTE!!! I volunteer as tribute!!!". Everyone was surprised, some wondering why she did that. Prim ran up to her crying, begging her not to go. That's when Gale Hawthorn, Katniss' best friend and hunting partner, picked Prim up and took her away. As Katniss made her way to the front, Effie made it clear to everyone why Katniss volunteered.
            " I beg my button that was your sister, wasn't it?" Effie asked. Then Effie picked the name of the boy. The boy that was to be a selected tribute of District 12, was Peeta Mellark.
            Peeta worked in his family's bakery. One night, his mother made him throw out the bread that he accidentally burned, to the pigs. While he threw the first piece, he noticed a girl sitting against a tree, with a face of agony and sorrow. It was pouring and he was a bit sympathetic towards her, so he threw the other loaf towards her.
            Little did he know that that girl he threw the bread at, was Katniss Everdeen...
            And know he was standing next to her, as the other tribute.
            They both go to the Capitol to get spruced up for the opening ceremony. They were the ones that stood out, being that instead of wearing an endorsement of clothing that the rest of the tributes wore, the were wearing a black suit. A black suit that was on fire. Then they won more cheers from the crowd by holding their hands up high in the air, showing everyone that they are proud to represent their district, even though everyone knows that District 12 is the poorest district in all of Panem.
            After the opening ceremony, they go through training. Then after training, they get ready for the Games. In the last 30 seconds of her getting ready to step into the arena after 4 days of training, where the Game take place, Cinna, the one who came up with the idea of the suits on fire, gave her her jacket. Inside the collar was her pin. The pin, was of a gold Mockingjay.
            The Pin was a gift from an old lady from the hub, a black market in District 12. She gave it to her sister Prim, who gave it back to her during their last goodbye before Katniss was to leave to go to the Capitol. Cinna, without her knowing, pinned it on the inside collar of her jacket, so no one would see it. The meaning of the Pin is that as long as you have it, nothing bad would happen to you. And now, Katniss was the one who had the Pin...
            The Games begin and in the first 8 hours of it, 12 tributes lost their lives. You would know when a tribute dies when you here the boom of the cannon. Katniss looked up in the sky at the end of the day to see the faces of who died. She was relieved when Peeta's face didn't show up.
           The next day, some tributes decided to become a team, killing all other tributes. Those tributes are the Career, the boys and girls who actually train to become a tribute, and offer to take the place of anyone who did not want to be in the Games. Along with them, was Peeta himself. Katniss was shocked when he was telling them where she could have run. Later, she forms an alliance with Rue, a girl from District 11. she is stealthy, meaning that no one would know where she can be. With her help, they manage to kill two tributes that were in the group, one with trackerjackers (mutated wasps in which their venom can give you hallucinations, and with enough venom in your body, can kill you), the other by making the group turn on him after blowing up their supplies of food. That's when Cato killed Rue, by shooting an arrow at her, instead of at Katniss, who was shooting at him.
           After giving Rue a final resting place, she turned into a monster, kind of. She wanted revenge on everyone. When she went to the Cornucopia, a place that has all the supplies you need (if you can get there alive), she met up with one of the girls from the group. Almost seconds away from death, Katniss gets a surprise when the other tribute from District 11 (the district where Rue came from), helped her out by killing the girl, smashing her head against the metal wall of the Cornucopia. He also gave Katniss a warning:
          " AND YOU!" he said. "Just this one time, for Rue!"
          Katniss then made her mission to finding Peeta. This happened when there was an announcement saying that there can be 2 victors, if the both come from the same district. If they can kill the rest of the group, then they win.
           Down the line, they all die one by one. The tribute who helped Katniss got killed by Cato, and Foxface died after eating nightberries, a poisonious berry that can kill you instantly. Katniss found Peeta, hiding near a rock, literally blending in with the rock (at the bakery, he decorated cakes, so he was an expert at decorating). He had a big gash on his leg, she helped him out, they shared a kiss in order to get more sponsors (even though the kinda both enjoyed it). Then they set out after the rest of the remaining tributes at nightfall. All of a sudden, a muttation of a dog and a wolf, started chasing them. They ran all the way to the Cornucopia, where they climbed the roof and stood there for safety. Thats when Cato comes out of nowhere, grabs Peeta, and puts him in a chokehold, provoking Katniss to kill him:
          "Come on Katniss! Kill me! If you kill me, you kill him also and you become victor. Wait a sec, I can still do this," he said as he place his hands, one on Peeta's head, the other facing the opposite direction on his neck; with one quick jolt, he can instantly break Peeta's neck. Thats when Katniss stops aiming at his head. Within seconds, she shoots his hand, he lets go, and Peeta pushes him to the dogwolves. He was getting eaten alive when Katniss put him out of his misery by shooting him in the head with an arrow. They were both so excited. They had won the Hunger Games!!
          But all of that changed within a minute.
          There was a change of rules again. Only 1 person can be a victor. That means that one has to kill the other: either Katniss has to kill Peeta, or he has to kill Katniss.
           But they don't.
           Katniss gives Peeta some of the nightberries she was carrying. after she gave it to him she said this:
           " They won't have a victor this year. Ready?" They looked at each other and counted to three.
           One...... they look at each other, saying a mental goodbye. Two....... They take each others hands. They almost made it to three when ANOTHER announcement came on the loud speaker...:
          "STOP!!! Ladies and Gentlemen, may I present to you, the Victors of the 74th annual Hunger Games."
          They threw out the berries and hugged.They didn't have to die.
         They made their way back to Panem, to get crowned the victors. Then Peeta asked her, "what do we do now?". she replied "we try to forget,". Peeta then tells her,"I don't want to forget."
          They both go home to District 12, and go back to their ordinary lives. Or at least, they try to....
                                                                        THE END