The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins

Oh boy, oh, boy, oh boy, oh boy, oh boy!!!  I haven't been this excited about a book since - maybe the Twilight series?  So good!!!  I finished the first book this morning and can't wait to finish typing here so I can go start #2!!!

Picture it:  It's the future and The United States - North America - has collapsed.  A new country has been created called Panem.  It consists of the Capitol and 12 districts.  There used to be 13 districts but several years back, the districts rose up against the capitol and tried to overthrow it.  The 13th district was destroyed and the other 12 were defeated by the capitol.  As a punishment for this and reminder that the capitol is still all-powerful, every year two young representatives from each district are selected by lottery to participate in The Hunger Games - one boy and one girl between the ages of 12 and 18.   The televised games are broadcasted throughout Panem as the 24 participants are forced to kill their fellow competitors until only one victor is left.  When 16-year-old Katniss's young sister, Prim, is selected as the 12th District's female representative, Katniss volunteers to take her place. She and her male counterpart, Peeta, the son of the town baker will be pitted against bigger, stronger reps who have trained for this their whole lives.

When reading this, I had to force myself to read slowly so as to NOT miss a thing.  I already know that I'm going to read this with my kids next year!  It's so good...you MUST read this!  You may not think you like science fiction but you will LOVE this!  A must!!!  And BONUS!!!  In the movie!!!???  They've cast LENNY KRAVITZ as Cinna!!!  Oh how excited am I?!