Katniss Everdeen lives in the Seam located in District 12 in the country of Panem. She is responsible for feeding herself, her sister Primrose, and her mother, so she illegally hunts with her best friend Gale. Gale, a young man of eighteen, is sixteen-year-old Katniss' best friend.

On reaping day Primrose is chosen. Primrose is only twelve, so Katniss volunteers to take her place. The young man chosen is Peeta Mellark, who is the same age as Katniss.

These two will represent District 12 in the Hunger Games, it is a forced game in which two children from each of the 12 districts surrounding the Capitol must participate. The Games are a fight to the death, the last tribute, as they are called, alive is the victor.

They are taken to the Capitol, along with Haymitch Abernathy their mentor and Effie Trinket their escort from the Capitol.

Upon arriving at Capitol, they are dressed for the opening ceremony. After riding in the ceremony dressed to look as if they are on fire, the two are assigned a floor at the Training Center. At the Training Center, their home until the start of the Games, Haymitch tells them to hide their strengths from the other tributes. Katniss' strength is her skill with a bow and arrow and Peeta's is his weight lifting abilities. They show off their strengths to the Gamemakers, the people who run the Games, in their private sessions with them.

Katniss is afraid of becoming close to Peeta, because she knows she may have to kill him during the Games.

Katniss scores an eleven in the training portion of the Games. This raises hopes that the pair will attract many sponsors, who send supplies to them while the Games are in progress.

The next day they are interviewed on television. Peeta announces to the country he has had a crush on Katniss for a long time, but she has never known about it. This makes the country love them and feel sorry for them, because they know only one of them can survive the Games.

The Games begin the next day. Katniss picks up a backpack and a few other supplies; she keeps a knife thrown into her backpack.

That evening she hears a group of tributes, the Careers, searching for lone tributes. She climbs a tree to escape them, but they find her. She is surprised to see Peeta among this group.

She knows they will eventually get to her and kill her, but another tribute, named Rue, shows her a tracker wasp nest in the tree. The stings can kill, so Katniss cuts it down. A tribute with an bow and arrows dies and Katniss takes the weapon. She is surprised to see Peeta arrive back at the tree to ensure her safe escape from the others.

Rue approaches Katniss and the two form an alliance. Katniss and Rue decide to destroy the supplies the Careers have gathered. After Katniss destroys the supplies she waits for Rue at the rendezvous, but she doesn't show up and Katniss starts looking for her. She finds her trapped under a net and sees her impaled with a spear. Katniss comforts Rue as she dies.

That night a rule change is announced. If two tributes from the same district are the last survivors, they both will be victors. At this news, Katniss cries out Peeta's name.

She finds Peeta, but he is injured from a knife cut to his thigh. She manages to find a cave for them to hide in and tries to treat his wound, but he is running a fever and develops blood poisoning.

Katniss knows to receive the medicine Peeta needs, Haymitch will want her to play up the romance between her and Peeta. This will allow him to garner sponsors to pay for medicine. The sponsors are watching the Games, because they are broadcast on television to the whole country.

It is announced a feast is being prepared for the tributes and each will receive something they need at the feast. Katniss attends the feast and retrieves a syringe of medicine for Peeta. She suffers a knife cut to her forehead as she takes the syringe, but manages to get back to Peeta. She gives him the medicine before she passes out.

She wakes up to find Peeta is much better. The romance begins to feel real to Katniss, as she and Peeta have bonded.

The Gamemakers force a show down between them and the only other surviving tribute, Cato, at the lake. There a group of mutants pursue them, they are half wolf, half human and the human half is the dead tributes. Cato tries to save himself by taking Peeta hostage, but Katniss shoots him and he falls into the clutches of the mutants. Katniss shoots him the next day to end his agony.

The Gamemakers then change the rules again, by declaring only one of them can be the victor. They outwit them by deciding to commit suicide, which forces the Gamemakers to name them both winners.

Back at Capitol, Katniss finds out from Haymitch she and Peeta are in grave danger, because the Capitol is angry with the way they resolved the issue of killing one another. This made the Capitol look foolish, so they want to punish them, especially Katniss. The only way out is to make believe her love for Peeta compelled her do it. This is what she does and they are allowed to go home.

On the way home Peeta finds out Katniss was acting like she loved him. He is heartbroken, but goes along with the act. Katniss in the end is not sure of how she feels towards Peeta.

This is a story of impossible odds overcome through teamwork, love, and a need to survive. Katniss is a strong teenager who will do whatever is necessary to make it through the Games. While Peeta, finds he is stronger than he ever realized.