The Hunger Games Tribute Guide (2 page)

Our hovercraft, our high-speed trains, and our cargo trains come to us from District 6. Ironically, the citizens here have little love for travel.

This beautiful district is lush with trees, from which these citizens supply our lumber and paper. The people of District 7 are hardworking and down-to-earth.

From the simple, lovely fabrics of the districts to the beautiful brocades favored in the Capitol, District 8 makes it all.

District 9 is Panem’s bread bowl, giving us the fertile harvest we need to keep rising as a nation. Its amber waves of grain are an inspiration to us all.

The gentle lowing of cattle is the first thing a visitor to District 10 hears. This region raises strong, healthy livestock, which becomes the meat that helps us raise strong, healthy children of Panem.

Known for its bountiful orchards, District 11’s workers spend their days among rustling fruit trees and sizable farms.

One of the outer districts, this is nonetheless a crucial one. These brave and hardy workers descend deep into the earth each day to mine the coal that keeps our nation running.

O
n the reaping day, citizens in all the districts across Panem gather in their town squares. In each district, two names are selected from two large glass globes — the names of the new male and female tributes. In front of the Hall of Justice and the seal of Panem, the people of the districts wait to hear who will represent them in the Games.

All citizens in all twelve districts from the ages of twelve to eighteen are entered into the selection pool for the Hunger Games. At age twelve, your name is entered once. At thirteen, twice. By the age of eighteen, the final year of eligibility, your name goes into the pool seven times.

A citizen can also choose to receive a tessera — a year’s supply of grain and oil — in return for adding his or her name an additional time to the pool. One can choose to do this for family members, too. Many people take the gamble, opting for the extra rations and facing the increased risk.

Upon arrival, each citizen of eligible age must register with a worker from the Capitol. The worker wears rubber gloves in order to perform the job safely. One by one, this worker takes each citizen’s finger, quickly pricks it, and blots the blood into a ledger. Then a small scanner is passed over the blood, registering the person’s information. “EVERDEEN, KATNISS. 16/YO.” “EVERDEEN, PRIMROSE. 12/YO.” This way, the Capitol can keep track of who is newly eligible, who has taken tesserae, and who has grown too old for the Games.

In District 12, the reaping takes place in the town square, where a temporary stage holds a microphone and chairs for local officials and the district’s only living victor. The town square is a good meeting place for most of the year, but on reaping day, it can be a bit crowded and imposing. The citizens of the districts are all decked out in their finest outfits for the reaping. They’re eager, but also silent and respectful as the ceremony is about to begin. The twelve- through eighteen-year-olds stand in a cordoned-off area, grouped by age, with the oldest in the front. Adults must stay behind the ropes, as they are there purely as spectators. Peacekeepers line the squares. They stand at attention, making sure the day proceeds smoothly and according to plan.

There is a festive feeling in the air. The districts eagerly anticipate competing against one another for the victor’s crown. And while the folks back home will root for their tributes, they will also be thinking of the benefits they will receive if one of their own emerges victorious: The winner’s district is showered with extra food rations — grain, oil, and sugar in abundance.

Once everyone is registered and in place, the district’s escort starts the ceremony. Effie Trinket is the lovely escort for District 12. With a new wig for every occasion, Effie knows how to keep things fresh and fun. She spends the majority of her year home in the Capitol, but comes out to the district in order to help shepherd the new tributes through the sometimes overwhelming process of preparing for the Games. She also acts as announcer for District 12’s reaping.