<i>The Hunger Games</i> trilogy takes place in the dystopian, post-apocalyptic nation of Panem. The country consists of a wealthy Capitol city, surrounded by twelve poorer districts ruled by the Capitol. The trilogy's narrator and protagonist, Katniss Everdeen, lives in District 12. As punishment for a past rebellion against the Capitol (called the "Dark Days"), in which District 13 was destroyed, one boy and one girl from each of the twelve remaining districts, between the ages of 12 and 18, are selected by lottery to compete in the annual Hunger Games. The Games are a televised event in which the participants, called "tributes", are forced to fight to the death in a dangerous public arena. The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes is a prequel to the original trilogy, set 64 years before the events of the first novel. It is the morning of the reaping that will kick off the tenth annual Hunger Games. In the Capitol, eighteen-year-old Coriolanus Snow is preparing for his one shot at glory as a mentor in the Games. He's been given the humiliating assignment of mentoring the female tribute from District 12, the lowest of the low. Their fates are now completely intertwined -- every choice Coriolanus makes could lead to favor or failure, triumph or ruin. Inside the arena, it will be a fight to the death. Outside the arena, Coriolanus starts to feel for his doomed tribute... and must weigh his need to follow the rules against his desire to survive no matter what it takes
