On July 4th — the ruins of America's Independence Day — the Capitol holds its annual reaping in each of the twelve districts of Panem, randomly selecting one boy and one girl to compete in the Hunger Games. When twelve-year-old Primrose Everdeen's name is drawn in District 12, her older sister Katniss steps forward: 'I volunteer. I volunteer as tribute.' It is the first act of open defiance in a story that will become a revolution.