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Summary: Chapters 1 & 2

Chapter 1

Haymitch Abernathy is woken early in the morning by his little brother, Sid, on his sixteenth birthday. Haymitch’s birthday is on Reaping Day, the day where a boy and a girl from each district are selected to compete in the deadly Hunger Games. He says hello to his mother and heads to work early so he can spend a few hours with his girlfriend, Lenore Dove, before the Reaping. Haymitch works for Hattie Meeney, a bootlegger who illegally brews white liquor. Hattie lets him leave early and gives him a bottle as a birthday gift. However, Haymitch does not drink and intends to trade it. 

Haymitch goes to meet Lenore Dove in the meadow where she keeps geese. Haymitch and his girlfriend first met when he was ten after he and his friend Burdock Everdeen snuck into the woods outside District 12 and found her in a tree. Lenore Dove is Covey; the Covey are nomadic people in Panem who are known for their musical talents. After the Dark Days, the Covey were rounded up and contained within the districts. Lenore Dove’s people were assigned to District 12 but they still perform, even though they can no longer travel. Haymitch finds Lenore Dove singing a song to herself about how the wealthy and the powerful abuse the poor and the unfortunate. Haymitch worries that Lenore Dove will get into serious trouble one day because she is especially interested in songs with “dangerous words” that lead to “rebel acts.”

The young couple embraces, then discusses how this year’s Hunger Games is going to be even worse—it is a Quarter Quell, special games that occur every twenty-five years. This year, there will be double the number of tributes from each district. Lenore Dove wistfully envisions a future in which the sun can rise on a world without a reaping, but Haymitch does not think that could ever happen. She then gives him a birthday gift, a flint striker that looks like a snake and a bird coming together to make a C-shape. Lenore Dove’s uncle, Clerk Carmine, comes to fetch her, and the two reluctantly leave to get ready for Reaping Day. Haymitch’s mother threads a shoelace through the striker so that he can wear it around his neck, and Haymitch heads for town. He brings the bottle of white liquor to the apothecary and Asterid March pays him for it while Haymitch teases her for liking his friend Burdock. He then uses some of the money to buy gumdrops from the Donner family’s sweet shop for Lenore Dove, because they are her favorite. 

Read more about Lenore Dove’s vision of a future without the Hunger Games.

Haymitch heads to the Reaping. Drusilla Sickle reads the girls' names first and selects Louella McCoy (a thirteen-year-old girl that Haymitch has known since she was born) and Maysilee Donner (the daughter of the family that owns the sweet shop). Haymitch, and everyone else, is surprised that Maysilee (whom he refers to as “the most stuck-up girl in town”) was reaped; she is wealthy and therefore did not have to submit her name extra times in exchange for food and oil. Haymitch barely has time to be grateful that Lendore Dove’s name was not called when Drusilla moves on to the boys. She calls Wyatt Callow and Woodbine Chance. Woodbine tries to run away, but is immediately shot by a Peacekeeper. 

Chapter 2

The broadcast feed has a five-minute delay, giving the Peacekeepers five minutes to clear the body away before they are back on air. Haymitch is horrified to see that Lenore Dove is trying to help Woodbine’s mother, who is fighting with a Peacekeeper for her son’s body. Haymitch runs to help and takes the blow from the butt of a Peacekeeper rifle that was aimed for Lenore Dove. As punishment, Haymitch is reaped, as they need a new boy to compete.

Lenore Dove starts to protest and Drusilla says the Peacekeepers should shoot her, but Plutarch Heavensbee, the man assigned to cover the District 12 tributes, interrupts—he says they should spare her life and use her for a tearful goodbye to increase viewership. Drusilla agrees and forces Haymitch to pretend to be reaped for the benefit of the viewers.

The four tributes are told they cannot say goodbye to their families because of the day’s events, but Plutarch snags Haymitch and Louella because he is low on reaction shots. He tries to get Louella’s parents to recreate what they did when their daughter’s name was called. They do not comply, however, and Louella is taken away. Plutarch tells the Abernathys they can have a minute with Haymitch if they play along and pretend they just heard his name get called. Plutarch forces Haymitch’s mother and brother to do multiple takes until Haymitch pleads for them to stop. He briefly says goodbye to his family and gives them the money he earned for the day. He also gives the gumdrops to Sid to give to Lenore Dove. Haymitch is then taken away and herded onto the train. Through the window, he sees Lenore Dove crying on a hill by herself. Haymitch is heartbroken but grateful that their farewell will not be broadcast and used for entertainment.

Next section Chapters 3 & 4

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