Katniss Everdeen is a 16-year-old girl who lives in the poor District 12 of Panem and hunts in the forbidden woods to provide for her family, having learned survival skills from her father. Each year the 12 districts must select one boy and one girl between 12-18 as tributes to fight to the death in the Hunger Games. When Prim is selected, Katniss volunteers to take her place. The boy chosen from their district is Peeta Mellark, someone Katniss knows from school.