The Careers

Tributes from the wealthiest districts, trained from childhood for the Games.

The Careers are the tributes from Panem's wealthiest districts who are trained from childhood to compete in the Hunger Games. In the first book they chase Katniss up a tree, led by District 2's male tribute Cato, with Peeta apparently allied to them; the tracker jacker nest Katniss drops kills two of them and scatters the rest, and she takes a bow from one of the bodies. Katniss and Rue then destroy the Careers' supplies, and Clove, who gloats over Rue's death, is killed by Thresh, who spares Katniss for Rue's sake. Peeta only joined the Careers to protect Katniss and is wounded by Cato for the tracker jacker attack.

Last updated 2026-10-20 from the source article.

Quick Facts

From: Panem's wealthiest districts
Members named: Cato, Clove

Facts from the source article.

Background

In Sunrise on the Reaping the Careers of the 50th Games bully the other districts; Ampert forms a Newcomers alliance of non-Career tributes against them, and Maysilee saves Haymitch from three Career tributes with poisoned darts. One Career girl there, favoured to beat Haymitch, had a rivalry with Maysilee after insulting her fashion.

Plot

In the nation of Panem, built on the ruins of North America after an apocalyptic event, the wealthy Capitol exploits twelve surrounding districts. As punishment for a past failed rebellion that destroyed District 13, an annual lottery selects one boy and one girl aged 12 to 18 from each district to fight to the death in an arena until only one remains. Sixteen-year-old Katniss Everdeen from District 12 volunteers for the 74th Hunger Games to save her 12-year-old sister Primrose.

The male tribute is Peeta Mellark, who once gave Katniss bread when her family was starving. Their mentor is the drunken sole District 12 victor Haymitch Abernathy. Katniss's stylist Cinna designs pyrotechnic costumes, earning her the nickname "The Girl on Fire." During training, Katniss receives the highest score among tributes.

In a televised interview, Peeta reveals a long-unrequited love for Katniss, and Haymitch promotes them as star-crossed lovers. At the Games, nearly half the tributes die at the start. Katniss uses survival skills to hide. Later, an artificial fire drives her toward others, and she is chased up a tree by Careers—tributes trained from childhood from wealthy districts, led by District 2's Cato; Peeta has allied with them.

Rue, a 12-year-old from District 11, alerts Katniss to a tracker jacker nest. Katniss cuts it down, releasing genetically modified wasps whose venom targets the fear center of the mind, killing two Careers and driving others away, allowing Katniss to claim a bow and arrows. Peeta returns but tells her to run. Katniss allies with Rue, and they destroy the Careers' supplies.

Rue is fatally wounded by a Career; Katniss kills her killer and spreads flowers over Rue's body in defiance. Rue's district sends Katniss bread. A rule change allows tributes from the same district to win as a pair. Katniss finds Peeta camouflaged by a river.

Publication history

After writing the novel, Collins signed a six-figure deal for three books with Scholastic. The Hunger Games was first published as a hardcover in the United States on September 14, 2008, with an initial print run of 50,000 copies, later increased to 200,000. By February 2010, it had sold 800,000 copies and rights had been sold in 38 territories. A paperback release followed in July 2010.

The book entered the New York Times Best Seller list in November 2008 and remained there for over 100 consecutive weeks. By the film adaptation's release in March 2012, it had been on USA Today's best-sellers list for 135 consecutive weeks and sold over 17.5 million copies. It is the first in a trilogy, followed by Catching Fire (2009) and Mockingjay (2010). In March 2012, Scholastic reported 26 million trilogy books in print.

Collins became the first children's or young adult author to sell over one million Amazon Kindle ebooks, joining the "Kindle Million Club," and by March 2012 was the best-selling Kindle ebook author of all time. An audiobook read by Carolyn McCormick, running eleven hours and fourteen minutes, was released in December 2008. AudioFile noted McCormick's detailed narration but felt it lacked drama for young listeners, while School Library Journal praised her voicing of action sequences and Katniss's emotions.

The cover, designed by Tim O'Brien, features a gold mockingjay—a cross between female mockingbirds and genetically engineered male jabberjays—with an arrow engraved in a circle, depicting the pin worn by Katniss, given by the mayor's daughter Madge Undersee. The image matches the novel's description except for the arrow.