the ballad of songbirds and snakes a hunger games novel

This results in him being stuffed in a cargo car with the other tributes and then deposited at a cage in at the Capitol Zoo, which turns out to be the place where the tributes are being kept. She does not seem too impressed with him at first, so he makes a more daring move by asking to accompany her to her quarters. He decides to try to get a leg up on his competition by meeting his tribute on the train arriving in the Capitol. Highbottom is regularly dosed up on morphling, but nevertheless still has a certain sharpness about him. Furthermore, Highbottom seems to possess some sort of inexplicable grudge against him. In a private conversation with Dean Highbottom, Coriolanus learns that Highbottom is well aware of his family's poverty, despite his best efforts to hide it. She then sings a song, charming Snow and everyone watching, before calling out 'My friends call me Lucy Gray - I hope you will, too!' Her stunning performance makes Coriolanus the envy of all of his fellow students, causing him to reflect on an old saying between him and Tigris, that 'Snow lands on top.' During her reaping, his tribute, Lucy Gray Baird, drops a snake down the dress of the daughter of District 12 Mayor Lipp, Mayfair. In a sudden reversal, however, it appears that Coriolanus had actually been inadvertently given a gift. He, however, soon discovers that he has much greater problems when he arrives at the Academy and hears Dean Casca Highbottom announce that he has been chosen to mentor the female tribute from District 12, traditionally one of the worst-performing districts. Coriolanus worries about the shirt that he will wear to the reaping ceremony, saved only by his close cousin Tigris, who has an eye for fashion. A strong performance in the mentor program will likely result in a prize that would allow him to attend the University, saving him from a menial job. The Snow family, however, has fallen upon hard times, once known for their wealth and prestige, but now struggling to keep up appearances.

Coriolanus Snow, a top-performing student at the Academy, is one of 24 selected as part of the mentor program, a new project for the 10th Hunger Games.

The ballad of songbirds and snakes a hunger games novel