The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes (A Hunger Games Novel) (The Hunger Games)

but she had a sweetness, a vulnerability that invited abuse.

Who were all these people hanging around on a weekday at the zoo? Didn’t they have jobs? Shouldn’t the children be in school? No wonder the country was such a mess

After Lucy Gray’s wink, it might be worthwhile to stay.

“What’s the matter, pretty boy? You in the wrong cage?”

She seemed indifferent to his presence, but the rest of them stared at him like a pack of feral animals eyeing a pampered poodle.

Coriolanus hung back but then saw Lucy Gray watching him and knew this was the moment of judgment.

“And what does my mentor do for me, besides bring me roses?” she asked.

“I do my best to take care of you,” he said.

He could not say he had felt great love for the remote, strict man, but he had certainly felt protected by him. His death was associated with a fear and a vulnerability that Coriolanus had never been able to shake off.

If people had someone to root for, they might actually have an interest in watching the Hunger Games.

Another girl, a typical girl, would be impressed, but there was nothing typical about Lucy Gray Baird.