The Hunger Games
You guys.....THIS BOOK!!!
I'd never heard of the series until a friend rec'd it to me and OMG - I couldn't put it down and stayed up until dawn reading the first 250 pages in a single sitting. I'd like to take a red pen to some of the (minor) grammar mistakes - but otherwise, it is one of the best, most absorbing, get-your-pulse-racing books I've read in a long time.
Here's the Wiki page, but I wouldn't go past the initial summary if you think you might read it. Spoilers would be bad. ;D
*checking the mail box hourly for the sequel to arrive from Amazon*