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Catching Fire Suzanne Collins

** Book Review ** Overall, //Catching Fire//, by Suzanne Collins, was a surprisingly outstanding book. The pace was excellent, and it always kept me guessing as to what would happen next to star-crossed lovers and Hunger Game tributes Katniss Everdeen and Peeta Mellark. This second installment to //The Hunger Games// trilogy starts off right where the last book left off. Katniss and Peeta have just won the 74th Hunger Games and are about to start their “victory tour” when President Snow, head of the tyrannical government known as the “Capitol,” comes to let Katniss know that he is not pleased with her defiance of the Capitol during the Hunger Games and that many Districts under control of the Capitol are considering rebelling against it. Peeta and Katniss are once again thrown into the Hunger Games when the Capitol decides to pull tributes from the victors of previous games in each district. In this excellent book about perseverance, love, and standing up for what you believe in, Katniss and Peeta find themselves once again fighting to the death against other districts; that is until an interesting turn of events occurs. I highly suggest this book because it is well written, descriptive, and made me feel as though I was right in on the action.

** About the Book ** //Catching Fire//, written by Suzanne Collins and published in 2009, is the second book in //The Hunger Games// trilogy and continues the story of Peeta Mellark and Katniss Everdeen. The story is set in a nation called Panem, in some futuristic year, although the precise date is unknown. Peeta and Katniss are forced to go back into the Hunger Games this time, and both are concerned with keeping the other one alive. However, at the end of the book, an interesting turn of events may allow Peeta, Katniss, and the Districts of Panem to rebel against the Capitol once and for all.

** About the Author ** Suzanne Collins is 49 and lives in Newton, Connecticut with her husband and two kids. Besides //The Hunger Games// trilogy, she has also written //The Underland Chronicles//, which were published each year from 2003 to 2007. //The Hunger Games// has won several awards including the California Young Reader Medal and //The New York Times// "Notable Children's Book of 2008." The Underland Chronicles were a //New York Times// "Best Selling Series" and //Kirkus Review's// editor's choice in 2003. In addition, Suzanne Collins has a critical reputation of writing science fiction novels that embrace the reader with a quick pace and outstanding details.

** Characters and Conflict ** The main characters in this book are Katniss Everdeen, who loves hunting and nature, and Peeta Mellark, who loves baking, painting, and Katniss. Primrose Everdeen, or “Prim,” is the little sister of Katniss, who has cared for her little sister ever since their father died in a mine explosion. ale Hawthorne is Katniss’ best friend from District 12; she hunts, sets animal traps, and trashes the capital in the woods outside their district with him. The conflict in the story is Peeta and Katniss having to go back into the Hunger Games once again to fight all of the other tributes from other districts.



** Theme **

Stay true to your values and what you believe is right regardless of how much your life changes.



**Style Analysis ** In Catching Fire, Suzanne has a great writing style that includes using a brisk pace, detailed explanations, and a rebellious tone to tell the story of Katniss Everdeen and Peeta Mellark.
 * In Catching Fire, Suzanne Collins uses a Brisk to pull readers into the on-going action in the book.
 * "'Run!' I scream at the others.'Run!' Finnick Snaps awake instantly, rising to counter an enemy. . . I grab his arm and begin to propel him through the jungle after Finnick" (Collins 298)
 * ". . . a writer who truly understands writing for young people: the pacing is brisk and the message tucked below the surface" (Zevin).
 * Collins also uses detailed explanations to immirse the reader in the book and the Hunger Games.
 * "Blue water. Pink sky. White-hot sun beating down. All right, there's the Cornucopia, the shining gold metal horn, about forty yards away. At first it appears to be sitting on a circular island. But on closer examination, I see the thin strips of land radiating from the circle like the spokes on a wheel. I think there are ten to twelve, and they seem equidistant from one another. Between the spokes, all is water" (Collins 268).
 * "Beyond the expert world building, the acute social commentary and the large cast of fully realized characters, there's action, intrigue, romance, and some amount of hope in a story readers will find completley engrossing" ("Catching Fire").
 * In addition, Collins uses a rebellious tone to descirbe Peeta and Katniss' additude in the Hunger Games.
 * "'I'm not going anywhere. I'm going to stay right here and cause all kinds of trouble'" (Collins 119).
 * ". . . is a protrait of how a desperate government tries to hold off a revolutionary tide and as such has something of the epic feeling of Orwell to it. (But for kids)" (Zevin).

**//The Hunger Games// Movie Trailer ** media type="youtube" key="qoUT7q2iTbQ" height="315" width="560" align="center"

Works Consulted