Brandi Meineke, Collection Development Specialist
9/6/2011 3:59:20 PM The story of Katniss Everdeen continues in this second installment of The Hunger Games trilogy. She and Peeta both manage to return home alive from the games. Because of the rewards given to the winners of the games, their families will never want for anything again. Now they just have to deal with being victors. This sounds so much simpler than it really is.
The first obstacle Katniss has to deal with is the Victory Tour. She and Peeta must travel to all 12 districts, and of course it is televised. Like the first book, reality TV is a major tool used by the Capitol to remind the districts of their place. Before the tour begins, Katniss is visited by the tyrannical President Snow. He warns her to not stir up trouble in the districts or her family will suffer some vague but gruesome fate. On the tour she and Peeta meet some of the families of the other kids that were in the games with them. These are families whose children died because Katniss and Peeta lived. In the typical Katniss rebellious spirit, she cannot help but defy the Capitol. While this does eventually lead to revolution, it also causes several immediate deaths. This guilt preoccupies much of Katniss’s thoughts.
In the past, one of the main benefits of having survived a Hunger Games is that you will never have to enter the arena again. But when the Capitol makes the rules, they can also change them. The Capitol decrees that this year’s Hunger Games contestants will be chosen from the pool of previous victors. Katniss is the only female victor from her district, so there is no doubt she is destined for the arena yet again. This time she makes Haymitch, her mentor, promise that no matter what, they will keep Peeta safe.
I was worried that the Games part of this novel was going to be a repeat of the first book. In fact, this was very far from the truth. Catching Fire’s arena brings a very different battle dynamic than the one in The Hunger Games. This time there are allies all around. They include the jovial Finnick Odiar and extremely moody Johanna Mason. These two characters will be very present in the rest of this book as well as the last book, Mockingjay. In addition, several of the other tributes seem to be sacrificing themselves to protect Katniss and Peeta.
Through the several days of preamble up to the games the reader learns a lot about these victors and the districts they come from. Knowing these characters in more depth made these Games much harder to read than those in the first novel, because you learn what drives them and begin to relate to them. I think that alone makes Catching Fire a superior novel to the first.
For students who loved the first one, it will be no trouble at all to get them to read this novel. In fact, it may be harder to get them to put it down. Readers who did not read the first book will probably be lost if they try to start with the second. This is definitely a series that is best read in order. The end of this book leaves the reader dangling from that proverbial cliff, so if you really want to make your students happy, be sure to have the final installment in the series, Mockingjay, on hand and readily available.
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Brandi Meineke, Collection Development Specialist
9/6/2011 3:57:59 PM This is the first novel in The Hunger Games Trilogy. I really enjoyed this series. It was one of those that “had me at hello.” The setting is North America, many decades after the fall of what was once the United States. The land, called Panem, has been split into 13 districts, all ruled by the all-powerful Capitol. Political tyranny and crippling poverty are present in the lives of most of the population. An uprising was attempted in the past, with devastating and long-lasting results. District 13 was entirely destroyed and now the Capitol demands tribute in the annual Hunger Games.
So what are the Hunger Games? They are a sport for the Capitol, put on each year to remind everyone how strong it is in order to prevent another uprising. From each district two teenagers are randomly drawn, a boy and a girl. These two are taken from their homes to the Capitol. They are dressed in absolute splendor and fed meals of unimagined richness. They are interviewed and must attend social events. All of this is televised, for all of Panem to see. The people fall in love with these children. But they are called tributes for a reason. When the games begin, all 24 teenagers are placed in an arena and must fight to kill until only one survives. This part of the games is also televised. And not only are the children slain by each other, but the arena is filled with elements that claim numerous victims as well. There are scores of genetically altered plants and animals deadlier than anything nature could ever create on its own.
The protagonist is a 16-year old girl named Katniss Everdeen. She is a survivor. Her survival story starts years before the novel begins. After her father dies in a mining accident she must take his place as provider for her mother and sister. She illegally hunts in the woods near her house. It is on one of these hunting trips she meets Gale, who soon becomes her best. It is their friendship and cooperation that keep both of their families from starvation.
When Katniss’s little sister is chosen for the Hunger Games, she does the only thing a big sister can—volunteers to take her place. Now Katniss needs every survival skill the forest and Gale have taught her. Peeta, the boy chosen from the same district, is nice but Katniss doesn't know him very well. Neither Peeta nor Katniss expect to ever see home again. On their journey towards the arena, Peeta publicly declares his crush on Katniss and a romantic triangle between Katniss, Peeta and Gale begins. The Capitol uses this potential romance between Peeta and Katniss to their advantage, highlighting it to attract more attention to the Hunger Games. This plot line continues throughout the series. Sometimes this aspect seems to overshadow more important things. The country is crumbling, 22 people are trying to kill them, they will probably never see home again, but who should Katniss date? Though I was skeptic at first, by the end of the trilogy even I was caught up in the romance.
The actual Games take up the bulk of the story. She and Peeta are mentored by the only Hunger Games survivor from their district, Haymitch. From the moment the contenders enter the arena and the horn blew to signify the start of the Games, I could not stop reading this novel. Even when I was doing something else, I would be thinking about Katniss. In the arena everything about her is truly tested—her loyalty to her allies, her skills as a hunter and survivor, and her willingness to be guided by her mentor. The one aspect of Katniss that is always present is her contempt for the Capitol.
Although I highly recommend this novel, it may not be right for every student. It does have a lot of violence and heartbreak in it, but the gore is not described in great detail. Though told from the first-person perspective of Katniss, a 16 year old girl, many boys have and will find the novel as intriguing as I did. Boys that like topics like battle may really enjoy the tactical aptitude natural to Katniss. She is definitely not a damsel waiting to be saved. Because of this and the fact that the novel has a fast-paced and interesting plot, I would recommend this for reluctant readers.
The movie is scheduled to come out in March 2012, and many students will likely want to read it for that reason alone. This could also be a great opportunity for teachers to give compare and contrast assignments between the book and movie. If the students are going to read it and see it on their own, this could be a great way get them thinking and writing about literature.
All three of the novels in this trilogy, The Hunger Games, Catching Fire, and Mockingjay, would be great to have on the shelves for students to pass around. Over and over, I have witnessed someone read the series and then pass it along to a friend, just so they can have someone to discuss these novels with. That is probably one of the highest recommendations a book can have.
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