Review: Catching Fire by Suzanne Collins

Catching Fire by Suzanne Collins
The Hunger Games series #2
young adult, dystopian, post-apocalyptic
My own purchase
4.5 stars

Against all odds, Katniss Everdeen has won the annual Hunger Games with fellow district tribute Peeta Mellark. But it was a victory won by defiance of the Capitol and their harsh rules. Katniss and Peeta should be happy. After all, they have just won for themselves and their families a life of safety and plenty. But there are rumors of rebellion among the subjects, and Katniss and Peeta, to their horror, are the faces of that rebellion. The Capitol is angry. The Capitol wants revenge.

I really loved this book. I stayed up until 2am Saturday night just so I could finish it, and it was really hard to not start Mockingjay Sunday morning (two library books told me I shouldn't). I was glad to see Gale again (Yay, Gale!), and how life back in District 12 had changed for Katniss after the Games. Becoming a nationwide celebrity, means that she has to watch how she acts, which is difficult for her since her previous constants in her life have changed. Becoming a symbol for the rebellions is unexpected for Katniss, and trying do her best to discourage the rebellions proves to be a harder task than competing in the Games.

Katniss still maintains her strength in protecting those she cares about throughout the novel. One thing that struck me in this is how Collins did a bit of role reversal in Catching Fire. It seems like frequently in novels, the serious romantic feelings tend to originate in the female character, but in The Hunger Games series, it the male leads that come into their feelings first, and Katniss is blindsided when she learns of their feelings. I just found it interesting, it fits well for the completely un-boy crazy Katniss.

The story will keep you reading with it's plot twists, especially when you get to the last half of the novel. The worse thing is it has one of those cliff hanger endings (although, it may have been before that was the in thing to do), so you may have the urge to start straight in with Mockingjay.

Review redux: The Hunger Games

The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins
Young Adult, Dystopian, Post-apocalyptic
My own purchase

Could you survive on your own, in the wild, with everyone out to make sure you don't live to see the morning?

In the ruins of a place once known as North America lies the nation of Panem, a shining Capitol surrounded by twelve outlying districts. The Capitol is harsh and cruel and keeps the districts in line by forcing them all to send one boy and one girl between the ages of twelve and eighteen to participate in the annual Hunger Games, a fight to the death on live TV.

Sixteen-year-old Katniss Everdeen, who lives alone with her mother and younger sister, regards it as a death sentence when she steps forward to take her sister’s place in the Games. But Katniss has been close to dead before—and survival, for her, is second nature. Without really meaning to, she becomes a contender. But if she is to win, she will have to start making choices that will weigh survival against humanity and life against love.

I previously talked about The Hunger Games last fall for Banned Books Week. You can see my previous thoughts here.

I enjoyed this as much the second time around. Collins built a great world- regions of the former United States rising up against the new central government, and failing. Part of the punishment inflicted on the districts is to pick two teens from each, to perform in a battle to the death, every year. Tied with keeping the poorer districts poor, and the excesses and extravagances of the Capitol, Panem is cruel and vindictive government.

Katniss is an ideal modern heroine. She is smart and dependable, taking responsibility for making sure her family is fed since she was eleven. At sixteen, when we enter her world, she is not vain, and does not care about having kids. She just wants to survive. She can use the stereotypical girl behavior, if it suits her needs, but it isn't her.

I still think the movie makers did an awesome job adapting the novel. With the reread, and having just started Catching Fire, I think I get why they changed some of the most noticeable things. I look forward to the DVD release in August so I can compare some more.

Banned Book Week- The Hunger Games

The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins
Young Adult - Dystopian/Post-apocalyptic
Scholastic
purchased for my Nook.
4.5 stars

The American Library Association lists The Hunger Games as number four on the most frequently challenged books for 2010. The Newsletter on Intellectual Freedom cites that a parent has asked the Gofftown (NH) School Board to remove the book from her child's class "claiming that it gave her 11-year-old nightmares and could numb other students to the effects of violence." (School Library Journal, October 2010). The article also presents the general description of the book the parent gave to the board, which demonstrates that the parent has not read the entire book, and the child either did not pay attention to the reader (the book was being read allowed in class), or as the article seems to imply, had not heard/read the entire book.

This book has been sitting on my Nook Color for several months now. It was one of the first I got for it, so when I saw it on the list of frequently banned/challenged books, I had to read it now (works well for Read your own Books Month too). I had gotten it because I'd seen the hype, and everyone loved it (apparently, hype over Young Adult science fiction/fantasy does not phase me). This one lived up to the hype

. It is set in Panem, after a huge global warming event and war has devastated North America. The country is centered around the capitol, with districts surrounding it. Each district is responsible for the production/gathering of certain types of materials for the country. The capitol lives in wealth, while the districts are kept in reduced states, where it is not uncommon for families to barely get by. This is one way the Capitol exerts its force on the people, to prevent another uprising. The capitol also hosts The Hunger Games, designed to keep the citizens in the districts in line, and at the mercy of the Capitol. For the games, a boy and girl from each of the twelve districts are selected, given a small amount of training, and placed in an arena with minimal supplies for a fight to the death. The novel is told from the point of view of Katniss, the girl tribute from District 12.

I have a 10 year old nephew, and I don't think I would have any problem giving this book to read. Yes it focuses on a society that routinely puts children in fights to the death, but most of these are "off camera". The tributes don't get to know how the others are killed unless they were involved in the process; they just get a basic rundown of the deaths each day. So the reader gets to see a relatively few number of them. The majority of the kids selected do not want to be in these games, to fight and kill. But they must if they wish to try and get back to their friends and family. The ones the readers get to see aren't terribly graphic or gory either. Kids have seen worse things on the news, in the cartoons and movies they are allowed to watch, as well as in school. I know my five year old nephew has. Whether he understands it or not is another thing. But my older nephew is very much into fighting games (first person shooters), nerf guns and army men. But we've always gone over with him how his favorite heros aren't shooting just to kill, but they are fighting the "bad guys".

Everyone has had nightmares at some point in their life; that's no reason to ban a book. Like all books, this has a target age range to be a guide for parents purchasing books for their kids. Yes this could be a book emotionally difficult for some kids, but that's when the parents should step up and discuss it with the kids. But the average 12-18 year olds this is aimed at will have no problem with the reading or subject matter. By that age, they know the "effects of violence"; one little book is not going to determine if someone will be violent or not. And focusing on the violent aspects only blinds you to the more important aspects of being able to fend for yourself, as the tributes are called on to do, or standing up to what you know to be wrong, as Katniss does several times

I really enjoyed this novel, and look forward to finishing the series once my schedule frees up.