Catching Fire by Suzanne Collins
“Sparks are igniting. Flames are spreading. And the Capital wants revenge.”
Katniss Everdeen and fellow District 12 tribute, Peeta Mellark, have won the Hunger Games by outsmarting their opponents and the Capitol. They want nothing more than to return home to enjoy the good fortune their victory has brought them. However, their rebellion in the arena has incited a similar movement throughout the country and citizens everywhere are rallying to resist the government’s cruel hold over them. With the mockingjay as their emblem and Katniss as their heroine, the poor people of Panem are fighting back. Katniss herself can’t decide whether to lead this rebellion or flee to safety with her family and loved ones. As the time nears for the next Hunger Games to begin, the Capitol announces new rules and Peeta and Katniss learn they are to return to the arena to fight again … and this time, odds are, they won’t return.
This anxiously awaited sequel to The Hunger Games will not disappoint fans of author Suzanne Collins. Familiar characters like Katniss and Haymitch are satisfyingly developed as is the continuing love triangle between Katniss, Gale and Peeta. Panem the country is realistically described and the reader feels a growing sympathy for its residents and their hardships. The tension leading up to the games is palpable as is a growing sense of dread as characters we have all come to love enter the arena once again to do battle against forces they cannot surmount.
Readers will be nervously anticipating the third and final installment in this series, due to be published next year. In the meantime, try reading the following:
- Unwind by Neal Shusterman
- House of the Scorpion by Nancy Farmer
- House of Stairs by William Slater
- The Lost Conspiracy by Frances Hardinge
- The Ingenious Edgar Jones by Elizabeth Garner
- The Iron King by Julie Kagawa
- The Demon’s Lexicon by Sarah Rees Brennan
- Salt by Maurice Gee
- Julian Comstock: A Story of 22nd-Century America by Robert Charles Wilson
