Catching+Fire

Melissa Massaro
=Catching Fire by Suzanne Collins=

**Bibliographic Data**
Publisher: Scholastic Press Original Publication Date: September 1, 2009 ISBN: 0439023491 Language: English Hardcover: 391 pages Reading Level: 13 and up Type: Fiction/Science Fiction

**Summary**
Katniss Everdeen has survived the Hunger Games and because of a rule change her fellow District 12 tribute Peeta Mellark has survived as well. The Capitol is not happy with Katniss or Peeta because of the way they challenged the Capitol to allow both of them to win the Games. Her actions have caused a rebellion formed by the Districts against the Capitol. Katniss and Peeta are not on speaking terms every since Katniss revealed she was lying about her feelings for Peeta. The 75th annual Hunger Games are approaching. Every 25 years, the Hunger Games become a Quarter Quell, where the Capitol adds a new twist to the Hunger Games that year. Everything changes when it is announced that for the Third Quarter Quell both tributes from each district will be selected from the pool of victors to fight to the death for a second time. Katniss is the only living female victor from her district and she has no choice but to go in. Peeta and Haymitch are the only living male victors and on reaping day Haymitch is reaped, but Peeta volunteers so he can protect Katniss in the Games. Katniss has other ideas and decides that she needs to protect Peeta at all costs because he protected her in the first Games. When the Games begin Katniss and Peeta realize they have a lot of allies that are going out of their way to make sure they survive, even sacrificing their own lives for them. The Games take a drastic turn when a plan by Katniss’ alliance to wipe out some of the reaming players goes wrong. Katniss blows out the force field of the arena and is knocked unconscious. When she awakes she learns that she was rescued from the arena by rebel forces, of which Haymitch and the head game-maker are a part of, along with two others in her alliance. Peeta, however, and two others were captured by the Capitol. She also learns that her home, District 12, was destroyed immediately after she broke the force field in the Games. Katniss learns that Haymitch knew about everything all along, but kept it from her and Peeta and told everyone in the alliance to keep it from her as well. Everyone went out of their way to protect her because she needed to be their pawn and she needed to be their symbol of rebellion, their mockingjay.

**Review**
//Catching Fire// has something interesting it for everyone: violence, rebellion, and romance. Girls and boys alike will enjoy reading this novel by Suzanne Collins that follows courageous Katniss Everdeen in her fight for survival. The novel has somewhat of a slow start, but Collins does a fantastic job of keeping the reader interested while she sets up the cause and rise of the rebellion through vivid imagery and gripping dialogue. Once the 75th annual Hunger Games are announced, the book is nearly impossible to put down as Collins constantly keeps the reader questioning what will happen next. This novel is even more suspenseful as it’s predecessor, //The Hunger Games,// as the reader is left questioning the motives of every character and how their actions will effect Katniss, Peeta, and the rebellion.

**Author Biography**
Suzanne Collins was born August 10, 1962 in Hartford, Connecticut. Collins and her family moved quite often because her father was an officer in the Air Force. Before becoming a best selling author, she worked as a television writer and worked on classic Nickelodeon shows like //Clarissa Explains It All//. Collins decided that she wanted to write children's books and wrote the five books in the //Underland Chronicles// series and //When Charlie McButton Lost Power//. In 2008 she wrote //The Hunger Games// followed by //Catching Fire// in 2009 and //Mockingjay// in 2010. She was named one of //Time// magazine's most influential people in 2010. All three of the books in //The Hunger Games// trilogy have been on //The New York Times// Best Seller list. In 2012 she was named the best selling Kindle author of all time. Collins currently resides in Newtown, Connecticut.

**Literary Analysis**
There are many different ways that the plot development can be viewed in //Catching Fire//. A number of different events could be considered the rising action, climax, and falling action which can result in many different opinions on the importance of events to the plot. The resolution that I have listed for //Catching Fire// is not much of a resolution at all because Collins is setting up the plot for the next book, //Mockingjay.//

Exposition: The novel begins with Katniss getting ready for her Victory Tour around the country of Panem with her fellow victor, Peeta. Before she begins her tour she receives a surprise visit from the president of Panem, President Snow. Snow informs Katniss that he is very upset with her for the stunt she pulled in Games that allowed both her and Peeta to survive. He tells her that because of her making a fool out of the Capitol she has started a rebellion that can possibly be put to rest if she continues to pretend she is in love with Peeta.

Rising Action: The 75th annual Hunger Games are announced. Since this year is a Quarter Quell, the Capitol adds a twist to the Games. The twist is that the tributes that will participate in the Games will be selected from the pool of victors. Since there are no other surviving female victors from District 12, Katniss must go into the Games a second time. The only surviving male victors from District 12 are Peeta and Haymitch, their mentor. Katniss, Peeta, and Haymitch decide they need to train like Career tributes so that they have a chance of winning. Peeta volunteers to go into the Games for Haymitch and he and Katniss are taken away to the Capitol to prepare. In the Games, Katniss and Peeta find themselves thrown into an alliance with five other tributes. The alliance develops a plan to electrify the lake to get rid of the remaining tributes.

Climax: When it is time to carry out the plan, Katniss and Johanna are given the assignment to bring the coil that will electrify the lake when struck by lighting down to the lake. Peeta is forced to stay with the others to carry out the rest of the plan. All of a sudden Katniss is struck in the head with the metal cylinder holding the coil. “There’s a stab in my left forearm. I try to jerk away but I’m still too incapacitated. Johanna’s digging something, I guess the point of her knife, into my flesh, twisting it around. There’s an excruciating ripping sensation and warmth runs down my wrist, filling my palm. She swipes down my arm and coats half my face with blood” (//Catching Fire 371).// Johanna leaves and Katniss and Katniss realizes she needs to get back to the tree where Peeta is. When she gets to the tree there is no Peeta in sight, but she realizes what one of the other tributes, Beetee who is unconscious, was trying to do. He was trying to blow out the force field around the arena by electrifying it. Katniss carries out the plan by knocking out the force field and is paralyzed by the shock.

Falling Action: Katniss is picked up from the arena by a hovercraft and is greeted by Plutarch, the head game-maker, she fears the worst. When she wakes up she is in a hospital like room with Beetee. She goes to search for Peeta in the hopes of killing him to prevent him from being tortured from the Capitol. On her search for Peeta, Katniss finds Haymitch, Plutarch, and Finnick, another member of the alliance.

Resolution: Katniss is informed by Haymitch that there was a plan to rescue her and the other members of the alliance from the arena since the very beginning. She needed to be kept alive because she is the symbol of rebellion and revolution to the Districts. All of the districts are rebelling against the Capitol and they are on their way to District 13, which actually does exist. She is greeted by Gale who informs her that District 12 has been destroyed, but that her sister, Prim, and her mother are safe.

**Related Links**
__[]__ : Contains information on anything and everything a reader of //Catching Fire// or //The Hunger Games// series would like to know. __[]__ : The official website of the series which contains reviews, games, videos, and information about all of the books.