Mockingjay

Melissa Massaro
= = = Mockingjay by Suzanne Collins =

Bibliographic Data
Publisher: Scholastic Press Original Publication Date: August 24th, 2010 ISBN: 0439023513 Language: English Hardcover: 400 pages Reading Level: 13 and up Type: Fiction/Science Fiction

Summary
The Games are over, but for Katniss Everdeen the real fight is just beginning: the rebellion. Set in the futuristic country of Panem, Katniss was rescued from the last Hunger Games along with two of her other competitors by the rebels who are rebelling against the Capitol. Her fellow tribute and love interest Peeta has been captured by the Capitol along with two other tributes during the Games. It is now up to Katniss to be the symbol of the rebellion, the mockingjay. Katniss is reluctant, but realizes how important she is to the cause. Her best friend, Gale is by her side the entire time. Peeta is rescued by the rebels, but he has had his memories hijacked by the Capitol and he is no longer the same Peeta. Katniss, Peeta, Gale, and other rebels are sent to the Capitol to assassinate President Snow. The rebels take over the Capitol and gain control of the government. President Snow is killed during a riot that takes place after Katniss kills President Coin, the rebel leader. Katniss and Peeta return to their home, District 12, and Peeta gradually gets back to being himself. Fifteen years later Katniss and Peeta have two children, but still struggle with their memories of the two Hunger Games, the friends and family they have lost, and the war they fought against the Capitol.

Review
//Mockingjay// is a brilliantly written, thrilling, and suspenseful novel that is nearly impossible to put down. From the very beginning, //Mockingjay// is a page turner as Suzanne Collins wastes no time at all to get right down to business. Fans of //The Hunger Games// and //Catching Fire// will not be disappointed, as Collins gives even more detail in the third installment of the trilogy. Readers get to watch their favorite characters develop so much so that by the end of the book they will feel like they are best friends with the character. As readers follow Katniss they will laugh, be in awe, gasp in shock, and cry with the turn of each page. This book can be used in the classroom to examine not only literary elements, but also to examine the role of government with older students.

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 T//he 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 Element Analysis: Character Development
Every character in Suzanne Collins' book, //Mockingjay// develops greatly from the previous books, but also within this book. The character to develop the most over the course of the novel is the main character, Katniss Everdeen. She appears to be a much weaker character than she did in the two previous books, but this weakness is not a change in her character, it is a direct cause of all the stress that has been put on her. At the beginning of the novel, Katniss is a very unsure and reluctant character who is not sure if she wants to take on the responsibility of being the mockingjay, the symbol of rebellion. "What they want is for me to truly take on the role they designed for me. The symbol of the revolution. The Mockingjay. It isn't enough, what I've done in the past, defying the Capitol in the Games, providing a rallying point. I must now become the actual leader, the face, the voice, the embodiment of the revolution...sometimes I listen to them and sometimes I just watch the perfect line of Coin's hair and try to decide if it's a wig" (//Mockingjay// 10-11). This quote shows Katniss' lack of interest in her being the mockingjay because of her worry for Peeta. Seeing that Peeta is still alive and okay re-sparks the fire in Katniss that she had all along, but was hidden deep inside under her worry, pain, and suffering. "Tomorrow morning, I'm going to agree to be the Mockingjay," I tell her. "Because you want to or because you feel forced into it?" she asks. I laugh a little. "Both I guess. No, I want to. I have to, if it will help the rebels defeat Snow" (Mockingjay 33-34).

After Katniss decides to become the mockingjay, the strong, willful Katniss from the first two novels shines again. She fights for what she knows is right with a fury the reader has never seen before. She becomes even more strong willed than ever. "'What do you mean, I'm not going to the Capitol? I have to go! I'm the Mockingjay!" I say...I can't very well say it's so I can carry out my own personal vendetta against Snow. Or that the idea of remaining here in 13 with the latest version of Peeta while Gale goes off to fight in the Capitol. 'Because of Twelve. Because they destroyed my district'" (//Mockingjay// 233-234). Through character development, Collins is able to make an already strong character into a powerhouse that will let nothing stand in her way to fight for those she loves.

This element is especially significant to readers because it shows Katniss developing into a character that stands up for what is right, and doing almost everything in her power to bring justice to her society.

Related Links
http://thehungergames.wikia.com/wiki/The_Hunger_Games_Wiki : Contains information on anything and everything a reader of //Mockingjay// or //The Hunger Games// series would like to know. http://www.thehungergames.co.uk/home : The official website of the series which contains reviews, games, videos, and information about all of the books.