This is no place for a girl on fire
I forgot to write a review for the first of these books when I read it back in September or October. As for the second, I started it in 2010, which is why I put it on the 2010 Book List despite finishing it in 2011.
28. Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins
There has been a lot of hype in recent months about this young adult trilogy of books and the movie being made of the first one. In my humble opinion, it is well deserved. Collins's characters are engaging -- even the ones we don't like. I love that the main character, Katniss, is not a Mary Sue. She IS smart and resourceful, but she also is unwittingly caught up in circumstances she can't control. She performs actions that she thinks are smart at the time and is stunned when things backfire. She's a kid in an insane world who's just trying to stay alive to continue taking care of her mother and sister.
Today, I had a 45 minute conversation with a 13-year-old boy (a son of the facility social worker) who had just finished this book. He knew I had read the book, and he came to my room this afternoon with the specific goal to talk about it. His enthusiasm for the story and the characters was amazing, and refreshing. I love to see kids excited by reading, and I especially love to see a kid talking intelligently about plot twists and character motivation. Any book that can inspire that is a win in my estimation.
29. Catching Fire by Suzanne Collins
Poor Katniss. Her act of desperation and rebellion in Hunger Games has come back to bite her -- HARD. Now everything and everyone she holds dear is in danger. In an effort to squash rebellions in other districts, Panem's president tries to make Katniss his puppet, but the spark has landed and Katniss's best efforts cannot extinguish it. She has become the face of hope and rebellion, and when she's thrown back into the Games for the Quarter Quell, she resolves herself to being a martyr if it will keep safe her family, her friends, and her entire district.
I am eagerly awaiting my friend bringing me the third and final book.
28. Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins
There has been a lot of hype in recent months about this young adult trilogy of books and the movie being made of the first one. In my humble opinion, it is well deserved. Collins's characters are engaging -- even the ones we don't like. I love that the main character, Katniss, is not a Mary Sue. She IS smart and resourceful, but she also is unwittingly caught up in circumstances she can't control. She performs actions that she thinks are smart at the time and is stunned when things backfire. She's a kid in an insane world who's just trying to stay alive to continue taking care of her mother and sister.
Today, I had a 45 minute conversation with a 13-year-old boy (a son of the facility social worker) who had just finished this book. He knew I had read the book, and he came to my room this afternoon with the specific goal to talk about it. His enthusiasm for the story and the characters was amazing, and refreshing. I love to see kids excited by reading, and I especially love to see a kid talking intelligently about plot twists and character motivation. Any book that can inspire that is a win in my estimation.
29. Catching Fire by Suzanne Collins
Poor Katniss. Her act of desperation and rebellion in Hunger Games has come back to bite her -- HARD. Now everything and everyone she holds dear is in danger. In an effort to squash rebellions in other districts, Panem's president tries to make Katniss his puppet, but the spark has landed and Katniss's best efforts cannot extinguish it. She has become the face of hope and rebellion, and when she's thrown back into the Games for the Quarter Quell, she resolves herself to being a martyr if it will keep safe her family, her friends, and her entire district.
I am eagerly awaiting my friend bringing me the third and final book.