Olivia’s Letter Essay #6: Catching Fire

Recently, I finished the novel Catching Fire. This 391 paged book was written by Suzanne Collins. Catching Fire is the second book in The Hunger Games series. This book is a  #1 New York Times Bestseller as well as a New York Times Editors Choice. Catching Fire has won many other awards such as, Wall Street Journal Bestseller, Publishers Weekly Bestseller, and many others. This novel was published on September 1, 2009. More than 19 million copies have been sold in the U.S alone. And it has been printed in 52 different languages.  The genre of this book is science fiction as well as dystopian. This book was adapted into a film and it was released on November 22, 2013. Suzanne Collins started her professional career in 1991 in children’s television. She began writing children and young adult books in 2003. Her first series was The Underland Chronicles which was based off of Alice In Wonderland. She wrote the five book series in 2003 to 2007.  Suzanne Collins was born in Hartford, Connecticut in 1962. She now lives in Sandy Hook, Newtown, Connecticut.

 

After winning the 74th annual Hunger Games, Katniss Everdeen and her “star cross lover” return back to District 12. Katniss just wants everything to be back to normal. The games are finally over, well, after the Victory Tour at least. She tries to get back in the swing of things by going hunting with Gale every Sunday, but the thought of the games still lurks in her mind. The  Victory Tour is when the victor, well now victors, travel to all the districts of the dead tributes. They have ceremonies and speeches thanking the families of the deceased tributes for their children’s participation. Katniss struggles with keeping the “star crossed lovers” act going (thank goodness for Peeta). After, the Victory Tour, Katniss is wants it all gone, her thoughts of the games and the Capitol. But, she knows that will never happen, she will have to be a mentor of the next tributes for years to come. When it comes time for the 75th annual Hunger Games, a twist is announced. It is announced because every 25 years, there is a Quarter Quell. And with that quarter quell it comes a twist. Katniss is getting closer and closer to being back to normal until… the quell is announced. The victors from previous years, a male and female, will be going back to the arena in the games. Katniss immediately knows she goes in no matter what. She now knows that her job is to keep Peeta alive. Back to the games, back to the place of torture and fear. Katniss is now terrified, these people are more experienced than her, some have been modified like Enobaria with her sharpened teeth. She knows she has no chance against these past victors. Finally, when the games arrive, it is set in a jungle, with only salt water. Katniss scrambles to get her bow and arrows and she meets Finnick Odair, the youngest tribute to win at age 14, ten years ago, he is adored by the capitol. The two become allies along with Peeta and Mags, the female tribute from Finnick’s district, district 4. They encounter many obstacles like, poisonous fog, monkeys, jabberjays, blood rain, and many more. It has now come down to 8 tributes, Johanna, Beetee, Wiress, Finnick, Katniss, Peeta, Enobaria and Brutus. Now, Johanna and Beetee and Wiress have allied up with Katniss and her gang. Katniss soon figures out, with the help of Wiress, that the arena is set up like a clock, Certain areas of the arena have some disaster happen at certain times of the day. They now can use this as a weapon. Their goal, is to kill off Enobaria and Brutus and then separate. The allies come up with a big plan to electrocute the two with one of Beetee’s precious wires, with the help of the lightning tree. The goal was to have the lightning strike the tree and have the wire be attached and then have the wire go down to the beach, where Enobaria and Brutus are. The plan than backfires and Katniss shoots an arrow and the force field above, which leads to the arena being destroyed. Katniss then wakes up on a hovercraft flying to District with Finnick, Plutarch Heavensbee, and Haymitch. The following scene occurs on pages 386. Plutarch Heavensbee and Haymitch tells Katniss she is the Mockingjay. “ We had to save you because you’re the mockingjay, Katniss. While you live, the revolution lives. Plutarch says. “The bird, the pin, the song, the berries, the watch, the cracker, the dress that burst into flames. I am the mockingjay. The one that survived despite the Capitol’s plans. I am the symbol of the rebellion. I think. “ I think that is a really important because it is a major Aha moment in the book and a big moment for Katniss. Everything is different. She is the symbol of the rebellion, everyone is counting on her.

 

I really enjoyed reading this book. I had previously read the series when I was nine, so it had been a while since I had last read the book. When rereading this book I came across things that I didn’t remember. I was surprised that Katniss had not known about the rebellion and the plan to break out Katniss out of the arena, since I had forgotten that part. The Hunger Games series is one of my favorite series and Catching Fire is my favorite book out of all of them. I am really happy I reread this book because I love the series so much. I think Katniss is a great character as well as all the other characters. I would rate this book a 9.5 out of 10 because I love it so much. I would recommend this book to anyone who likes dystopian books or science fiction books. I look forward to rereading this series over and over again many times.

 

Sincerely, Olivia Bauks

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7 thoughts on “Olivia’s Letter Essay #6: Catching Fire

  1. Olivia it looks like you put in a lot of effort on your letter essay. I thought your summary was fantastic. You included a lot of details.

  2. Dear Olivia,
    I really enjoyed reading your letter essay. I thought it was very good because the reflection was long. Since it was long I was able to understand the book better. I am reading this book know and can’t wait to finish it.
    Julia

  3. Dear Olivia,

    I liked your letter essay a lot because you gave a great idea of the book because you explained the little details along with the big to get the reader interesting in the smaller characters. Did you have a quoted passage? I really enjoyed reading your letter essay!

    Sincerely.
    Melissa Colasante

  4. I really enjoyed reading your letter essay! I loved how you put in all the little details Suzanne Collins did, you gave really good detail. I read this book and i think your letter essay describes it perfectly.
    -Erin

  5. Dear Olivia,
    I really liked your letter essay! I loved how descriptive you were with the summary, and how you gave a lot of background information on the author and the awards and achievements the book has. I really like your quoted passage from the novel because it is the biggest Aha! Moment in the book for Katniss, it’s one of the biggest Aha! Moments and one of the most important parts in the entire trilogy. I love reading this book, and your letter essay does a good job of capturing main ideas without giving anything away. Nice job!
    -Alex H.

  6. Dear Olivia,
    I really liked your letter essay! I loved how you explained little details that Suzanne Collins put in! I’m reading this book now and can’t wait to finish it! Overall, great essay!
    -Anthony T.

  7. Dear Olivia,
    I think that your letter essay was well constructed and well thought out, I think that it could use a little more content in the quote, however. But other than that, well done.

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