Catching Fire by Suzanne Collins (2009)

Katniss, the girl on fire, has left behind the flickering flames and bejeweled gowns and soft candlelight frocks. She is as deadly as fire itself (p 207).

The Hunger Games are over and, against all odds, Katniss and Peeta of District 12 have survived. But they are not out of danger yet.

Katniss outsmarted the Gamemakers and undermined the Capitol when she suggested she and Peeta eat poisoned berries thereby depriving the Games of a victor.

Now, as their victory tour through the Districts approaches, President Snow visits Katniss. He delivers a warning. Quell the masses by convincing them and him that her actions were not rebellious but rather the result of a love-sick girl.

When Katniss fails to deliver and as Districts begin to rebel, wearing the sign of the mockingjay and rallying around Katniss and Peeta, President Snow takes revenge. The next Hunger Games, celebrating its 75th year, will pull tributes from the existing pool of victors. Katniss is returning to the arena.

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

Collins continues her dystopian series with another page turner. Here, Katniss begins to realize her true enemy will not be found among the other tributes. She becomes the unwitting symbol of rebellion among District dwellers.

The tone here remains hopefully as no one crucial to the plot is killed or confirmed dead, though several of Katniss’s friends are punished or killed. A viable rebellion rises, but will the cost be too much for Katniss to bear?

One of my favorite characters to emerge here is Finnik. I look forward to reading more about him in Mockingjay.

About these ads

Coffeehouse Angel by Suzanne Selfors (2009)

I didn’t throw it away. Why? For the same reasons that I make a wish before I blow out my birthday candles, and look into the sky for the first evening star, and pull extra hard on the wishbone. Because, deep inside, like a Scandinavian craving caffeine, I craved change. I had been living a quiet life in the mundane middle, hidden in my two friends’ shadows, but that wouldn’t work much longer. When they left Nordby to pursue their dreams, I’d become visible, exposed for what I was – nothing at all (p 52).

Coffeehouse Angel, like its narrator, is sweet with some unexpected strengths revealed through several missteps.

The story begins with Katrina noticing an apparently homeless teen sleeping in the alleyway behind the coffeehouse her grandmother owns. It’s the place where Katrina has always worked and how her classmates identify her – as Coffeehouse Girl.

But Malcolm is no ordinary vagabond. He’s a messenger angel, though Katrina is hard put to believe it. But through a series of mishaps as Malcolm attempts to grant Katrina her deepest desire as a reward for her unselfish generosity toward him, she begins to see the etherial truth.

Thrown into the mix are Vincent, Katrina’s best guy friend and swimming champion, and Elizabeth, artist extraordinaire. There is some romantic confusion surrounding Vincent and perhaps some jealousy regarding Elizabeth, and it takes Katrina some time and some self-deprecation to work through. But she does and the result is a girl realized, not a damsel in distress. Woo hoo!

SLJ described the adults as “often pliable, unrealistic, homophobic, or otherwise inappropriate” but welcome to small town America. This book is not without its charm, it’s highly readable, and without drugs, sex and violence, but still appropriate for the high school crowd. Definitely light chick-lit reading.

Read other reviews at: Confessions of a Book Addict and Karin’s Book Nook.

If you enjoy this book, I’d recommend: