The year is sometime in the future, after an inevitable war that tore the former United States to shreds. The country is destitute. Twelve districts vie for attention from the capital, run by the cruel President Snow, in the annual Hunger Games: televised competitions in which two children from each district are pitted in a fight to the death for supremacy.
After becoming the first pair of tributes to ever win the games, Peeta and Katniss find their way home to District 12, the poorest of all the districts...but there is trouble afoot. Not all is what it seems. This year is a special offering, one in which the contestants will be chosen from past victors... and Katniss and Peeta find themselves facing the games again. Will they win? Will they lose? Will they see their families again? The games start to heat up, and the questions pile up into one final ultimatum: Have Katniss and Peeta's efforts been for naught, or will they emerge from the Hunger Games alive and sporting honors?
Suzanne Collins is an acclaimed young-adult book author who first made her debut as a writer for shows such as "Clarissa Explains it All" and "Little Bear". She also authored the series "The Underland Chronicles". In 2008, her trilogy "The Hunger Games" was released by Scholastic to rave reviews.
Catching Fire, the second entry in the wildly popular Hunger Games series, is an immensely suspenseful story which lends itself extremely well to the audiobook format. With more than 60 weeks on the New York Times bestseller list, it's sure to thrill both young adult and the young-at-heart alike.
"Most sequels are not as good as the original. However, I found this book to be just as good, if not better than the Hunger Games. It was a really creative twist the author took to send the two main characters back into the games, along with previous winners from before. This really tests their relationship and their strength they have to make it through. It has a lot of morals for kids and shows how teamwork is, in a lot of cases, the best way to go. The team rebells against the capitol and begins a war for their freedom. Just like in the first book I love that Katniss is the main character. It is one of the only series of books that I have read where there is a strong, powerful female character. She is not only mentally strong but physically as well and is willing to take risks to stand up for what she believes in."
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Maris (5 out of 5 stars)