Catching Fire

Over the last week, I have read the second book of the Hunger Game series, called Catching Fire. I really enjoyed this book, and in my opinion, was better than the first one. What happens in this book is that there is something called the Quarter Quell. The Quarter Quell occurs every 25 years and it is just like the Hunger Games, but with a twist. Haymitch, Katniss and Petta's mentor, won the last Quarter Quell. The twist then was that there would be twice as many tributes. This year, the twist was that the tributes would be chosen from only the existing pool of victors. For District 12, there was only one woman victor: Katniss. That means she is going back into the arena.
          The gang: Katniss, Peeta and  Haymitch start to train for the games this year. Since they have all the food and things they want, they can become like careers.
          When the games start, we know that this isn't Katniss' kind of place because the first thing that she says is, "This is no place for a girl on fire." I wont tell you what was in the arena but most of you will be able to guess what it is like in there.
          Over the games, the story is pretty much the same, but the ending is even more unexpected than the first book. I won't tell you what it is but there is no way  anyone can guess it.
          The type of people that would like this book are people that like mystery, violence, and drama. I like all of these things so I would rate it a 9.5. The only reason it isn't a 10 is because of the massive cliffhanger at the end. Hopefully, some of you will like this book also. 

          Right now, I am reading a book called Middle School, The Worst Years of My Life. Currently I am on chapter 18. I didn't start it yet, I just finished 17. Even though I am not that far in the book, I have some opinions about it.
          The best thing about this book in my opinion is that it is very relatable to. rafe is just a normal kid that is having a tough time in school. A lot of people have ways to relate to that. Another thing that is easy to relate to is that he has a sister. The retable thing though, is that his sister is a big mouth
who cant keep secrets and always tattles on Rafe.This quote shows exactly how Rafe feels about his little sister. "Thats Georgia, my super-nosy, super-obnoxious, super-brat sister...." Another thing I love about this book is the way that we are getting to know Rafe. I'm not even half way through the book and I know that: Rafe has a sister he is annoyed by, a stepfather he hates, and nicknamed him "Bear", has a best friend named Leo, and that he is very creative.
            So far, this has been one of my favorite book of all time, and by next week, I'll definitely be done with the book.

The Rest Of The Hunger Games.

          Surprisingly enough, I finished the rest of the book in less than a week. What happen in the book was that Prim got picked, but Katniss volunteered to go instead of her. The boy tribute from district 12 was Peeta Mellark. Katniss knows this boy a little, but not really. Their only interaction came when Katniss' dad died and he gave her some bread, which saved her and her family from dying of starvation.

          So, they both go into the arena together to face either certain death, or victory. I won't tell you who the victor is, but let me just tell you, it is defiantly not what you are expecting. Throughout the story, Katniss is clearly shown as a round character. A round character is when the author shows us different parts of the character. We learn a lot about Katniss in this story, about her life at home, how she has been providing for her family ever since her dad went out of the picture, causing her mom to go brain-dead. We also know that she is against the capital, and thinks it is unfair. "District 12. Where you can starve to death in safety." She says.

          Overall, I think this is a very good book and would give it a 9.5 out of 10. The only reason it's not a 10 is because I don't like the rule change that I won't say what it is, but makes the story a lot more predictable and it is easy to tell who will win. Still, not who most of you are expecting. 

          The kind of people that would like this book are the kind of people that don't mind a little gore, want some comedy, are looking for something that will have them on the edge of their seats whenever they are reading. 

         

         This week, I am going to start to read a book called The Hunger Games. I have seen the movie before, but I have not read the book yet. My friends tell me that this is a good book, and it is better than the movie. I really enjoyed the movie, and can't wait to read the book. Even before reading the book, I think the book will definitely be better than the movie. I think so because Suzanne Collins wrote this book in first person view. This is always better because we can get what the character is feeling. In movies, we can't see what's going on inside Katniss's head.
          So far, I have read the first chapter, and it looks like it will be a pretty good book.  There are many details in this book. It starts with Katniss telling us about her family. She has a mom and a sister. To provide for them, Katniss has to go hunting with her friend, Gale. The day is reaping day. What happens on reaping day is that 2 people, a boy and a girl are chosen to go into a stadium and fight to the death. This happens in every district. All twelve of them. So, 24 people are in a large stadium and need to fight to the death. Every year, from the age of 12, your name gets put in the reaping bowl once, until you are 18. There is also something called tesserae, where you put your name in extra times, and you receive food. Katniss has her name in 20 times, Gale has his 42 times.
          When the time to be reaped comes, everyone gathers up in the square, to figure out who this year's unlucky people are. Since Katniss's name is in 20 times, the odds are not in her favor. When the name gets called, it is not her name, but it is the one person she is certain she loves. Her sister, Primrose Everdeen.
         

      Over the past week, I read a book called Ungifted, by Gordon Kormon. It is about a boy, Donovan Curtis, who is a real troublemaker, but when he breaks a statue that belongs to a school, he gets in trouble with the superintendent, who writes Donovan's name down. What he didn't know was that he wrote it down on the list of people that were going to the gifted school. When Donovan first goes to the school, he feels like an outsider, and he is. He  is an outsider because he is the only one there that doesn't have an IQ of 170+. Over his time there, he made many friends though, and was the head driver for their class robot, Tin Man.

      What I like about this book is the way that Kormon relates to everyday middle school kids. Every person in this book has their own personal problems, just like people do in real life. Also, Kormon adds a lot of humor in this book by making the super smart kids in the school, completely and absolutely unsocial. Overall, this is a great book and is perfect for anyone that can read. 

My Summer Reading: Spoiler Alert

      This summer, I read the book: Speechless by Hannah Harrington. Let me just start with saying, this is a great book. It is about a girl, named Chelsea Knot, who is one of the popular kids in school. She is at her best friend, Kristen Courteau's New Years party, and she is having a good time, and of course, having a couple drinks. Actually, she was having a lot of drinks. And just like any other story, she eventually has too much, and needs to puke. She walks into her guest bedroom, and sees to people on the bed. Two boys. And they were kissing. She runs out of the room and hurries to Kristen, and tells her what's going on. Of course, being drunk, she yells it too loud and half the school hears. Two jocks, being drunk, go and beat up one of the boys; and it was really bad. He had to be hospitalized for over a month. This makes Chelsea feel so bad about what she did, she told the cops. Now she is one of the most hated kids in the school, and has taken a vow of silence because she says people are better off with her not talking. 

      Obviously, this story is filled with a lot of drama. High school drama. Also, there is a lot of the story of where Chelsea is developing into a better person, instead of being the obnoxious Chelsea.  

      This change starts when she meets Asha, someone that made an impression on Chelsea. Such an impression that Chelsea thought, "Normally I wouldn't bother with some geeky freshman loser dressed in the most unfortunate fuzzy purple sweater I've ever seen in mu life. I don't associate with freaks."

      Asha is a nice girl though, and eventually invites her over to the place she works to help her with her homework. The change starts when Andy, the boyfriend of the guy that she got beat up, Andy was there. Being there was emotionally hard for Chelsea because of the guilt she was feeling.   

      Throughout the story, Chelsea has many emotional trouble, because of the things that people that used to be her friends did things like egg her car and vandalized it. Her reaction is not very good, "I let them continue with their bantering and walk up to the car, and that’s when I see it. Someone’s thrown eggs all over the front window, the yolk running down onto the hood in a sticky yellow mess. I walk around only to find the word B**** spelled out in shaving cream all over the back. It’s like I’ve been sucker-punched. My bag drops to the ground at my feet." 

      Even though her old friends are bullying her, her new friends are always there for her. Asha is in the car with her, and Sam is outside talking to Asha when she discovers the eggs and shaving cream. Sam and Asha didn't have to do anything but they do everything they can do to help. 

      Throughout the story Asha and Sam become Chelsea's best friends, and support her through everything. We can learn from Chelsea's story that we should always make friends with the right people.

     The review on Speechless by Shellyrae Cusbert talks about some of the same things, like Chelsea growing from a immature girl to a mature, caring girl. Cusbert also mentions that the consequences that Chelsea faces are realistic, by getting shunned from the popular group. 

Speechless Review