Reading – The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins, p. 346- 374

In chapter 26, they spit the berries out and flushed their mouths with water.  They can hear the roar of the crowd in the Capitol that’s playing live over the speakers.  The hovercraft materializes and they get taken up into it.  Peeta goes straight into surgery for his leg.  They are taken back to the Training Center.  She is a little crazy and wants to stay with Peeta, but she gets jabbed with a needle.  When she wakes, she is clean and in her old bed.  She also has several tubes attached to her arm.  When the redheaded Avox girl comes to bring her food, she asks if Peeta made it out alive.  The girl nods.  Katniss is relieved that Peeta is okay and it hits her that she can go home now to Prim and her mother and Gale.  When she is allowed to leave her room, she meets up with Effie, Haymitch, and Cinna.  She hugs them and asks where Peeta is.  Haymitch says that he’s fine and the Capitol wants to do their reunion live on air at the ceremony.  She goes with Cinna to get ready.  She is still the “girl on fire” in her yellow dress.  The sheer fabric softly glows and even the slight movement in the air sends a ripple up her body.  In the dress, she gives the illusion of wearing candlelight.  She looks very simply like a girl – a young, innocent, and harmless girl.  When she asks about it, Cinna says carefully that he thinks Peeta would like it better.  But it’s not about Peeta, it’s about the Capitol and the Gamemakers and the audience.  It’s a reminder that the Games are not quite finished.  She senses a warning in his reply.  When she is ready, she is taken into an area under the stage and put on a metal plate that will transport her upward.  Haymitch comes to talk to her and when they hug, he begins talking very fast and very quietly in her ear with her hair concealing his lips.  He tells her that she’s in trouble.  The word is that the Capitol’s furious about her showing them up in the arena.  He says that her only defense can be that she was so madly in love and she wasn’t responsible for her actions.  She asks if he told Peeta and he says that he doesn’t have to because Peeta’s already there.  She’s feels like she’s never been in such a dangerous place in her life.  In the arena, she could only die.  But now, Prim, her mother, Gale, the people of District 12, and everyone she cares about could be punished if she can’t pull this off.

In chapter 27, Katniss reunites with Peeta at the Closing Ceremony in front of the Capitol.  During the ceremony, everyone watches a 3 hour recap of the Games.  Afterwards, President Snow crowns them as the victors.  Then Caesar Flickerman interviews Katniss and Peeta.  The next day, Katniss and Peeta get on the train back to District 12.  They barely have time to say good-bye to Cinna and Portia, but they’ll see them in a few months when they tour the districts for a round of victory ceremonies.  It’s the Capitol’s way of reminding people that the Hunger Games never really go away.  As she changes into normal clothes on the train, she begins to transform back into herself – just a girl who lives in the Seam, who hunts in the woods, and who trades in the Hob.  When the train makes a stop for fuel, Katniss and Peeta take a walk along the track.  She tells Peeta about how the Captiol didn’t like their stunt with the berries and how Haymitch has been coaching her so she wouldn’t make things worse.  Peeta realizes how she could communicate with Haymitch and that the way she acted was all for the Games.  He becomes very cold to her then.  She is really confused about her feelings when they finally arrive back home.

That was a little sad.  I really wanted Katniss and Peeta to stay together.  Well, hopefully they will make up in the next book.  I don’t like the Capitol at all.  They are really cruel and I think there should be a rebellion or something because it would be just terrible to live in that world.  Over all, I really liked the book.  I thought it had a lot of action and mystery and romance at the same time.  I would definitely recommend this book to anyone because I really enjoyed it.

Reading - The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins, p. 303- 345

In chapter 23, Peeta and Katniss talk about Haymitch.  They conclude that he won the Games because he outsmarted the others.  When the anthem plays, Peeta watches and sees that Thresh is dead.  Now there are only 4 tributes left: Peeta, Katniss, Cato, and Foxface.  Katniss and Peeta go out hunting, but Peeta is really loud so they decide to split up.  Katniss hunts and Peeta gathers some berries and roots.  When they get back, she notices that someone has eaten some of the food.  She thinks Peeta ate, but he was collecting berries down by the stream.  She notices that they aren’t Ruth’s berries, but she has seen them before.  She remembers her father telling her not to eat those berries.  They are called nightlock and that she’d be dead before they reached her stomach.  Just then, the cannon fires and a hovercraft appears a hundred yards away and picks up Foxface.  Peeta thinks Cato has killed her, but Katniss tells him that he killed Foxface with the berries.

In chapter 24, Katniss explains to Peeta how Foxface stole the food from the supply pile before she blew it up and how she tried to take enough to stay alive but not enough that anyone would notice.  She wouldn’t have questioned the safely of berries that they were preparing to eat.  She tells him that the berries are called nightlock.  He feels bad, but it’s good because they are one step closer to home.  Before he gets rid of the berries, Katniss fills a leather pouch with a few handfuls.  She thinks that if it fooled Foxface, then it might fool Cato as well.  They make a fire, cook the meat, and eat.  Then they go back to the cave.  The next day, they think that it is probably going to be their last day in the arena.  They find that the stream has been drained and that the Gamemakers probably want to drive them to the lake.  It’s evening when they make it to the lake.  They wait a little while, and then Cato smashes through the trees and runs straight for them.  Katniss tries to shoot him with an arrow, but he has some sort of body armor.  He runs right by them.  He hasn’t been running toward them, but from something.  Katniss sees the first creature leap onto the plain from the woods and as she’s turning away, she sees another half dozen join it.  She runs after Cato with no thought of anything but to save herself.

In chapter 25, the creatures are mutations – huge wolves that can land and balance easily on their hind legs.  One wolf waves the rest of the pack forward with its front paw as though it had a wrist.  Cato has made a beeline for the Cornucopia and they follow him.  The tributes climb the Cornucopia.  At the top, Katniss can see the mutts up close.  They have four inch and clearly razor-sharp claws.  Each has a thick coat and the colors vary from jet black to blond.  There is something unsettling about the mutts, but Katniss can’t put her finger on it.  One of them, a good-sized mutt with silky waves of blond fur leaps onto the horn.  Then Katniss figures it out.  The green eyes glowering at her are unlike any dog or wolf she’s ever seen.  They are unmistakably human.  That revelation has barely registered when she notices the collar with the number 1 inlaid with jewels and the whole horrible thing hits her.  The blonde hair, the green eyes, the number… it’s Glimmer.  Katniss shrieks and shoots the mutt.  She examines the pack, taking in the various sizes and colors.  Peeta asks Katniss what it wrong and she tells him that it’s them, all of the other tributes.  Peeta gasps in recognition.  They try to shoot the mutts down and in the process they have a confrontation with Cato who has regained his strength.  I can’t say anything else because I don’t want to spoil it, but Cato ends up getting mauled to death by the mutts.  Finally the cannon fires.  A hole opens in the plain and the remaining mutts bound into it, disappearing as the earth closes above them.  They wait for the hovercraft to take Cato’s remains and for the trumpets of victory that should follow, but nothing happens.  They get down from the horn and go to the lake.  A hovercraft then appears and takes Cato’s body away and Katniss thinks that now they will take her and Peeta, now they can go home.  But again there’s no response.  Then, Claudius Templesmith’s voice booms into the arena: “Greeting to the final contestants of the Seventy-fourth Hunger Games.  The earlier revision has been revoked.  Closer examination of the rule book has disclosed that only one winner may be allowed.  Good luck and may the odds be ever in your favor.”  Katniss stares at Peeta in disbelief as the truth sinks in.  They never intended to let both of them live.  It has all been devised by the Gamemakers to guarantee the most dramatic showdown in history.  Peeta tells her to kill him but she won’t.  He tells her that they both know that there has to be a victor and it can only be one of them.  Katniss then has an epiphany.  Yes, they have to have a victor.  Without a victor, the whole thing would blow up in the Gamemakers’ faces.  They’d have failed the Capitol – might possibly even be executed.  If she and Peeta were to both die, or if the Gamemakers thought they were going to die… She gets out the pouch and tells Peeta to trust her.  She then pours a few spoonfuls of berries into his palm and then into her own palm.  She says, “On the count of three,” and they stand, backs pressed together with their empty hands locked tight.  She tells Peeta to hold them out so everyone can see.  Then they count down.  On “Three!” they put the berries into their mouths and the trumpets begin to blare.  The frantic voice of Claudius Templesmith shouts “Stop! Stop! Ladies and gentlemen, I am pleased to present the victors of the Seventy-fourth Hunger Games, Katniss Everdeen and Peeta Mellark! I give you – the tributes of District Twelve!”

Wow, a lot happened in those 3 chapters.  I’m so glad that Katniss and Peeta both won!  That was a cool twist at the end with the berries.  I wonder what will happen to them now.  I seriously doubt that they will just be allowed to go home and live a normal life.  Plus, there are two more books after this one.  I thought the mutts were really disturbing.  I wonder if they actually had the other tributes eyes or if they were just made to look like them.

This video is SO awesome! For one thing, it's a Disney medley, and who doesn't love Disney?! Secondly, it's Nick Pitera, who is an awesome singer with an incredible range.  He can actually sing songs normally sung by women and sound just like them.  It's crazy.  So, I hope you like this video. :)

Reading - The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins, p. 244- 302

In chapter 19, Katniss now knows that Peeta, who’s been wounded, is now her ally.  She thinks about how they are supposed to be “star-crossed lovers” and thinks that Peeta must have been playing that angle all along.  Looking back, Peeta, it turns out, has never been a danger to her.  She follows the river, trying to find Peeta.  She finds him camouflaged in the mud and plants along the river.  He is wounded pretty badly – Cato cut him on his left thigh. He can barely move.  It’s a miracle he’s still alive, actually.  Katniss washes him off, treats his wounds, and feeds him.  Finally, when Peeta’s able to stand, Katniss half-guides, half-carries him to a cave nearby.  Since they are supposed to be madly in love, she kisses him.  She steps outside and a parachute floats down from the sky with a pot of hot broth.  She realizes that Haymitch couldn’t be sending a clearer message: one kiss equals one pot of broth.  If she wants to keep Peeta alive, she has to give the audience something more to care about – romance.

In chapter 20, they manage to survive for a while in the cave.  She tends to his minor wounds and then she unwraps his leg.  It’s much worse.  There’s no more pus, but the swelling has increased and he now has blood poisoning.  Unchecked, it will kill him for sure.  They decide that they are just going to have to outlast the others.  Then, doctors will cure it back at the Capitol once they win.  When Katniss asks if he wants anything, he asks for her to tell him a happy story.  She tells him how she got Prim’s goat.  After her story, there is another announcement.  There will be a feast at the Cornucopia; however, this is no ordinary feast.  The announcer says “Each of you needs something desperately.  Each of you will find that something in a backpack marked with your district number, at the Cornucopia at dawn.  Think hard about refusing to show up.  For some of you, this is your last chance.”  Katniss needs something to heal Peeta’s leg, but as soon as it’s over, Peeta says, “No. You’re not risking your life for me.”  She promises that she won’t go, but she isn’t happy about it.  She goes down to the stream to wash up and get a parachute with sleep syrup.  That vial could knock Peeta out for a full day, and that’s more time than she needs.  She mashes some berries and adds the medicine.  He realizes that is syrup just as he takes the last spoonful.

In chapter 21, Katniss goes down to the feast.  I won’t tell what happens because I don’t want to spoil it.  But she gets the medicine and makes it back to the cave.  She jams the needle into Peeta’s arm.  Then, she falls over, unconscious.

In chapter 22, when Katniss wakes up, there is a thunder storm.  Peeta has bandaged her head wound and helps her get better.  They just focus on eating and staying alive.  She realizes that in order for Haymitch to send them food, she must continue her and Peeta’s romance.  (Note that Peeta does not know about this at all.)  They actually share a real romantic moment, during which they kiss and Katniss feels something stirring inside her chest.  Haymitch then sends them a feast.

All I can say is, “Awww!” That was a really sweet and cute romantic moment.  I really like the relationship that is developing between them.  I also think its clever how Haymitch and Katniss are sort of communicating in a way.  I think Peeta truly loves Katniss though.  I don’t think it’s just an act like she still does.

Reading - The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins, p. 195- 244

In chapter 15, Katniss finally comes to her senses.  She thinks about how Peeta saved her life and she is confused.  After nursing herself back to health, she encounters Rue again and they form an alliance.  Rue then teaches her how to heal her stings.  They talk about their different districts.  Rue also tells Katniss about the Careers, who she has been spying on.  They have all the supplies and food from the Cornucopia.  Katniss asks what if they didn’t, what if the supplies were gone – how long would they last.  “I mean, it’s the Hunger Games, right?”  Rue says, “But, Katniss, they’re not hungry.”  For the first time, Katniss has a plan, an offensive plan.  She says, “I think we’re going to have to fix that, Rue.”

In chapter 16, they figure out a plan.  In the meantime, Katniss finds out that what Rue loves the most in the world is music – that’s why she loves Katniss’s mockingjay pin.  She tells Katniss how she’s usually the first to see the flag that signals quitting time, so she sings a little four-note run and the mockingjays spread it around the orchard.  That way, everyone knows to stop working.  She tells Katniss that her pin is how she decided that she could trust her.  Before they split up to complete the plan, Rue teaches Katniss her mockingjay signal.  If Katniss hears the mockingjays singing it, she’ll know that Rue is okay, only that she can’t get back right away.  The rest I won’t say, but Katniss ends up losing her hearing in one of her ears.  They do succeed though. 

In chapter 17, she goes to the place where she was supposed to meet Rue.  By late afternoon, Katniss goes to look for her.  A little while later, she hears Rue’s song from the mockingjays.  She figures that Rue has been singing to them recently so she must be somewhere close.  Katniss sings back and then she hears Rue scream.  Rue cries out for Katniss.  When Katniss breaks into the clearing, Rue is on the ground, hopelessly entangled in a net.  She just has time to reach her hand through the mesh and say Katniss’s name before the spear enters her body.

In chapter 18, Katniss shoots the boy from D1 before he can pull out the spear.  Katniss frees her from the net.  One look at the wound and she knows that it’s far beyond her capacity to heal.  Rue’s hand reaches out and Katniss clutches it.  Rue asks if she blew up the food and Katniss tells her yes.  She then says to Katniss, “You have to win.” Katniss tells her that she will - she’s going to win for both of them now.  Katniss stays with Rue.  Rue asks her to sing.  Katniss hasn’t sung since her father died, but she sings a song that she remembers.  The words promise that tomorrow will be more hopeful than this awful piece of time we call today.  Everything’s still and quiet.  Then, almost eerily, the mockingjays take up her song.  Rue’s cannon fires.  Rue’s death forces her to confront her own fury against the Capitol’s cruelty, the injustice they inflict upon them.  For the first time, Katniss understands what Peeta meant when he said that he wanted to be more than just a piece in their Games.  She gathers some wildflowers and slowly decorates Rue’s body in the flowers, covering the wound and wreathing her face and weaving her hair with bright colors.  She says goodbye and turns to go.  She hears the hovercraft behind her as she walks.  That night, Katniss finds the there are only 6 tributes left.  Then, there is an unexpected announcement.  There’s been a rule change in the Games.  Under the new rule, both tributes from the same district will be declared winners if they are the last two alive.  The news sinks in, and before she can stop herself, Katniss calls out Peeta’s name.

That was a rollercoaster of emotions for me.  I loved that Katniss and Rue were allies.  Rue is so cute and she just snuggled in next to Katniss when they slept and completely trusted her.  She had such interesting stories about her own district, 11 which does agriculture.  Most of all, I loved that she loved music.  Music is so great and I loved how she would sing to the mockingjays and they would pick up on her song.  It was really suspenseful when they did their plan to get rid of the Career’s food supply.  I had to read that part really fast to see what happened.  Then, I was really sad and upset when Rue died.  She was definitely one of my favorite characters.  I loved how Katniss sang her “to sleep” as she died and then decorated her with flowers.  But I started crying when Katniss did her District’s goodbye symbol (pressing her three middle fingers of her left hand against her lips and then holding them out in Rue’s direction).  It’s what the people of D12 did to Katniss at the reaping when she took Prim’s spot.  I actually had to stop, put my book down, and cry for a bit until I could start reading again.  It’s not the first time I’ve had to do that with books, but that shows that it touched me on an emotional level and I just love that.  But anyway, then when we found out that both Katniss and Peeta could live, I was really happy! This section was just great.

The cartoons, toys, stuff animals, and random furniture portray an animated, lighthearted tone of Pharrell Williams modern home. A good friend of Pharrell's created the term "kidalt," a combination of kid and adult, to describe Pharrell. This is a very fitting description of this house. The house is very modern with vibrant colors and interesting objects, such as a ball of carnival flowers, "Family Guy" posters, and a chair with human looking legs and feet. He seems to have a fun and silly sense of humor. The hugeness of the house, beautiful ocean view, and glass dome in his living room make me think that this is an extremely expensive house.

Reading - The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins, p. 148- 195

In chapter 11, the Games begin.  I can’t say much because I don’t want to ruin the plot, but she survives the first day.  Eleven other tributes aren’t as lucky.  She manages to get a backpack full of supplies, including a sleeping bag, from the Cornucopia.  She is sleeping in a tree when she hears some Careers talking beneath her.  They kill a girl who was foolish enough to start a fire.  Then, Katniss hears Peeta’s voice.

In chapter 12, Katniss almost falls out of the tree. She is so surprised that Peeta is with the Careers.  When Peeta goes to get something, she hears the Careers talking about him.  She finds out that the reason they haven’t killed him yet is because he is their best chance of finding her.  When they leave, she continues on searching for water.  She gets severely dehydrated and assesses her options: she would never make it to the lake, there’s not a cloud in the sky so rain is improbable, so her only option is to keep looking.  Then, another thought hits her – Haymitch could send her water.  Press a button and have it delivered to her in a silver parachute in minutes.  She knows she must have sponsors so she says “Water,” and waits but nothing comes.  She becomes distressed and eventually figures out that he is sending her a message.  There’s only one good reason Haymitch could be withholding water from her and that is because he knows she’s almost found it.  By afternoon, she thinks she’s going to die and collapses into mud.  Then she realizes that if there is mud, there must be water and sure enough, there is a pond 5 yards from where she fell.  She fills her flask with water and adds a few drops of iodine to purify it.  By the time the anthem plays, she feels remarkably better.  There are no faces on the huge screen above the arena, so no one died that day.  She falls asleep and a few hours later she wakes to find a wall of fire descending on her.

In chapter 13, she scrambles out of the tree and follow the rabbits and deer in running from the fire and smoke.  Katniss knows that this fire wasn’t an accident; it was made by the Gamemakers.  Things had been too quiet that day and the audience in the Capitol might be getting bored, claiming that these Games are verging on dullness, which is one thing the Games must not do. The fire is designed to flush the non-Careers out of that area and drive everyone together.  Then, fireballs start blasting at her.  She keeps zigzagging and diving and leaping to avoid the fireballs because she knows from watching previous Hunger Games that certain areas of the arena are rigged for certain attacks.  She just needs to get away from that section.  Unfortunately, however, a fireball skids across her right calf and crashes into the ground at her side.  She can hear Cinna’s voice saying, “Katniss, the girl who was on fire,” and imagines that the Gamemakers are having a good laugh over that one.  The attack is then over, but she now has server burns on her calf and hands and they are covered in blisters.  She finds a spring-fed pool and tries to treat her burns somewhat.  As evening begins to fall, she hears the Careers.  She picks a high tree and climbs up 20 feet.  All six Careers come, but they are heavier than her and can’t climb the tree.  They decide that since she’s not going anywhere, they will deal with her in the morning.  During the night, she sees a pair of eyes peer at her from the neighboring tree.  At first she thinks they are a possum’s eyes, but then she realizes that it is Rue, the little 12-year-old girl from 11, who is watching her silently from the branches.  Then, without even rustling a leaf, she points to something above Katniss’s head.

In chapter 14, Katniss realizes it’s a wasp nest that is about 15 feet above her.  More than that, they are one of the Capitol’s mutations, tracker jackers – killer wasps with a sting that raises a lump the size of a plum on contact.  Most people can’t tolerate more than a few stings and some die at once.  If you live, the hallucinations brought on by the venom have actually driven people to madness.  I’m not going to tell what happens next because I don’t want to spoil the plot.  But during the action, Katniss gets her first gift from a sponsor – really expensive burn medicine.  She also finds out the Rue has survived because she has been jumping from tree to tree.  The Careers flee to the lake.  Glimmer, District 1, dies and Katniss takes her bow and arrows.  Katniss is stung, but Peeta comes back and tells her to get up and run and then fights off Cato (D2) while she escapes.

That was really cool.  I didn’t think that she was going to find a way out of that situation, but she did.  Of course, she had some surprising help.  That was really cool that Rue just popped out of nowhere and basically saved her life.  I think I like Rue.  She’s a little mysterious, but I think it’s funny that she’s been jumping from tree to tree.  That’s probably why she got such a high score in training.  I also loved that Peeta came and saved Katniss.  I wonder if he cares for her after-all.  I hope he survived Cato because I think he is a very interesting character.

Reading - The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins, p. 103- 147

In chapter 8, the tributes see their scores out of 12 broadcast to the nation. The Careers are in the 8 to 10 range. Most of the players average a five. Little Rue comes up with a seven. Peeta pulls an eight, and Katniss gets an eleven. They congratulate eachother and head off to bed. Tomorrow night will be the televised interviews. The next day, Haymitch is going to coach them on interviews, but there is a change of plans: Peeta has asked to be coached separately.

 

 In chapter 9, Katniss feels kind-of betrayed, but she knows that it’s probably better if they are enemies because she will have to kill him eventually in order to survive. For the interview, Cinna designs for her another beautiful dress made out of jewels that make her look as though she is engulfed in tongues of fire. Though she did not really get any useful help from Haymitch, Cinna tells her to just be herself and that everyone admires her spirit. Then it’s time for the interviews. The tributes are lined up on the stage in front of City Circle. Katniss will be second to last since the girl tribute precedes the boy in each district. Haymitch tells them that they still have to act like they’re a happy pair. Katniss’s interview goes well and then it’s Peeta’s turn. During the interview, Caesar Flickerman (the host) asks him if he has a girlfriend back home. Peeta tells him no, but he’s had a crush on this one girl ever since he can remember. Caesar says, “So, here’s what you do. You win, you go home. She can’t turn you down then, eh?” Peeta replies that he doesn’t think that’s going to work, “Winning… won’t help in my case.” He blushes beet red and stammers, “Because… because… she came here with me.”

 

 In chapter 10, Katniss is so surprised and shocked and she blushes. Caesar asks if Katniss knew and Peeta says not until now. When he is done, the roar of the crowd is deafening. Peeta has absolutely wiped the rest of the tributes off the map with his declaration of love for Katniss. Back at the Training Center, Katniss is mad at Peeta for saying those things about her and not telling her because she thinks he did it just as an act to get sponsor support. Peeta and Haymitch convince her that it helped both of them because it made her look desirable and that they are all the Capitol is talking about – the star-crossed lovers from District Twelve. She still thinks that she should’ve been told, but they say that if she would have known, her reaction wouldn’t have read as real. She realizes that she was wrong and apologizes to Peeta. Before they go to bed, Haymitch gives them one last bit of advice: “When the gong sounds, get the hell out of there. You’re neither of you up to the blood bath at the Cornucopia. Just clear out, put as much distance as you can between yourselves and the others, and find a source of water.” Katniss, after trying to fall asleep, finally goes up to the roof to get some air. She finds Peeta up there. They talk and he says that he’s never been a contender in the Games anyway. His best hope is to not disgrace himself. He doesn’t want them to change him in there, to turn him into some kind of monster that he’s not. He wishes he could think of a way to show the Capitol they don’t own him. That he’s more than just a piece in their Games. The next day is the day the Games start. A hovercraft comes to pick her up and a tracker is injected into her arm so the Gamemakers will always be able to trace her whereabouts in the arena. She is taken to her own Launch Room to get ready. Cinna pins on her gold mockingjay pin onto her outfit. The material she wears is designed to reflect body heat, which will be helpful in cool nights. Finally, a pleasant female voice announces it’s time to prepare for launch. Cinna tells her one last thing – that he’s not allowed to bet, but if he could, his money would truly be on her. A glass cylinder lowers around her and he taps his fingers under his chin. She lifts her head high and for maybe 15 seconds, she’s in darkness. Then a metal plate pushes her out of the cylinder and she is dazzled by the bright sunlight. She’s conscious only of a strong wind with the hopeful smell of pine trees. Then, the legendary announcer Cludius Templesmith’s voice booms all around her: “Ladies and gentlemen, let the Seventy-fourth Hunger Games begin!”

 

 Wow! This is really cool! I can’t wait to get into the actual games. I wonder what will happen with Peeta and Katniss. They got into an argument in the roof the night before the Games and I wonder if they will continue to act as if they are “star-crossed lovers.” I was completely shocked when Peeta announced that he loved Katniss, but then I was a little sad when it turned out that it was just an act. Oh, well. It was a really clever idea though. I really like Cinna. He is always there for Katniss to act as a friendly father-figure and mentor when she really needs it. Plus, the descriptions of his outfits are so awesome! I can actually picture them in my head and I wish they were real. That reminds me! I found out that there is going to be a Hunger Games movie! So I guess I’ll see what they make for her dresses then! Hopefully they will be just like the descriptions in the book.

Reading - The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins, p. 48- 102

In chapter 4, they are all still on the train.  Katniss and Peeta show Haymitch that they can actually fight and he decides to stay sober enough to help them.  The first thing he tells them is to not resist whatever the stylists put them into.  They finally reach the magnificent, glistening Capitol.

In chapter 5, Katniss is in the Remake Center with a prep team who has been addressing some obvious problems.  This includes scrubbing down her body with a gritty foam that has removed not only dirt but at least three layers of skin, turning her nails into uniform shapes, and primarily, ridding her body of hair.  When they are done, Katniss’ stylist, Cinna, enters.  They sit down and talk about her costume for the opening ceremonies.  Cinna and his partner Portia, the stylist for Peeta, have decided to dress them in complementary costumes.  He also says it’s customary to reflect the flavor of the district.  For the opening ceremonies, the tributes are supposed to wear something that suggests their district’s principal industry; District 11 - agriculture, District 4 - fishing, District 3 – factories.  Katniss thinks this means that she’ll have to wear some kind of coal miner’s getup.  Cinna says that he and Portia think that coal miner thing’s very overdone and it’s their job to make the District12 tributes unforgettable. So rather than focus on the coal mining itself, they’re going to focus on the coal.  Cinna then says, “And what do we do with coal? We burn it.”  A few hours later, she is dressed in what will be the most sensational or the deadliest costume in the opening ceremonies.  She’s in a simple black unitard that covers her from ankle to neck with shiny leather boots laced up to her knees.  But it’s the fluttering cape made of streams of orange, yellow, and red and the matching headpiece that define the costume.  Cinna plans to light them on fire just before their chariot roll into the streets.  Cinna assures her that it’s just a little synthetic fire and that she’ll be perfectly safe.  He tells her that “I want the audience to recognize you when you’re in the arena.  Katniss, the girl who was on fire.”  Peeta shows up dressed in an identical costume.  They go down to the bottom level of the Remake Center where pairs of tributes are being loaded into chariots pulled by horses.  The opening music begins.  The ride lasts about twenty minutes and ends up at the City Circle, where they will welcome the tributes, play the anthem, and escort them into the Training Center, which will be their home/prison until the Games begin.  Just before they go, Cinna sets their capes on fire.  At the last minute, he has an idea and shouts for Katniss and Peeta to hold hands.  When they enter the city, the crowd absolutely loves them and they look breathtaking.  After the ceremonies, the chariots parade around the circle one final time and disappear into the Training Center.

In chapter 6, they are in the Training Center.  It has a tower designed exclusively for the tributes and their teams that will be their home until the actual Games begin.  Each district has an entire floor – one simply steps onto an elevator and presses the number of their district.  Effie Trinket takes them up to their floor.  She and Haymitch will be overseeing them right into the arena.  Katniss’s quarters are larger than her entire house back home.  They all sit down to eat dinner.  Their servers, all young people dressed in white tunics, move wordlessly to and from the table, keeping the platters and glasses full.  Katniss recognizes one of them, a redheaded girl, and says “oh! I know you!”  She can’t place a name or time to the girl’s face, but she’s certain she’s seen the girl before.  An expression of terror crosses her face and she quickly shakes her head in denial and hurries away from the table.  The four adults are watching her like hawks.  Effie tells her to not be ridiculous because she couldn’t possibly know an Avox.  Katniss asks what an Avox is.  Haymitch tells her that an Avox is someone who committed a crime and they cut her tongue so she can’t speak.  He says that she’s probably a traitor of some sort and it’s unlikely that Katniss would know her.  Effie tells her that even if she did, she’s not to speak to one of them unless it’s to give an order.  Peeta quickly comes to rescue her when he says it’s a girl named Delly and that he kept thinking she looked familiar as well.  Katniss catches on and agrees saying that’s who she was thinking of, even though she knows Delly looks and acts nothing like the girl.  The energy at the table relaxes.  They eat cake and move into a sitting room to watch the replay of the opening ceremonies that’s being broadcast.  When Katniss and Peeta are told to get some sleep, they go up to the roof to talk.  She tells him that she and Gale were in the woods one day and they saw the redheaded girl and another boy running for their lives.  A hovercraft had appeared out of nowhere, dropping a net down on the girl and carrying her up.  It shot a spear through the boy, killing him and then hauling him up as well.  Katniss and Peeta wonder where they were going and why they would want to leave the Capitol.

In chapter 7, the next day, Katniss and Peeta decide to let Haymitch coach them together.  Haymitch tells them to go to group training in the Training Center and spend the time trying to learn something they don’t know.  He says to save showing what they’re best at until their private lessons.  He also tells them that in public, he wants them to be by each other’s side every minute.  They get ready and then go down to the training rooms.  When they join the others, a woman named Atala begins to explain the training schedule.  Experts in each skill will remain at their stations and the tributes will be free to travel from area to area as they choose.  Some of the stations teach survival skill while others teach fighting techniques.  Katniss can’t help but look at the other tributes.  Almost all of the boys and at least half of the girls are bigger than her, even though many of the tributes have never been fed properly.  Katniss actually has a healthier body than most because she is strong.  The exceptions are the kids from the wealthier districts, the volunteers, the ones who have been fed and trained throughout their lives for this moment.  The tributes from 1, 2, and 4 traditionally have this look about them.  In District 12, they call them the Career Tributes, or just the Careers.  When Atala releases them, Katniss and Peeta go to the knot-tying class, then the camouflage station, which Peeta is very good at.  He tells Katniss that he decorates the cakes for his family’s bakery.  They move from station to station learning valuable skills.  The Gamemakers, twenty or so men and women dressed in deep purple robes, sit and watch.  At lunch, Peeta and Katniss eat together and try to keep up a friendly conversation.  One day, Peeta empties their breadbasket and points out how they have been careful to include types from the districts along with the refined bread of the Capitol.  The fish-shaped loaf tinted green with seaweed is from District 4.  The crescent moon roll dotted with seeds is from District 11.  The next day, Peeta observes that they have a shadow; there is a little girl from District 11 standing back a bit, watching them.  She’s twelve years old and reminds Katniss of her sister Prim.  She has bright, dark eyes and satiny brown skin.  He tells Katniss that he thinks her name is Rue.  She slips up and joins them at different stations.  On the third day, the tributes are starting to be called out of lunch for their private sessions.  Its then when the tributes have to make an impression on the Gamemakers because after that, the Gamemakers score them on how likely they are to succeed in the Games.  If a tribute gets a high score, they are more likely to win sponsors.  Katniss is the last to go.  She knows she’s in trouble because the Gamemakers have been there too long and have sat through twenty-three other demonstrations.  She can only continue with the plan and heads over to the archery station.  She’s excellent at shooting but when she turns to the Gamemakers, the majority of them are fixated on a roast pig that had just arrived at their banquet table.  She is suddenly furious that, with her life on the line, they don’t even have the decency to pay attention to her.  Without thinking, she pulls an arrow from her quiver and sends it straight at the Gamemakers’ table.  She hears shouts of alarm as people stumble back.  The arrow skewers the apple in the pig’s mouth and pins it to the wall behind it.  Everyone stares at her in disbelief and she says, “Thank you for your consideration,” and walks out without being dismissed.

Oh wow.  I can’t believe Katniss actually shot at the Gamemakers.  I wonder what will happen.  They could really hate her now or they could like that she is fiery and passionate.  I guess we’ll see.  I think Rue is interesting.  She’s really little so it’s sad that she will probably die during the Games, but I like how much she and Prim are alike.  It’s too bad that nobody volunteered to take her place though.  I really like Peeta, even though Katniss doesn’t trust him.  She’s only nice him in public because she was told to.  I actually think Peeta is generally a nice person and would have hung out with Katniss anyway.  

Reading – The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins, p. 1- 47

In chapter 1, Katniss Everdeen lives in the nation of Panem, a place that was once called North America. In Panem, there is a shining Capitol surrounded by 12 outlying districts. The Capitol is harsh and cruel and keeps the districts in line by forcing them all to send one boy and one girl between the ages of twelve and eighteen to participate in the annual Hunger Games, a fight to the death on live TV. Katniss lives in District 12, the poorest district where it is common for people to starve to death. Katniss takes care of her mother and her twelve-year-old sister, Prim, by illegally sneaking past the fence surrounding their district and into the woods to hunt and gather food. Her hunting partner is a boy named Gale, who also has to provide food for his family. Its reaping day, the day when the boy and girl are picked from each district, and it is mandatory for everyone in the district to come and watch. On the stage in the town square are three chairs, a podium, and two large glass balls, one for the boys and one for the girls. Two of the three chairs fill with Mayor Undersee and Effie Trinket, District 12’s escort from the Capitol. The mayor gets up and tells the history of Panem and of the Dark Days, the uprising of the districts against the Capitol. Twelve were defeated, the thirteenth obliterated. The Treaty of Treason gave them the new laws to guarantee peace and, as a yearly reminder that the Dark Days must never be repeated, the Hunger Games was formed. The rules of the Hunger Games are simple. In punishment for the uprising, each of the twelve districts must provide one girl and one boy, called tributes, to participate. The twenty-four tributes will be imprisoned in a vast outdoor arena that could hold anything from a burning desert to a frozen wasteland. Over a period of several weeks, the competitors must fight to the death. The last tribute standing wins. To make it humiliating as well as torturous, the Capitol requires them to treat the Hunger Games as a festivity, a sporting event pitting every district against the others. The winning tribute receives a life of ease back home, and their district will be showered with prizes, largely consisting of food. After the mayor states this, he reads the list of past District 12 victors. In seventy-four years, they have had exactly two, only one of which is still alive. Haymitch Abernathy, a drunk, middle-aged man, staggers onto the stage and falls into the third chair. The mayor is distressed because since all of this is being televised, right now District 12 is the laughingstock of Panem. He quickly tries to pull the attention back to the reaping by introducing Effie Trinket. It’s time for the drawing. Effie goes over to the girls’ names, reaches into the ball, and pulls out a slip of paper. Katniss feels nauseous and desperately hopes it’s not her. Effie Trinket crosses back to the podium, smoothes the slip of paper, and reads out the name in a clear voice. And it’s not Katniss. It’s Primrose Everdeen.

In chapter 2, Katniss is in shock. It’s her twelve-year-old sister’s first reaping and Prim was one slip of paper in thousands. Katniss calls out for Prim and runs to her. With one sweep of her arm, she pushes Prim behind her and gasps, “I volunteer! I volunteer as tribute!” There’s some confusion on the stage. District 12 hasn’t had a volunteer in decades and the protocol has become rusty. The rule is that once a tribute’s name had been pulled from the ball, another eligible child can step forward to take his or her place. In some districts, in which winning the reaping is such a great honor, people are eager to risk their lives. But in District 12, where the word tribute is pretty much synonymous with the word corpse, volunteers are all but extinct. The mayor lets her come forward. Prim is screaming hysterically behind her and Katniss tells her to let go. Gale comes and carries Prim off toward her mother and Katniss gets on the stage. The boy whose name is picked is Peeta Mellark. He is medium height, stocky build, and has ashy blond hair. He is Katniss’s age and he is the son of the baker. Katniss and Peeta shake hands.

In chapter 3, the tributes are taken into the Justice Building. They are given about an hour to say good-bye to their loved ones. Her mother and Prim visit her first. Prim tells her that she just wants Katniss to come home. She asks, “You will try, won’t you? Really, really try?” Katniss replies, “Really, really try. I swear it,” and she knows that because of Prim, she’ll have to. Madge, the mayor’s daughter, also come to visit. They are sort of friends at school. She tells Katniss that they are allowed to wear one thing from their district in the arena: one thing to remind them of home. And she asks Katniss to where her circular gold pin. Katniss sees that it’s a small bird in flight. Katniss says she will. Then Gale comes and he talks to her. He tells her that getting a knife should be easy, but she must find a bow. Even if they don’t have any bows, she should make one because that’s her best chance of surviving. He tells her that it’s just hunting and that she’s the best hunter he knows. He promises to take care of her family and not to let them starve. Katniss and Peeta go to the train station and get on the train to the Capitol. The Capitol was built in a place once called the Rockies and District 12 was built in a region known as Appalachia. In District 12, their main job is mining coal. They are given their own chambers on the train and Katniss changes her clothes. For the first time, she gets a good look at it. It’s as if someone fashioned a small golden bird and then attached a ring around it. She suddenly recognizes the bird as a mockingjay. She explains how during the rebellion, the Capitol bred a series of genetically altered animals as weapons. One was a special bird called a jabberjay that had the ability to memorize and repeat whole human conversations. They were released into regions where the Capitol’s enemies were known to be hiding. It took people a while to realize what was going on in the districts, how private conversations were being transmitted. Then, the rebels fed the Capitol endless lies and the joke was on it. So the centers were shut down and the birds were abandoned to die off in the wild. But they didn’t die off. Instead, the jabberjays mated with mockingbirds, creating a whole new species that could replicate both bird whistles and human melodies. The “mockingjays” can recreate songs, and not just a few notes, but whole songs with multiple verses, if one had the patience to sing them and if they liked one’s voice. Katniss remembers how her father was particularly fond of mockingjays. Whenever her father sang, all the birds in the area would fall silent and listen. Katniss could never bring herself to continue the practice of singing to the birds after his death. But still, there’s something comforting for Katniss about the little bird. She pins it on and goes to eat dinner with Peeta and Effie. They eat and watch the other reapings. Katniss and Peeta laugh when they see Haymitch drunk and falling off the stage on TV. Effie is not amused and tells them that Haymitch is their mentor, the one who advises them, lines up their sponsors, and dictates the presentation of any gifts. She says, “Haymitch can well be the difference between your life and your death!” Just then, Haymitch staggers into the compartment, asks if he has missed supper in a slurred voice, vomits on the carpet, and then falls in the mess.

I really like this book so far. I think the plot line is very interesting and original. I really like how it takes place in the future. It makes me think about what will actually happen in the future and if some kind of dictatorship would be possible in the place that was once America. I like how the symbol on the cover of the book is Katniss’s pin of the mockingjay. It helps me be able to see what it looks like. I’m not sure if I like Peeta or not. He seems sincere and kind, but it’s too early to tell on his character.