Mockingjay

Mockingjay is the third and final book of the Hunger Games Trilogy.  Written by Suzanne Collins, it follows Katniss Everdeen through the final conflict with the evil and cruel Capitol government and their leader, President Snow. Snow has treated the citizens of the surrounding districts like slaves who exist purely for the benefit and entertainment of the rich, privileged and undeserving citizens who live in the Capitol district.  The first two books in this series are Hunger Games and Catching Fire.  As the inhabitants of the twelve districts fight for their freedom, there are many battle scenes with plenty of violence.  Mockingjay seems to have more graphic violence scenes than the other two books.   The most violent scenes in Mockingjay show torture, human bodies exploding, ripped-off limbs and murder of children.   Mockingjay isn’t only about war and violence; it also contains many examples of the characters exhibiting love, friendship, loyalty and personal integrity. All three books have lots of action with surprising twists and turns,

If you are a fan of Suzanne Collins, there is more to entice you. She has also written a series of fantasy books:  Gregor the Overlander, Gregor and the Prophecy of Bane, Gregor and the Curse of the Warmbloods, Gregor and the Marks of Secret, and Gregor and the Code of Claw.  She has even written several picture books: Year of the Jungle and When Charlie McButton Lost Power.  You can find information about these books by following this link.  http://www.suzannecollinsbooks.com/

Main Characters:

·         Katniss Everdeen is the heroine of all three Hunger Games books.  She is famous for winning the Hunger Games, leading the fight against the cruel Capitol government, and being the Mockingjay for the rebellion.

·         Peeta Mellark is also famous for winning the hunger games.  He is in love with Katniss and is a major player in the book’s conflicts.

·         Gale Hawthorne is Katniss’s oldest friend and her hunting and battle partner who is also in love with her.

·         Primrose Everdeen is Katniss’s younger sister.  She has medical skills and wants to be a doctor.

·         Plutarch Heavensbee  is the former head gamesmaker at the Capitol. He has joined the rebellion; he tries to be a source of support and information to Katniss.

·         Haymitch Abernethy is teacher to Katniss and Peeta, but he is an alcoholic, and thus is not to be trusted or depended upon.

·         President Alma Coin is the leader of the rebellion who has desires to be in control after the Capitol is defeated.

·         President Snow is the cruel leader of the Capitol District; he controls operations against the rebels.        

Mockingjay, as with the first two books takes place in Panem where democracy does not exist.  Panem is divided into thirteen districts with the Capitol district being home to the wealthy and privileged people who rely on the other twelve districts to provide food and resources for them.  Little is left for the providers of the food and resources to live on.  People of the twelve starving districts are rebelling against the Capitol and its evil leader, President Snow.  The twelve districts do not always work together to fight the Capitol; they do not trust each other.

Mockingjay begins with a look at Katniss Everdeen, the heroine of the story and all that she, her family and friends have lost because of President Snow, the Capitol District, and the Hunger Games which were fought at Snow’s command.   Katniss is convinced to become the Mockingjay, a symbol of the rebellion to be filmed and electronically broadcast to the District’s citizens.  It is hoped that she will be a centralizing leader that will persuade the District’s citizens to join together in the rebellion. Although Katniss was supposed to be just a public symbol of the rebels, she in an integral part of the brutal fighting.

The story covers Katniss’ struggles to reach the Capitol District and President Snow’s palace in order to overthrow the notorious leader.  Katniss is strongly motivated by her hatred of Snow and how he has treated the citizens of the twelve districts; she hates that her home has been destroyed and her family and friends left with nothing.  Most of all, she despises Snow for his treatment of her close friend, Peeta who has been tortured and mentally abused after his capture by the Capitol District.  Katniss is determined to rescue Peeta; she also demands that she be the one to execute Snow. She fights against the cruel monsters and weapons that Snow has created, tries to help Peeta return to his former state of mind when he loved her, and makes loyal friendships with others who want peace and freedom to return to Panem.

Strange new technologies, that can create all kinds of horrors, fill the battle scenes in the streets of the Capitol District as Katniss attempts to reach Snow’s palace.  Some of the strangest weapons were:   a bow that recognizes its owner’s voice with explosive tipped arrows, a Meat Grinder that chews everything in its path to dust, and pods filled with all kinds of objects that lead to capture or death for the rebels.  Examples of what some of the pods contained were: poisonous gas, sprays of gunfire, flesh eating rats, bombs, nets with barbs sticking from its wires, hordes of wolf, monkey or reptilian mutts who are animals in human form that pursue their prey relentlessly.  The Capitol District even developed a noxious, black, tar-like substance that covered the streets and buildings in an attempt to slow the rebels.  It is described on page 278 of Mockingjay:  “Black, oily matter sprouts like a geyser from the street, billowing between the buildings creating an impenetrable wall of blackness.  It seems to be neither liquid nor gas, mechanical nor natural.  Surely, it’s lethal!”

The rebels are almost completely defeated physically and mentally by the time they reach President Snow’s palace.  But there are several surprising twists and turns yet to come before the final confrontations are over.  You may be surprised by who the actual winners are.

One of the themes of Mockingjay is how futile and pointless war is.  The destruction, death and loss of loved ones are not worth what is gained by fighting a war. All that is lost during the war leaves little to be enjoyed, even by the victor.  Another theme that runs through the book is that you never know who to trust for sure.  People who you thought could be trusted and follow a true course may have hidden goals that don’t follow what they portray on the surface.  Following this theme allows the reader to be really surprised by turn of events.  You think you know where the story is headed but you will be surprised.  

The major conflict in Mockingjay is the continued effort by rebel forces to overthrow the selfish and cruel Capitol government and its leaders.  There are also conflicts amongst the 12 districts because         each is not sure where the other districts stand in the fight to gain some control over their lives.  There are numerous conflicts between characters that are even fighting on the same side against the government because of love triangle conflicts or conflicts about who is going to lead or control the fight or the country after the fighting is over.

Whether the rebels will win the war over the Capitol government and gain some freedom, resources and control of their own lives is one of the central ideas of this book.  Another central idea running through the book is who will Katniss choose as a life partner, Peeta, Gale, or no one.  They both love her and she is not sure that she wants to be with anyone.

This book is recommended to readers who love action and adventure.  It is a fantasy set in a dystopian future with abused citizens rebelling against an evil power.  There is a lot of vividly described violence and suffering in this book.   If you don’t like to read about violent battle scenes with abuse, torture, and killing of innocent people in the process of building a story, this is not the book for you.  It is a very fast paced book with battle scenes that will amaze you with descriptions of high-tech weapons used in the battles and in awe at the amount of death, destruction and suffering that humans can inflict on each other in order to achieve their goals. It is definitely a book that will keep you turning pages, even when you should be doing your homework. 

Book Review by Samuel J.

Mockingjay

Suzanne Collins started out her career by writing children’s TV shows. Some of the TV shows Mrs. Collins wrote include Oswald, Little Bear, and Clarissa Explains It All. Ms. Collins was also the Head writer for Scholastic’s Clifford’s Puppy Days. Collins is most known for her New York Times Best Seller The Hunger Games trilogy and The Underland Chronicles.

               

In the third Hunger Games book Mockingjay Katniss Everdeen having learned that her home in district 12 is demolished went to her new home in district 13 to prepare for battle to get back her friend Peeta Mellark who ex-president Snow has captured. Book number 3 has an action packed story line that will make you cry and cheer Katniss on on every page and will keep you on the edge of your seat.

               

Will Katniss save Peeta? Will the end of the Capitol come? Loyalty will be tested. Find out in the exciting third book that may end the Hunger Games.      

Book Review by Rose R.

Mockingjay

This book is titled Mockingjay by Suzanne Collins. Collins is the author of The Hunger Games and Catching Fire, both books that came before this one in the Hunger Games series. The theme of the book in my opinion is that sometimes, big objectives take big sacrifice. Katniss Everdeen had just heard the news that her home town was bombed by the Capitol. Now she must decide what her role will be in rebellion against the Capitol.

               

The citizens of the Districts are at war with the Capitol. They want freedom from their rule and don’t want to be forced into the Hunger Games anymore. After the Quarter Quell, the second Hunger Games Katniss has struggled through; she goes to her new home, District 13, after her old one, District 12, had been completely destroyed by the Capitol. Katniss decides to become the Mockingjay, the symbol of the rebellion. Her friend Peeta is in the hands of the Capitol, and she wants to get him back. President Coin is the leader of District 13, of the rebellion. She appoints Katniss with a new weapon and apparel. Katniss must survive the war and get Peeta back. The rebels must win the war and kill Snow, the president of the Capitol. “I want everyone watching – whether you're on the Capitol or the rebel side – to stop for just a moment and think about what this war could mean. For human beings. We almost went extinct fighting one another before. Now our numbers are even fewer. Our conditions more tenuous. Is this really what we want to do? Kill ourselves off completely? In the hopes that – what? Some decent species will inherit the smoking remains of the earth?”(Collins 25-26). In this quote, Peeta is talking to both the rebels and the citizens of the Capitol. He asks for both sides to stop fighting for the sake of humanity. I thought this quote was interesting because it is the only time in the book anyone asks for the war to end.

               

I thought this book was really good considering it was the first one in the Hunger Games series to not actually have a Hunger Games in it. I liked it because it was intense, interesting, and a good change from the other books. This book is for readers who like Science/Adventure Fiction and liked the books before this one in the series. 

Book Review by Greg E.

Mockingjay

“Mockingjay” is the third book in the hunger games series, written by Suzanna Collins. I really liked this book and I can tell by the books I have read so far that Suzanna Collins likes to write about people who are going through hard situations, but through it all there is good in the end. The theme of this book is that anyone, even in the worst situations, can find a way to prevail. It just takes time and effort, but in the end it is all worth it. “Mockingjay” is about how Katniss is now the icon for rebellion and she has to find a way to end the capital reign of destruction with the help of a few friends. She has to lead the districts to victory in a huge war that is to end President Snow’s power. While this is happening, it is also Katniss’s job to destroy the capital by killing their leader, President Snow.

               

The book begins with Katniss getting out of the quarter quell, safely waking up to find out the rebellion against the capital has finally started and Katniss’s Mocking Jay pin is the rebellion’s icon. She also finds out that the capital has captured Peeta and she has to take part in commercials (called propos) for the rebellion to convince more people to join their side. Once the rebellion puts out one propo starring Katniss, they immediately start gaining people and becoming more powerful. The rebels took cover underground from a bombing by the capital. After this, Katniss made another propo while the rebellion rescued Peeta from the capital, but the capital brainwashed Peeta and now he thinks Katniss is. Once she starts fighting, she is shot. Once healed, she is put into a unit with Gale and Finnick. They plan to go into action while being filmed for propos, but before the unit leaves for battle, Peeta is assigned to join them. Early on, their captain, Boggs, gets killed and Katniss is assigned new captain of the unit. She tells them that she is supposed to kill President Snow, so the unit’s main objective now is to help Katniss kill Snow. The Unit goes through a lot and many innocent people and solders die for Katniss’s mission and she won’t stop for anything until the end and the job is finished.

               

I really enjoyed reading this book, probably even more than the first two because of all the questions it answered that I have been wondering about. This book was not relevant to me at all because of all the insanely huge obstacles the characters had to overcome. I would never go through anything like them. I would without any doubt in my mind recommend this book to anyone who likes excitement in their reading. There is so much action and excitement, it’s hard to put the book down. If anyone wanted to read this book, I would highly advise that they read the first two books in the series first or else they will be very lost and confused about what is happening. “Mockingjay” demonstrates overcoming challenges, including one of the roughest and a few of the saddest moments I’ve ever read. Besides those parts, the book ended on a very good note. When I was reading, I would never be able to tell what was going to happen next, which kept me on my toes and made it very hard to stop reading. Overall, this was a very good book that I really liked and I had a great time reading the Hunger Games series and wish it didn’t have to end.

Book Review by Bennet H.

Mockingjay

The book i read was the hunger games mockingjay by suzanne collins. This book is the third book in the hunger games series she has written.In this story i feel like she is trying to show  people what happens when you can get alot of power and what you do with it. The setting is in district 13 a new district bulit after district 12 was destroyed by the rich capitol while there savior katniss was in the hunger games fighting for her life. In the previous book hunger games catching fire she was yet again going to another hunger games but this time for the victors as she fights to save peeta her and all of her loved ones life. In this book she is now out of the hunger games looking to get revenge on president snow at all costs.

There are 4 main characters in this book Katniss everdeen a skilled bow hunter who wants to protect all who she loves and cares about. Peeta a bakers son who also is Katniss main match in the hunger games shown as star crossed lovebirds. Gail another boy from district twelve who is Katniss actual lover but was not ever matched with her. Finally theres President Snow a game counselor and president of the rich side of the world who controls all that goes on in hunger games and in life for the districts otherwise known as katniss worst enemy. There are some pretty big conflicts in this story that are mostly between Peeta and Katniss because in the last book president snow had just taken away peeta right at the end of the story and it turned out that she had brainwashed him into thinking his lover was his worst enemy.The other conflict is between Katniss and President Snow while Katniss is dealing with brainwashed Peeta she also has to watch out for the traps president snow puts in her way as she tries to kill President snow. The big idea of the story is to see what happens between the two and how these conflicts end and where they end at.

the book was very action packed it left me wanting more every time i read out of this book and when i had to find a good stopping point there really wasn't one i just had to force myself to stop. It was really detailed enough so that i could see what i was reading like i was in a movie or there with the characters. My favorite feature is when i'm reading it makes me so into the book that i'll actually start bonding with the characters and have real emotions for them. you should definitely check this book out especially if you're one of those non stop readers who can't deal with just one book well this one has a whole series for you to read full of cliffhangers and great storylines.

Book Review by Leighton H.

Mockingjay

This is a review of the book “Mockingjay” by Suzanne Collins, published in September 2010. Mockingjay is the third and final book in “The Hunger Games” trilogy, meaning it concludes the series. The previous book in this series is Catching Fire. This books theme is dystopian fiction/sci-fi action, and is about a country with a cruel and oppressive government where the people are having a revolution against the government.

This book takes place in an unknown time in the future, probably a couple hundred years from now at my guess. All of today’s civilization is lost, and what remains is a country in North America called Panem. Panem is divided into 12 unfairly treated districts and a rich, high tech Capitol that rules the nation. In Mockingjay, there is finally a revolution against the Capitol which is unintentionally started by the protagonist Katniss Everdeen throughout the first two books. Katniss is part of an underground military group in District 13, which was mythologically supposed to be destroyed long before, and they are basically planning out the whole revolution themselves. Their plan is to take over each District one by one, and then the Capitol to finish it off. District 13 is using Katniss as their symbol, the Mockingjay. The cause of this being that Katniss accidentally started the revolution throughout the first two books and had her Mockingjay pin as her own symbol. This way District 13 knows that people will look up to her giving inspiration to the revolution. Throughout the book, District 13 makes a series of propaganda commercials cast throughout Panem called Propos, each one starring Katniss. The main characters are Katniss, of course, Peeta, who was captured by the Capitol but eventually rescued, Plutarch Heavensbee, one of the leading military officers, Boggs, another high ranked military officer, Gale Hawthorne, Katniss’s best friend, Cressida, who is in charge of the propos, Alma Coin the President of District 13 who barely even does anything, and the antagonist, President Snow, who is the president of Panem and who District 13 is trying to capture.

I loved this book, although it was not as good as Catching Fire. I love the setting because I think the whole idea of a cruel, dystopian nation being all that’s left in the far future is just really cool and creative, the story is gripping and intense, although the characters could have been better. It is full of action and violence, and the story gets interesting as it progresses. I like how Katniss traveled throughout Panem so I could see what some of the other Districts looked like. One thing I will say is that this is probably the most depressing book I have ever read. A LOT of people die throughout the book, and there were some scenes and descriptions that almost made me cry. I did not like Katniss that much. She is very tough and smart, but she is very negative and kind of mean. I can understand why she’s so grumpy, considering the situation she’s in, but she does take it out on other people and herself. At one point, she says “I hate almost everyone now, myself most of all”. If you like books with lots of action, a gripping story, and an interesting and creative setting, then read the Hunger Games series, they are awesome. My favorite book in the trilogy is Catching Fire, and Mockingjay is just a tiny bit worse. Although most people I know like the first book the best, but this is just my opinion. So read this series as soon as possible, it will suck you in until the last page of the last book, and you will be satisfied.

Book Review by Alex O.