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Friday, September 24, 2010

Book Talk Friday: Catching Fire

Currently Reading: In the Woods

Reader,

Catching Fire
by Suzanne Collins

In the second installment of the Hunger Games, all is not well in the districts.  The daring events that ended the first novel are sending ripples of dissent through the districts.  Katniss's one small act of rebellion is the spark, but how big will the fire be?

Why did I pick it up?  Around a year ago I read Hunger Games in a class, and fell in love.  After a year I finally was able to pick up and read this one.

Why did I continue reading? I couldn't stop.  I read as much as I could in the break room at work, and spent my shifts either upset that I had to leave the book, or looking forward to my next break to pick it back up.

Writer's Take:  The astounding part of this novel is the pacing.  Most writers struggle with pacing, and the differences between showing and telling.  If you show everything, you have an epic length novel with detail overload.  If you tell everything, you get a shorter novel that is probably quite dull.  The ability to hold a reader in limbo, turning page after page after page, is difficult to master.  Suzanne Collins has mastered the pacing in her novel, and the reader just eats it up.

I'd suggest this to: Valkyrie, and anyone else who loves young adult novels as an adult. 

Until next time,
Rose 

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