Reading: Catching Fire

A new summary of Catching Fire up until page 120. What's going on with this uprising?!

After the Harvest Festival Katniss heads out into the woods to the usual meeting place. She leaves Gale a leather ball of food, a flask of hot tea, and a nice pair of gloves that Cinna left behind. She keeps going leaving a trail he can follow, only the trail leads to the lake. Katniss is planning on telling Gale everything, but she can't decided if he'll show up or not. This part is confusing because it's an awkwardly place flashback, but Katniss returns (mentally) to the mayors office, when she finds Madge. They talk about the mockingjay pin and the species history. Katniss is constantly reminded of Rue every time she sees or hears a mockingjay. So, she's walking through the woods and reaches a one room, twelve feet square, concrete house. Inside she starts a fire and clears away all the snow that's managed to accumulate under the windows.
Shortly, Gale appears with a bow and a dead turkey. He won't accept her gifts because he's mad at her; at first he rejects the gloves thinking they're Peeta's, but takes them back when he learns they're Cinna's. Katniss can tell he's hurt and feels betrayed because she's now engaged to Peeta. She explains to him how President Snow threatened to have him killed and how she now has an escape plan. Katniss spills her guts out to Gale telling him everything from the moment she and Peeta were crowned winners till now. Her plan, as mentioned in the last reading log, is to gather all the people that mean most to her and to runaway. Gale thinks she's crazy but he says he'll still go with her even though it's going to be hard. Then, after saying that Gale drops the "l" word, that's right he finally tells Katniss he loves her. Aw he's such a good guy too! And being an idiot and confused about her feelings, Katniss only responds with 'i know.'
They sit trying to work out all the kinks in Katniss's plan. When she tells him of the uprising in 8, he immediately gets excited and asks for all the details. It's clear Gale's had enough crap from the Capitol because he begins to talk about starting his own uprising. The previous conversation was a total setback and she still plans to escape, with or without Gale.
On her way back home Katniss bums into Peeta and he offers to walk her home. He's such a gentleman! She tells him about the uprising and asks if he'll run away with her, and because he loves her, he says yes, but then he says he doesn't think Katniss will actually run away herself. In the square there's a whole lot going on. Peeta finds out first and tells Katniss to get out of there because a Peacekeep is whipping Gale. He's been bound to a wooden post, his clothes are torn away, he's unconscious, and his body is a "bloody slab of meat." Except it's not the normal Peacekeeper doing the whipping.
Katniss runs to Gale in protest and gets whipped on the cheek. Haymitch arrives pissed at the Peacekeeper because in a week Katniss was supposed to be modeling wedding dress and her welt won't heal by then. Turns out Gale was being whipped for poaching. He didn't say he was hunting outside the fence, instead he claimed the turkey slipped underneath the fence into the district and he killed it. A by-stander informs the Peacekeeper that the punishment for first offense doesn't receive whippings. People scoop Gale up onto a board and take him straight to Katniss's house so her mother can heal him.
At Katniss's house, her mother puts snow on both Katniss and Gale's wounds. She issues Gale an herbal concoction combined with sleep syrup to help ease his pain. Her mother and Prim bandage Gale's wounds while Katniss worries over him. Madge arrives with a cardboard box full of little vials that contain morphling. Mrs. Everdeen gives some to Gale. At the moment with everything going on Katniss wishes nothing had happened or that she had been killed in the games. Fora brief second Gale comes to and says a few words to Katniss, nothing special don't worry, and he's taken over by the drugs.

More coming soon, I promise! What will happen to Gale? Will everyone run away?

Reading: Catching Fire

Here's another summary on Catching Fire. I'm really starting to like this book and I think you'll see why. This one goes through page 90.

President Snow and Katniss are finishing up their meeting about her expected behavior on the tour and all she can think about is, how is she going to fake being in love with Peeta all over again. To cover up her fear, Katniss tells her mother that the meeting was typical of the Game's victor. She explains that although they never see it on TV, the president always goes to the victor's house to wish them luck before the tour. She would have never told her mother the truth, and she probably wouldn't have told her the lie either if it wasn't for the Games. Since she's been home, Katniss has been trying to fix her relationship with her mom. Katniss is attempting to forget all the things in the past her mother has messed up on and starting fresh. Her mom saved her, at least a little bit, from interviewers by telling the press that Katniss "wasn't old enough to have a boyfriend at all."
Meanwhile, Katniss is still struggling over the residue of her meeting with President Snow. Who should she tell? Better yet, who could she tell? She knows telling her family, Gale, and Peeta are out of the question; especially Peeta because saying wouldn't be best for the situation: "Hey, Peeta, remember how I told you I was kind of faking being in love with you? Well, I really need you to forget about that now and act extra in love with me or the president might kill Gale," After eliminating everyone else in her life, she decides that Haymitch is the only one she can tell.
Cinna and the rest of the stylists arrive to primp Katniss before she has to leave for the tour. In the midst of beautifying her, the stylist begin talking about the Quarter Quell. This event happens every twenty-five years of the Hunger Games, and it's full of new twists, the twist being that twice the number of tributes fill the arena. Not only has Cinna been helping her with her looks, but he's also been helping her with her talent. Ok, this whole process is starting to resemble a complete beauty pageant. This onto of everything else that happened in the first book while they were prepping for the Games. A victor's "talent is the activity you take up since you don't have to work either in school or your district's industry." Obviously Peeta's talent is painting/frosting (remember how good he was at camouflaging in the arena? well frosting is the same thing just on food and it's just like painting!), but Katniss doesn't really have her own talent, so she 'borrows' Cinna's. There's no surprise that his talent happens to be designing clothes. He's promised her that he'd help and basically take care of everything for her talent; he made clothes, sketches, and even brought fabric for her.
The Everdeen house is buzzing with the stylists running around, Cinna dressing Katniss, Effie Trinket trying to hurry everyone up, and Prim being interviewed by the Capitol. When Katniss is watching Prim being interviewed, she can't help but think about Rue and how she didn't save her. Before she heads out, Katniss's mother pins Madge's mockingjay pin onto her scarf for good luck. Katniss leaves her house to find Peeta doing the same. With a big smile on her face she takes off running towards Peeta, he catches her but slips as a result of his artificial leg, and the two fall into the snow to have their first kiss in a long time (this entire scene is of course because EVERYONE is watching).
Families, stylists, and all, they make it to the station to send Peeta and Katniss off on their way for the tour. A little while later, Katniss heads down to Haymitch's room on the train. Paranoid that President Snow is watching her, Katniss hints that the "train's so stuffy", then she and Haymitch walk down the hallway where he opens a door leading to the outside. I have to get it to Haymitch for being clever. He opened the door hoping the loudness of the roaring snow would cover up their conversation. After she tells him everything, "about the president's visit, about Gale, about how [they're] going to die if [she] fails," he simply tells her that now, she can't fail. This made me think of everything that I've seen imprinted with the slogan FAILURE IS NOT AN OPTION! She begs Haymitch to help her get through this last trip but he tells her that it's not just 'this last trip,' but that she'll have to go on 'fake loving' Peeta for the rest of her life. He reminds her that "Even if [they] pull it off, they'll be backin another few months to take [them] back to the Games. [She] and Peeta, [they'll] be mentors now, every year from here on out. And every year they'll revisit the romance and broadcast the details of your private life, and you'll never, ever be able to do anything but live happily ever after with that boy." DUN DUN DUN! If I was Katniss right now I'd totally be freaking out. Having to spend my life pretending to be in love with someone I'm not doesn't sound like any fun to me!
Walking back to their rooms, Haymitch says to Katniss:" You could do a lot worse, you know." He's totally right. She could've gotten stuck with some ugly guy who doesn't care about her. Trying to fall asleep, she thinks about Haymitch's words and how one of her rights in District 12 is to marry who she wants or no one at all. She's determined President Snow will make them have children, and then their children will become tributes.
The trains headed for District 11, the first stop on the Victory Tour. Katniss is dreading this one because it's Rue's district. Once again, Katniss gets an entire makeover and a new outfit for today. At breakfast its announced that the train will be stopping because there's a mechanical problem with the train. This sends Effie into a frenzy because she's a schedule nut who has to always have her days outlined. Katniss starts yelling at Effie that "no one cares," and everything in the room stops and she leaves. She gets off the train and starts wondering around when Peeta finds her. They have a civilized conversation about how they can't help what they did in the games, how Peeta is jealous of Gale, and how they "should take a shot at just being friends."
Peeta provides a comic relief from everything going on when he asks: "Isn't it strange that I know you'd risk your life to save mine...but I don't know what your favorite color is?" Katniss talks of how she's never seen one of Peeta's paintings. He tells her to follow him, because there's a ton of them on the train. When they get back, Katniss apologizes to Effie, she politely accepts, and then the friends go see the painting. Katniss was expecting pictures similar to the ones that Peeta puts on baked goods, but instead Peeta paints scenes from the games. Her first reaction is to say she hates them, which she does, but it's because they're so realistic and all she's trying to do is forget about them. He explains that he gets his inspiration from his nightmares and that if he paints them he's "a little less afraid of going to sleep at night" or he pretends to be anyway.
District 11 is approaching and from the window they see a huge, barbed wire fence alive with electricity, armed watchtowers, and a field of wildflowers. Strange how the tough and frightening fence and towers can be a midst a pretty field of flowers right? Effie tells the victors to get dressed and they do as they're told. Cinna puts Katniss in a pretty orange frock, and she thinks how much Peeta will love it because it's his favorite color.
Once they arrive they're all treated rudely and are getting pushed around. At the ceremony, the anthem plays, Peeta and Katniss act coupley, the mayor gives a speech, the victors give a thank speech to the Capitol, and then the unexpected. Peeta adds that Thresh and Rue kept Katniss alive in the games, therefore keeping him alive, and how he can never repay them; so, he promises their families one month of their winnings until they (Katniss and Peeta) die. This whole time Katniss has been noticing Thresh and Rue's families, especially Rue's. Katniss gives a speech about Tresh and how great of a player he was in the games, and then about Rue and how great of friends they had become, and she thanks them for the bread they (the district) sent her in the games. In response someone whistles Rue's mockingjay tune and everyone, literally everyone in the square, touches their fingers to their lips and reaches them out towards Katniss and Peeta (remember this is District 12's sign). In media res, Katniss forgets her flowers on the stage, but when she and Peeta go back to get them they see two Peacekeepers dragging an old man, the one who whistled Rue's song, to the stage, they force him onto his knee, and then they shoot him in the head. Is this a warning that the Capitol is already pissed off this early in the tour?
When the two get into the Justice Building, Haymitch orders them to follow him up into the dirty dome of the building. He forces Katniss to tell Peeta about her meeting with President Snow. Peeta feels bad because he thinks he's made the situation worse by giving the dead tribute's families money and he's mad that Katniss and Haymitch have been keeping secrets from him. Haymitch admits that he did favor Katniss in the arena because he could only get one of them to the end. This sends Peeta into a rage. They promise to keep Peeta in on things from now on.
Before the ceremony dinner Effie is complaining about how they're all being treated terribly in District 11 and how she can't wait to leave. Peeta apologizes to Katniss for yelling at her and she forgives him. At the dinner they "are borderline delirious in [their] love for each other."
The team travel all through out the districts to make their way towards their home, District 12. After discussing their 'love,' Katniss suggests that they have a public marriage proposal. Preeta agrees but sees to keep to himself because even though he wanted this to happen, he didn't want it to be forced. He proposes to Katniss during an interview when Caesar Flickerman asks them about their future. President Snow makes a guest appearance on the interview to congratulate the two and his body language makes Katniss feel like she's messed up and it's the end of the world. Isn't it crazy how someone doesn't even have to say something to let us know somethings wrong? We're so adapted to other people that we can sometimes just sense it.
Now thinking she's in trouble, Katniss devises a runaway plan to save her life. She wants her family, Gale and his family, Peeta and his family, and Haymitch to hop (or in this case go under) the fence and escape to the woods. At the ceremony Katniss decides she wants to taste all of the amazing food at the dinner, but she quickly becomes full. The stylists give her this drink that make her throw up so she is able to eat even more food. She thinks it's ridiculous that people eat food just to throw it up when there are some districts that are starving to death. I totally agree with her on this part. I feel awful when people throw away things of food that are perfectly fine when there are kids that have to go without food daily.
During the dinner/party Katniss meets Plutarch Heavensbee, he was one of the Gamemakers during Kantiss's time at the Hunger Games, and now he's been promoted to Head Gamemaker. The two dance, talk, and laugh, but when he pulls out his watch to leave Katniss noticed something strange about it. On his pocket-watch theres a glowing image of a mockingjay, but it quickly disappears. Foreshadowing possibly?
When they leave the party they all have tea back on the train. After tea they all go to bed because they have the Harvest Festival in District 12 the next day. Katniss wakes up and Peeta tells her she didn't have any nightmares, he knows this because one they're still sleeping together and two she slept like she was happy instead of screaming. Katniss tells him that she had a dream though; she saw a mockingjay and she followed it through the woods. Katniss believed this mockingjay to be Rue. Then Katniss asks Peeta why he never wakes her up when he has a nightmare and he replies: "My nightmares are usually about losing you. I'm okay once I realize you're here." Oh man how precious! Katniss really couldn't do any better!
Ah home at last. At District 12 the victors get ready at the mayor's house. Katniss goes out on a search through the house to find her friend Madge. While looking she hears a TV turned on in the mayor's office. It's saying something about an "update on district 8" and then they show footage of a huge mob scene and screaming people. Katniss knows this can only be what President Snow calls and uprising.

And the suspense continues! Be ready for more Catching Fire soon!

2.23 Diction Exercise

Chosen Work: On Love By: Alain De Botton

A) 10 Words Supporting Level of Diction:
-effortlessly
-momentary
-suspend
-cynicism
-spectrum
-debilitating
-habitual pessimism
-inclination
-strenuous
-involuntarily

B) Characterizing 3 of the 4 Elements of Diction:
-Level of Formality: high; flamboyant, refined
-Connotation: chosen for meaning; literal, actual
-Concreteness: concrete; tangible, explicit

C) Draft a Full Claim:
-Alain De Botton's flamboyant and refined language outlines how humans continue to ignorantly fall in love.

More Extras for The Hunger Games!

While I was Googling around, I found this great new website for anyone who's a fan of The Hunger Games trilogy! It's www.mockingjay.net and it's completely dedicated to the trilogy. The website has forums, podcasts, videos, stuff on the books and soon to be movie, and some little fun stuff. If you're in love with these books I highly recommend that you check this website out!

Reading: Catching Fire

So once I finally finished The Hunger Games I immediately put the second book, Catching Fire on hold at the library. I've been reading along and here's a summary up through page 29...

Katniss is in the woods alone, not hunting, but reflecting on everything that's going on in her life post-games. She, Peeta, and their families have moved into Victors Village with Haymitch. It's time for Katniss to go on the Victory Tour throughout the districts, even though she wishes desperately that she could forget everything about the games. The tour is placed strategically in between the start of each of the games so no one can forget the games.
Gale has a job working in the mines now, so Katniss spends her time hunting for Gale's family. However, he doesn't like the idea of her doing this, probably because he feels that he owes her now, like Thresh owed Katniss and Katniss owed Peeta. No one likes the feeling of having to pay anyone back. Since the games, everything is different between the once best friends and Katniss knows that things will never be the same. When Katniss goes to drop the meat off at Gale's house, she tells Hazelle, Gale's mom, that she will take Rory, one of Gale's younger brothers, out hunting one day. Possible foreshadow? Could Rory be a star hunter like Katniss or Gale? Could he get picked as a tribute and survive off his skills like Kantiss? Who knows, but it doesn't hurt play around an guess a little.
Before she has to leave for the Victory Tour, Katniss makes a stop at the Hob, where she realizes she owes the 'Hob regulars.' I think it's interesting how this whole owing people thing is playing out to be quite a theme in this trilogy so far. Katniss was told, by Gale, that Greasy Sae (the soup lady) started a collection while she was in the games. These donations were used to sponsor her and Peeta during the games. At the Hob she buys some liquor for Hamymitch and a bowl of soup for herself. Sae asks her if Gale is going to see her off for the tour, but Katniss replies no. This shocks Sae because Gale and Katniss are "cousins." Ok, so while she was at the games, the Capitol began asking people about Katniss's friends, and of course everyone sent them to Gale. However, the Capitol decided he would now be Katniss's cousin because "he was too handsome, too male, and not the least bit willing to smile and play nice for the camera."
On her way home to Victor's Village, she makes a quick stop at the sleepy Haymitch's house. She describes his house as being dirty and reaking off liquor and vomit (hmm, I wonder why?). She wakes him up and sees Peeta in the house. Things are pretty fragile between Peeta and Katniss, and Haymitch tells them that they better be falling back in love again for the tour. Once she finally reaches her home, she's greeted by her mother...and a man from the Capitol who would like to see her. Uh-oh is this about the suicidal berries from the last day in the games? The man leads her into the office in Katniss's house to find President Snow sitting inside. When I read this I totally got the image of someone, who's usually innocent, going into the principal's office for something 'bad' that they did, you know wondering 'what the heck did i?'
President Snow informs Katniss that she's made the Capitol look foolish in result of her outsmarting in the Hunger Games. He's worried that she'll be difficult during the tour and will try to outsmart the Capitol once again. Although this is not partially true because he brings up the fact that he knows she wouldn't to do anything to risk her family's future. At this point President Snow totally knows that Gale is not her cousin and that they have a little fling going on between them. In fact during this whole meeting Katniss flashes back to the only romantic moment between her and Gale.
Here's the story: One day after the games, Katniss headed out early one Sunday to the woods. She went to the spot where she and Gale always meet and waited for him for two hours. Depressed that he hadn't showed up yet, Katniss begins to think that things with Gale are hopeless. To her surprise, he showed up, then she attacked him crying and he held her in his embrace (for quite some time too). Eventually they ate and talked about 'thing's literally the book says they talked "just about other things." Now Katniss thinks everything is going to be fine between them when BAM! Gales kisses her! She loved the experience, but unfortunately he left her undecided with her feelings for him and Peeta. Later in the week Katniss made this huge speech about how she doesn't want a boyfriend, let alone to get married, but she didn't get to tell Gale because he acted as if the whole thing never even happened. What a classic scene from books and movies that everyone experience, or knows someone who's experienced it at some point. The end of the love story. However, the whole time she's thinking about him she asked President Snow not to hurt Gale. She reminds him that they've been friends for years and that's it and that the public thinks they're cousins now.
Back to the big story, President Snow tells her that because of this the Capitol is afraid of a potential uprising from all or any of the districts. It's made known that Katniss has embarrassed the entire Capitol by making them look stupid. The president knows that her love for Peeta was just an act used in the games, but he reveals that not all of the people from the other districts bought their story either. Even though she claims she didn't mean to start anything, Katniss is sorry that she has brought about this problem in the government.
President Snow concludes their conference by telling Katniss she'll have to be crazy in love with Peeta again for the Tour for the uprising to be avoided. She replies that she'll convince everyone she's crazy in love, but he said that she needs too "aim higher in case [she] falls short." So now Katniss must aim to convince President Snow himself that she loves Peeta. President Snow leaves Katniss with the words, "by the way, I know about the kiss." Oh, shoot! What's going to happen now if he knows about the kiss with Gale? Will he use Gale's life as Katniss's quid pro quo for all of his little games?

Thanking for reading this time. I promise for another summary update very soon!

Observations and Inferences

Comprised of eighteen talented dancers, Homestead's Varsity dance team completes their jazz dance with determination and perseverance. The eleven hours of practice a week are crucial to the finishing product of this dance. Decorated with variations of war make-up the girls lure the crowd in with their expressions of aggression, intensity, and determination. To help create a fierce atmosphere, the girls have choreographed vocal parts that will add to the intensity of the performance. A plethora of precise and sharp movements completely take up two minutes worth of time on the competition floor. With the help of being in shape, the girls are able to maintain and keep up their stamina throughout the entire performance. By the two-colored costumes, the audience is able to distinguish the Red Team from the Purple Team. Ultimately, the team's goal is to captivate the audience. They want the audience members to select their favorite team, fight for them with cheers and encouragement from the stands, and to 'help' them win the battle. Even though the girls are essentially fighting for their color, together they make up one team, a unit, and a family.
Copy and paste the following link into your browser to check out the video of the team, but keep in mind three people were injured an unable to perform.
http://www.facebook.com/video/video.php?v=1778223545820&oid=174789119228378&comments

Reading: The Hunger Games

Starting back up, and finishing out the book with this summary! Wait until you see what happens.

Quickly the lovers spit out the berries and rinse their mouths out with water. A hovercraft appears in the sky and sucks them up. Peeta is stuck behind a glass door with doctors and Katniss struggles when he leaves her. The doctors are working on Peeta, and during this, his heart stops, twice. Kantiss is dropped off at the training center and after acting uncontrollably, she is stabbed with a needle and blacks out.
She wakes up, naked in a bed, in a recovery room. By now, I'd definitely be freaked out. Her body's been cleaned up, washed, and healed. An Avox comes in and Katniss asks if Peeta is ok. Avox nods yes, because remember they can't talk. Katniss eats and slips back into unconsciousness. Basically the eat, sleep, repeat cycle goes on for a while.
One day when she wakes up all of her scars and pain are gone. She gets ready quickly and finds Effie, Haymitch, Cinna, but not Peeta, because they're meeting must be televised. Cinna takes Katniss to get ready for the reunion. He gives her a yellow dress with added padding because she has lost so much weight during the games. The reason for the dress is because he thinks Peeta will like it.
Before the reunion Katniss gets in a word with Haymitch. He informs her that the Capitol is angry that she and Peeta almost committed suicide. Her only 'excuse' for her behavior is that she's head over heels in love with Peeta. Katniss is curious if Peeta's already been informed. Haymitch tells her that Peeta is "already there." Uh oh, Katniss knows she's in trouble. Her family might be in trouble too, along with Peeta and his family. The question is though, what did Haymitch mean when he said that Peeta is "already there?"
Katniss is oblivious as to what is going on. Everything seems way too over her head. However, she doesn't have time to worry about this because now "the most dangerous part of the Hunger Games is about to begin." I thought the games were over now, and that they were supposed to move into the Victor's Village place and be neighbors with Haymitch?
At the reunion show, Katniss and Peeta reunite with a hug and a long kiss. How precious! As they sit on a love seat, Katniss receives a cue from Haymitch, so she cuddles up to Peeta. They watch a complete recap of the games and find that the editors have made it into a love story. The president comes on stage with a crown, breaks it in half, and places a half on each of the tributes' heads.
It's time for the victory dinner, but afterwards the couple is separated so they can sleep and prepare for the interviews tomorrow. Like old times, Katniss sneaks out onto the roof, hoping Peeta will be there waiting for her. Let down, she goes back to her room and thinks she'll sneak out again later. The second sneak out is ruined when she realizes she's been locked in her room. Who the heck locked her in? Was it the Capitol trying to get revenge for the almost suicide?
It's time for the final interview. They're prepped and readied for their interview. Oce again, they're thrown onto a love seat and the interview begins. During the interview Peeta ends up answering most of the questions. Katniss is forced to answer when Caesar Flickerman, the host, asks her when she knew she was falling for Peeta. Drawing a blank Katniss takes the hint from Caesar and says that she first knew when she found out that there would be two winners. With the subject changes to the plethora of injuries from the game. Katniss blames herself for Peeta's leg injury, but Caesar tells her that she also saved his life. Caesar asks about the suicidal berries. To wrap up the interview, she explains that she couldn't stand to think of her life without having Peeta near her.
Katniss cleans out her room and is taken to the train station to be taken back to District 12. The two get ready to go on the victor's tour through the districts. Katniss feels comfortable and more like herself when she changed into a plain shirt and pants, but when Peeta puts his arm around her she gets a weird feeling.
The train stops to refuel and the two go outside for air. Katniss's mind is being taken over with thoughts of Gale. Haymitch sees them and says that they need to keep the romance going until they get back to their district and the cameras leave.
Confused, Peeta asks Katniss what Haymitch was talking about. Turns out Peeta thought all the love in the arena was the real deal, however, Katniss knew it wasn't. Well she doesn't really know how she feels anymore. Gale or Peeta? He tells her to tell him how she feels when she straightens everything out. The train pulls into the station and, just like when they left, there are cameras everywhere. When they go to get off the train Peeta asks Katniss to hold his hand "One more time? For the audience?" She takes his hand and they get off the train.

AH what happens next?! Who does Katniss pick? I'm waiting on the second book, Catching Fire, to come in so we can figure out.

Knock-off Central

In today's world it seems like everyone is covered from head to toe in designer things. It's almost impossible to go out into public without seeing Coach headbands, Oakley sunglasses, MAC eyeshadow, North Face jackets, Prada handbags, Sperry shoes etc. For anyone who's like me, and loves the designer stuff, but absolutely hates the price, I've found you a new best friend. My mom showed me this website, and I showed it to my boyfriend and his mom, and we're all in love with it. The website is , and although they might not be totally legit, they still look like the real deal. The prices are very reasonable considering the actual price of a real one. I highly suggest this website if you're into designer bags (they have an entire section!!).

Reading: The Hunger Games

Let's find out where this game is headed! Today's summary is from page 303 through page 345.

They eat some of their fresh lamb stew, but then it's right back to the romance. They talk about how whoever wins the games will get to live in Victor's Village. Even though the winner would get a incredibly new house, their neighbor would be Haymitch. For a while they make fun of Haymitch in hopes of entertaining the audience. Katniss asks how it was that Haymitch managed to actually win the games, and Peeta replies that it's because he was able to outsmart all of the other tributes.
It's night time and the dead are announced, except that only Tresh has died today. With this information Katniss knows for a fact that Cato and his posse will definitely be gunning for her and Peeta. They take turns sleeping and keeping guard off and on. Katniss day dreams about what if she and Peeta actually won? What would they do? She c an't help but wonder if they'll be friends or more.
In the morning they finish the stew and go hunting. Unfortunately for the two of them, Peeta is not very good at sneaking through the woods. He's loud and manages to scare away all of the potential food. They split up, Peeta gathers roots and she hunts, and Katniss teaches Peeta the "ok whistle."
Once Katniss has successfully hunted for a while, she becomes worried because she hasn't heard the whistle lately. She tries to whistle for Peeta, but no response, so she goes to their meeting spot. At first she doesn't see Peeta, she only sees berries scattered on the ground. He emerges from the woods and Katniss discovers that Peeta's berries were poisonous. Turns out Foxface ate the berries and died.
They come to the conclusion that Foxface had to have been watching Peeta collect the berries. They decide to keep a stash of the poisonous berries, with the hope that they can trick Cato into eating them. Katniss suggests that they make a fire, roast their game, and watch for Cato to come find them. He never comes, the couple head back to their shelter (because Peeta can't climb trees), and of course they kiss again. When they get to the cave they eat and Peeta falls asleep, Katniss tucks him in. Katniss remembers how Cato reacted when she blew the pyramid up, and she wonders if he's insane. She remembers Foxface as one of the smartest tributes to have been out there. This makes her wonder whether or not Cato is as smart as Foxface.
The next day the couple goes out to the river and finds that it's all dried up. They both know that this must but a move by the Gamemakers. I think I would go insane being locked up in this "game." Having no control over anything and the Gamemakers having all control. I might join Cato and go insane. Peeta and Katniss know that the Gamemakers are doing this to force all of the remaining tributes to go to the lake, where a fight will most likely break out.
When they get to the lake they don't see Cato anywhere. I haven't been keeping track, but when I read this I couldn't help but think, are Cato, Katniss, and Peeta the only remaining tributes? She remembers Rue's call and mockingjays begin singing everywhere. This would be such a cute romantic moment in real life! But, it'd only be ruined by Cato, of course. He comes flying through the trees, wearing armor, running from creatures. Katniss takes off running with Cato. The creatures are another altered breed made by the Capitol. Wolves chase Cato, Katniss, and Peeta to the Cornucopia. Right before Katniss is able to draw an arrow and shoot Cato, she hears Peeta yelling for her. When Katniss helps Peeta up the Cornucopia, she catches and up close glimpse of the wolves; they're humans, but not just humans, they're the dead tributes!
Katniss begins shooting rapid fire at the tributes; first at Glimmer, then Foxface, then the boy tribute from District 9, and little Rue. Katniss and Peeta beat off the zombie wolves, and Cato sneaks up on Peeta and puts him into a headlock. In a catch-22, Katniss doesn't know what to do. If she shoots Cato he'll take Peeta into the mass of zombie wolves. He gets a hold of her attention and tells her to shoot Cato's hand, which she does, he releases Peeta, giving him the opportunity to knock Cato into the raging pack of tributes. He's torn a part by the wolves and dies a long, slow, painful death (Katniss put him out of his misery, and finished him off with an arrow). Meanwhile, Peeta's loosing a ton of blood from his leg, YIKES! Katniss rips a piece of her shirt sleeve and uses her arrow to make a tourniquet (this is a device used to control the circulation of blood for a period of time).
She makes him stay awake through the night hoping he won't lose consciousness. With Cato dead, this now means that Katniss and Peeta win right? Nope, wrong. The emcee comes over the sound system and announces that they rules have changed once again. The new rule? There can only be one winner! Oh so depressing for this couple. Now, they really are star-crossed. Katniss realizes she can't kill Peeta, she just can't. She takes the berries they saved for Cato, and Peeta realizes what she's about to do. With a few berries in both of their hands, (ah it's the lover suicide scene, you know like in Romeo and Juliet) they start to put the berries in their mouths. DUN DUN DUN!
The emcee comes on once again announcing, "Stop! Stop! Ladies and gentlemen, I am please to present the victors of the Seventy-fourth Hunger Games, Katniss Everdeen and Peeta Mellark!"

Ah so the happy couple wins! Is everyone happy? We'll find out! There's only a few chapters left. Tune in soon for another summary.

Reading: The Hunger Games

Still summarizing The Hunger Games, but I'm almost done! Here's one from page 262 through page 302. Advanced apologies for any mistakes (spelling or word misplacement) my computer has been acting up and likes to rearrange my words...

Katniss feeds Peeta the hot brother, they kiss a little more (The question is, are they kissing for sponsors, or are they kissing for their pleasure?), and they settle in the night. In the morning Peeta's fever is down and he takes over the watch position while Katniss rests. Peeta's leg is so wounded he is likely to get blood poisoning and kill him without the assistance of medicine. At her new shelter Katniss sets up new snares and cooks food for her and Peeta.
Peeta asks Katniss to tell him a story of the happiest day she can remember. At first she wants to tell him about Gale, but then she decides that the sponsors and audience wouldn't like that, she tells him a story about Lady, Prim's goat. Katniss shot a buck and took it to the Hobb, there she saw the goat man. Katniss knew a goat would provide her family with milk and cheese, so she bought it for Prim. The goat was wounded, but when Katniss brought her home, her mother began to use her healing techniques and began to fix the goat.
The emcee of the games, Claudius Temlpesmith, invites the tributes to a feast. He tells them that they will all need something that will be in a backpack marked by their district's number. Peeta instructs Katniss that she will not being going to the feast, and this totally pisses Katniss off. The two 'lovers' get into a fight, it's ok, everyone fights. Peetas warns her that he'll follow her to the feast if she dares to go, and because she knows Peeta is stubborn she actually listens to him.
While she cleans the soup pot, another parachute falls bearing a gift from the sponsors. It's sleep syrup. She makes a mixture of the sleep syrup and mashed berries, which she manages to slip to Peeta. He doesn't know what's going on until he's slowly slipping away. Before she leaves, Katniss camouflages the shelter and thinks strategy, her plan is to kill a few from far away and to quickly grab a backpack.
As she falling asleep Katniss remembers Gale. She wonders what he thinks about her and Peeta's love story. She gives Peeta a kiss before she takes off. While waiting by the Cornucopia, Katniss sees a table with backpack, and before she can think someone is already darting towards the backpacks. Katniss discovers that it was Foxface, she had the smart idea of hiding inside the Cornucopia. Although I'm in favor for Katniss winning the games, I have to admit, this was a very strategic move Foxface! It's Katniss's turn. She takes off for the Cornucopia dodging knives on her way. She's so talented she managed to accurately shoot an arrow into the girl who threw the knives! After grabbing the backpack, Katniss gets cut by another knife and is knocked to the ground by the knife-thrower, Clove.
The two get into a fight and words start to fly. Katniss tells her that Peeta is out hunting Cato right now, we know this isn't true, but Clove thinks Katniss is a liar and tells her that they'll kill her just like they killed Rue. As Clove begins to cut Katniss's mouth, Thresh, the boy from Rue's district, attacks Clove. Getting his revenge, he hits Clove in the head with a rock. Before Thresh can attack Katniss with the rock, she explains how she and Rue were allies, and Tresh lets her go.
As Cato is nearing Katniss heads off to the woods. When she makes it back to the cave she pulls a hypodermic needle from the backpack and gives Peeta the shot. Because she's still been bleeding from her head, Katniss suddenly blacks out. Peeta nurses Katniss until she finally wakes up. Strangely enough, he's not angry with her for drugging him. She tells him everything that happened at the Cornucopia, about Tresh letting her go. The feeling of owing someone a debt, like the one Katniss has for Peeta, is what Tresh has for Katniss.
The two eat the remains of the food and realize that the way to more food is to turn up the romance. So putting on her best girlfriend act, Katniss apologizes to Peeta for drugging him while holding his hand. The next thing we know the two are, of course, kissing, but only this time, it's for real! Katniss admits that that was the first kiss from Peeta that's ever made her want another one. The two love birds cuddle up in Katniss's sleeping bag and get some rest for the night.
When they wake up they're still very hungry, so they play up the romance once again. She asks Peeta when exactly he started crushing on her. He admits that it was the first day of school, and that his dad wanted to marry Katniss's mom (ok random, but whatever works). This whole time Katniss can't help but wonder if Peeta is actually telling the truth or not. She leans in for another kiss when she hears a noise outside the shelter. The romance has paid off, outside sits lamb stew and rice.

What's to come of this fake romance? Hopefully some real romance! Thanks for reading.

First a Book, Now a Movie?

I'm getting ready to do my reading for my English class, oh how I despise this current book, so as I was searching Sparknotes for help (yes I read both the book and Sparknotes)a little link caught my eye. This wonderful link gave me some great information. THE HUNGER GAMES MOVIE COMES OUT MARCH 23, 2012!! I know it's a long ways away but I'm so excited now that I've been reading the book.

Action List: Teenage Driving

So I picked option B, to read this article, I've had my license for almost a year and a half and I partially agree with what the article is saying.
Basically this group did a study on teenagers and young adults focusing on the influences passengers have on drivers. They had each 'guinea pig' play four different rounds of a simulated driving game while wearing a brain scanner. The pigs were told that they would receive prizes for finishing the game with a certain time. They had to make basic road decisions like whether or not to stop at yellow lights, which would result in a delay, or to speed through the yellow lights, which would result in a crash and an even longer delay.
For half of the game two of the pig's friends would be watching them from a nearby room. "Teenagers ran about 40 percent more yellow lights and had 60 percent more crashes when they knew their friends were watching." The article talks about how the presence of peers increases the pig's decision to take risks.
I agree that drivers are influenced by the passengers, but all drivers are affected differently. For example, I'll admit that when I have friends in my car I'll get so wrapped up in conversation I don't realize that I'm going a little bit over the speed limit. On the other hand, I know teenagers who text while they drive when they have friends in the car so they appear to be 'cool.'
Anyway, I think that teens need to focus and make decisions for themselves. Don't give into the peer pressure from your passengers.

Shhh...it's on!

For anyone who follows football, last night was the mother of all games, the Superbowl. While I was pleased with the outcome, GO PACK GO, I was also pleased with many of the commercials. I know I'm not alone when I say that the commercials are my favorite part of the Superbowl. Where I was watching the game it was not a secret that we all held a greater interest in the commercials than the game. My top favorites, in descending order (of course to build suspense), are...
5.

4.

3. I know this is a trailer and not your typical "Superbowl commercial," but I have to stay I can't wait till it comes out!

2.

1.

Reading: The Hunger Games

I'm just a little more than half way through The Hunger Games. Here's today's summary starting on page 208 and going up through 261.

The predictable problem comes to Katniss's mind regarding her alliance with Rue; she knows that both of them can't survive, but she's excited to put her plan against the Career's into action. We left off with Katniss formulating a plan, and now she's decided that they're going to take the Career's food. Once she falls asleep she's instantly reawaken by a cannon, one more person dead.
The girls eat breakfast and try to form a plan while they hunt. Rue tells Katniss that the Career's food is hidden in plain sight down by the lake. Seeing how it's the Careers, Katniss thinks that it's all too simple and that it must be rigged.
While Rue and Katniss are hunting, Katniss learns new things about Rue. She's the oldest of her six siblings and she's overly in love with music. Rue tells her how she sings with the mockingjays in her district. Katniss remembers her mockingjay pin and tries to give it to Rue, who declines the offer because she has a grass necklace with a charm. The girls come up with a signal plan. Katniss learns the mockingjay signal from Rue. The signal from the birds means that Rue is ok. They split to initiate the plan. Being able to talk to/understand the 'code' of the mockingjays would be cool. I guess this is similar to the people who claim to be dog, or any other kind of animal, whisperers. The plan being in two parts, the first being Katniss will spy on the Careers at their base. She sees all of the supplies piled into a pyramid towards the back of their camp. Katniss is still confused as to what might be protecting the pyramid.
The second part of the plan involves Rue. She is to lure the Careers away from their camp by lighting a fire. Falling for the fire, the Careers leave and Katniss overhears one boy say that Peeta is most likely hiding somewhere in the woods but not to worry because he's too injured to be a threat to them. When Katniss is trying to figure out how to execute her plan, a girl Career strategically runs in a definite pattern up the pyramid, and in the same pattern back. Ah ha! Katniss has figured out the Career's secret; the pyramid is protected by land mines.
Rue makes an additional fire, signaling to Katniss that she's running out of time. She shoot a bag of apples with an arrow hoping it will fall and set off some of the mines. After a few shots the apples are falling everywhere triggering the mines sending Katniss flying through the air.
The supplies pyramid is completely destroyed. Katniss tries to escape but is hindered by dizziness and an ear ache. She manages to get herself back to the woods before the Careers make it back to their camp. The 'leader' of the Careers, Cato, throws a fit and breaks the boy from district 3's neck. The Careers think whoever set off the mines is dead; however, during the playing of the anthem they realize that the bomber is still alive.
The Careers set out on a hunt for the bomber, and Katniss remains hidden right where she is. Katniss falls asleep freezing in mid thought of the eight remaining players. She wakes up to a Career girl's laugh, she must have found supplies left over from the pyramid. Katniss contemplates whether she should recruit the girl or kill her, but before she makes up her mind the girl runs away.
Katniss goes back to the rendezvous spot, but Rue is not to be found. She climbs a tree to wait for Rue, however, she's impatient and starts off for the spot where Rue was to set the third distraction fire. I don't blame her. If I'm waiting for someone and I have to wait on them I start to get impatient and look for them too. When she gets there she's still unable to find Rue and the third fire. Thinking optimistically, Katniss knows Rue must still be alive otherwise she would have heard a cannon. In the midst of her search for Rue, Katniss hears the call from the mockingjays signaling that Rue is ok.
Katniss begins to follow the bird. She hears a scream that sounds like Rue. Katniss finally reaches Rue to find her tangled in a net. At first sight Rue calls out Katniss's name, but can't get out anything else before she is killed by a spear. Oh no Rue! I liked her character, the little unsuspected underdog. I feel like she could have made it close to the end of the games if it wasn't for this incident.
Katniss takes her revenge and shoot Rue's killer with an arrow. In her last moments Rue asks Katniss to sing to her. So she sings her a lullaby and the mockingjays join in. Rue death really sinks in once Katniss hears her cannon fire. Before the Capitol's hovercraft swoops up Rue's body, Katniss decorates Rue with wildflowers from the arena; her purpose in doing so is to remind the Capitol and the viewers that Rue is a person, not just a 'game piece' in the Hunger Games. A parachute carrying bread from District 11. She climbs up a tree, eats the bread, then falls asleep. When she wakes up she packs up her supplies and takes off for the stream. She lights Rue's old fire and cooks some of her game. She's shocked that none of the Careers have spotted her fire. Stunned, she climbs into a tree and reflects on her day. Katniss realizes that the boy who attacked Rue was her first 'kill' of the game. Claudius Templesmith, the announcer for the games, is broadcasted across the arena. He congratulates the six people who are left and announces that a new rule has been made; the last two tributes will be declared the winners. Man, why couldn't Rue hold out a little longer, or why couldn't Katniss have saved her a little quicker? This could have totally been them! Talk about major girl power. But I can't help but wonder, did they make this change to benefit Peeta, so he and Katniss can get together if they're left?
Without thinking, Katniss calls for Peeta. Realizing what she just did Katniss covers her mouth and hopes no one heard her. She thinks that the Gamemakers have changed the rules to support the star-crossed lovers in the games.
Katniss goes over the remaing tributes: Foxface (who's alone), Tresh (from Rue's district), Cato and his fellow tribute (from District 2), and Peeta (of course from District 12). She starts following the stream until she comes across bloodstains. Again, Katniss calls for Peeta. She hears his voice when he asks her, "You here to finish me off, sweetheart?", however, she doesn't recognize him because he's been covered in mud and leaves in the bank of the stream. She pulls him out and reminds her that they are supposed to be in love, and that it'd be ok for her to give him a kiss. Ok, seriously, he totally wants her and it's even more clear now. Katniss cleans Peeta and helps him with him injuries.
While Katniss is washing Peeta's clothe, he tells her that he hasn't gotten anything from a sponsor. He thinks it's because Haymitch likes Katniss more (because they're very similar to each other). Peeta's injured to the point where his mobility is very limited, so Katniss makes a shelter out of rocks. When Peeta starts to talk of not making it out of the games, Katniss gives him a kiss hoping it will shut him up, which of course it did.
Katniss takes a second and leave the rock shelter and sees a pot full of hot broth. These sponsors must be falling head over heels for this sappy lover stuff! Maybe the two will start kissing more? She goes back into the cave and wakes Peeta up with kisses and shows him the gift from the sponsors.

This book is definitely getting interesting with this rekindled alliance. Stay tuned for summaries to see what happens next! Thanks for reading.

Reading: The Hunger Games

Picking up from where we left off in The Hunger Games, starting on page 172 and ending on 207.

Katniss wakes up to a burning forest and quickly manages to unbuckle herself from the tree. Following the woodland creatures she starts booking it out of the forest when she decides that this fire must have been made by the Gamemakers. The Gamemakers tend to be the cause of crazy things in the games to add a little flare. I guess that'd kind of be like girls and gossip. Not that I'm supporting it, but if you think about it, if we didn't gossip what would we really talk about? It all just makes life a bit more interesting. Anyway, while she's running through the woods her, the bottom half of her jacket catches on fire, which she manages to distinguish, and then she starts throwing up everywhere. When she's resting these big fireballs are being shot at her, most likely by a Gamemaker that's hidden somewhere. Once again she starts running and her calf gets hit by a fireball leaving her calf scorched.
She made it back to her little pond where she relieves herself by putting her burnt body into the water. Finally able to rest for a few moments Katniss falls asleep. It's not long before she hers the Career tributes running near her, which sends her painfully climbing up a nearby tree. The Careers spot Katniss in the tree, and one boy tries to climb up the tree while a girl tries to shoot Katniss with an arrow, however they both fail. Katniss hopes she'll be able to get her hands on the girl's bow soon.
With the Careers camped out at the base of the tree, Katniss spends the night in the tree and spots a mysterious pair of eyes. At first thinking it was an animal, she learns that the eyes belong to the little girl who followed her and Peeta around in the training center named Rue. She's pointing to something in the tree above Katniss's head. That something is a tracker jacker nest (another awkward hybrid made by the Capital). She starts freaking out because just a few stings from these killer wasps can make you hallucinate and even kill you! If you somehow survive the stings these wasps can track you down (hence the name tracker jacker).
Katniss creates a brilliant plant to cut down the branch that is holding the nest, with hopes that it will land on the Careers below her. In her bed she finds a little silver pot from Haymitch (he finally came through for her!). It's a small container filled with this special ointment that provides instant relief for her burn. Rue and Katniss's eyes meet again and Katniss now discovers Rue's talent; Rue can leap from tree to tree.

When I read this I was picturing a girl with flying-squirrel-like apendages. You know everyone talks about these flying squirrels, but I've never actually seen one of these guys aside from pictures.
The next morning she saws off the branch, the nest falls, and a storm of tracker jackers fills the air. Unfortunately, she manages to get stung three times; however, she's smart enough to pull the stingers out. One of the girl Careers gets stung and beings to seize. As a result of the stings, Katniss's body is swollen and in pain. Luckily she still has enough common sense left after the stings to grab the dead Career's bow and quiver. Accomplishing this was not so easy surprisingly. She struggled to lift the dead body from the quiver while she slowly began to hallucinate. Out of the woods, not sure if it's real or just a mirage, she sees Peeta telling her to run. She takes off running and continues to battle with the hallucinations. Still in a daze, Katniss thinks that Peeta just saved her life from the Careers. Suddenly, everything goes black (by the way she's out for two days). Why did he do it? Was it because he truely loves Katniss and wants to spare her from the Careers? Or is it because he's playing up the 'loverboy' thing trying to win himself more sponosors? Well...I don't know quite yet.
Katniss wakes up alive and in a hole filled with leaves. She can't help but wonder how long she's been out or who else was effected by the tracker jackers. Keeping her mind focused on the game, Katniss remembers that she has a bow and arrow now! Without hesitation, she starts hunting and instantly succeeds; she manages to not only kill a rabbit, but also find a stream as well. Still keeping her guard up Katniss washes herself and her clothes in the river. The mental picture I got was similar to what you would see in the commercials about families in Africa or some other poor country in the world.
Katniss kills a bird and starts to cook her findings for dinner. She spots Rue in the woods and invites her to join her for dinner. To repay Katniss, Rue heals Katniss's wounds from the tracker jackers by chewing some leaves into a gummy paste then putting it on the welt. The two girls form an alliance and begin to learn more about each other. Being from the agricultural district, Rue knows exactly which kinds of nuts, berries, etc. are fine to eat.
Rue spots the sunglasses that Katniss found in the backpack from the Cornucopia. Katniss tells her how they're useless and only make her vision worse. Rue explains that they aren't sunglasses, but that they're some type of night vision glasses. Katniss tells Rue how she thinks that Peeta saved her life from the other Careers. Rue says that she has been spying on the Careers and that Peeta has left their group. By spying, Rue finds out that the Careers also have two pairs of night vision glasses also.
Rue talks about how she and Katniss are a lot weaker than the Careers because they're not as strong. Katniss disagrees explaining that they are strong because they know how to deal with being hungry all the time, unlike the Careers. Thinking this is pointless, Rue tells her that the Careers aren't hungry because they have all of the supplies to survive. This point turns on Katniss's light bulb and she starts to create a plan against the Careers.

More to come I promise! What will Katniss's plan be against the Careers? Will she and Rue make it til the end together? What happens with Peeta? Find out soon! Thanks for reading.

Reading: The Hunger Games

Hopefully you’re excited because this book is definitely getting good! Here’s what’s gone down pages 133-171.

Katniss puts two-and-two together and realizes that Peeta is saying he has a crush on her. The crowd sighs and sympathizes with the star-crossed lovers. Once the ceremony is done the tributes are shuttled back to the training center. Katniss tries everything she can to avoid Peeta but when her elevator reaches her floor she sees Peeta in the hallway and angrily storms towards him. She shoves Peeta ordering him to tell her why he told everyone he has a crush on her. Haymitch and the stylists arrive. Peeta admits that it was his idea to fake the crush to win both of them sponsors. He claims that Katniss is mad only because she’s afraid of Gale finding out. Now to everyone following the games she appears desirable as an object of love.
At dinner they all watch the recap of the interviews. Haymitch gives the tributes their finally bits of advice. He tells them that “when the gong sounds, get the hell out of there” because they are not able to survive the battles that will go on at the Cornucopia. They’re instructed to get away as far as they can from the other tributes. Once they get away, they have to find their water source. After that his only piece of advice is to stay alive.
Katniss tries to fall asleep but spends countless hours lying awake in bed. Her mind is overwhelmed with scenarios of the day to come. To ease her nerves Katniss escapes up to the roof where she finds Peeta watching the Capitols celebrate with a party. This whole evening Peeta’s been worried about how he can keep his personal identity during the games and how he can avoid making a disgrace of himself.
Today’s the day of the games and Katniss, along with the other tributes, has a tracking device inserted into her. That must hurt. I absolutely hate shots and would most definitely cry during this. The tributes are taken to the Lanch Room where she will get ready for the games. After the Hunger Games are finished the arenas become historic sites, and the people from the Capitol come and vacation there.
Going into the Games all tributes are equipped with hooded black jackets that reflect body heat. Cinna remembers to attach Madge’s mockingjay pin to her simple outfit. Once all the tributes are dressed and ready, the games begin!
All tributes must wait sixty seconds before they’re released into the arena. Katniss contemplates whether or not she should disobey Haymitch and fight at the Cornucopia for supplies. Still unable to decide, she eyes a bow and a quiver of arrows. She looks at Peeta and he’s shaking his head no, and Katniss misses the gong and now doesn’t stand a chance at the Cornucopia. Disobeying Peeta and Haymitch, Katniss takes off sprinting towards the Cornucopia and grabs a sheet of plastic, a loaf of bread, and a backpack. However, Katniss sees another tribute coming towards the same backpack. When he’s close enough he coughs spattering blood all over Katniss’s face (when I first read this I thought this was going to be some kind of stupid human trick he could do). Quickly she notices the knife in his back, and the girl who threw it begins to throw another knife at Katniss. Protecting herself with her backpack, Katniss manages to escape with one of the girl’s knives and heads running towards the woods.
She hears the cannons that are shot daily, once for every tribute killed that day. The first day into the games and already there are eleven shots. Inside her backpack she finds a sleeping bag, crackers, beef strips (I’m thinking these strips are supposed to be like beef jerky? I hate beef jerky, but maybe in the games I could maybe manage to choke some down), iodine, matches, wire, sunglasses, and an empty water bottle (shoot why’s it have to be an empty one?!). Determined to find a water source, Katniss keeps heading away from the Cornucopia. She sets two snares and climbs into a tree to rest for the night. Katniss is for sure a thinker. I mean who else would of thought to put their belt around the tree and fasten herself in it?
It’s morning now and Katniss awakes to the sound of a snap. Nearby she can see someone is building a fire. Katniss thinks whoever this is must be a complete idiot to be building a fire because it will only attract the bigger tributes. A pack of the stronger ‘Career’ tributes come along and kill whoever the girl was making the fire. Katniss notices that the Career tributes has teamed up and made alliances. Still in the tree, she listens to the tributes talking about the death of the girl, and Katniss realizes Peeta has teamed up with the Career Tributes.
Katniss is completely oblivious as to why Peeta has joined forces with the Careers. Peeta leaves the group to make sure the girl with the fire is dead, and the group discusses how they’re just using Peeta to find “her.” Without hesitation, Katniss realizes they’re talking about her. I feel like everyone at some point anyway, has been ‘used’ so people can get closer to another. Poor Peeta!
She climbs down from the tree, checks her snares, and finds a rabbit. She cooks it from the hot embers of the recently killed tribute’s fire. Katniss hopes that her hunting and cooking skills will help her earn sponsors. Still without water, Katniss is starting to become dehydrated. She keeps on moving forward in hopes of finding her water source.
The next morning Katniss keeps moving and is still unable to find water. She thinks that Haymitch has given up on her and refuses to send her any help from her sponsors. After thinking about why Haymitch wouldn’t send her water, she thinks that maybe it’s because she’s close to water. Mustering all of her strength, she keeps going but collapses into mud. Mud means water. Katniss finally found her water source, a pond full of water lilies. She purifies her water and immediately replenishes her weak and tired body. After a successful night she climbs up a nearby tree and sleep for the night.
The next morning Katniss wakes up to a loud noise that sounds like a stampede. She see a huge ‘wall of fire’ coming towards her.

Get ready the next post will be even more exciting. I’m finally getting hooked onto this book, and I can’t wait to read the next two in the series. Thanks for reading!

Reading: The Hunger Games

Picking from where we left off in The Hunger Games, starting on page 103 and ending on 132 (the end of Part One: The Tributes ).

Due to Katniss's little scene with the Gamemakers, she is determined that she's going to have to suffer the consequences now. She's paranoid of what they might do to her mom and Prim, but she doesn't think they'll kick her out of the games, seeing as how it's too late to find a replacement for her. Katniss comes to the conclusion that the Gamemakers will just give her a low score for her private session, which will decrease her chance of getting sponsors. "Since the training isn't open to viewers, the Gamemakers announce a score for each player. It gives the audience a starting place for the betting that will continue throughout the Games." Scores range anywhere from one, being the worst, to twelve, being the best; however, these don't determine the winner.
At dinner, Haymitch asks Peeta and Katniss how bad they did today in the private sessions (he's a real optimistic coach isn't he?). Peeta tells of how he threw weights while no one watched, and Katniss tells of how she shot an arrow at the Gamemakers. The scores are finally and officially televised to the public for the first time. Peeta has received an eight, which is average, and Katniss has received an eleven, which is outrageous.
Once she returned to her room, Katniss is lying in bed thinking about her first in counter with Gale. They first met in the woods when Gale thought Katniss was trying to steal one of his rabbits. From that moment on the two silently became a strong hunting duo. He gave her a much needed sense of security and they trusted each other with everything. Still trying to fall asleep, Katniss starts to compare Peeta to Gale and her relationships with both.
The next day at breakfast Haymitch announces that they will be coached on interviews, but Peeta has chosen to now be coached separately. Immediately, Katniss feels betrayed by Peeta. She thinks he changed his mind because she got a better score than he did. Typical boy who gets mad once he gets beaten by a girl. A manly man would just accept it and get over it!
While in training for presentation, Effie teaches Katniss how to walk in heels, hold her dress, sit properly, make eye contact, and smile more. This reminds me of Princess Diaries when Julie Andrews is trying to teach Anne Hathaway how to act like a proper princess or in Miss Congeniality when Sandra Bullock is learning how to become a beauty queen. After a long session Effie feels defeated and aggravated by Katniss. During her interview session with Haymitch, he becomes equally defeated when he cannot come up with a good 'angle' for Katniss. She can't act cocky, witty, funny, sexy, or mysterious. The entire time he criticizes her, and then finally tells her to act humble.
Katniss eats dinner alone in her room, then bursts out into a tantrum throwing plates and other dishes out of anger. The Avox comes in to take her dishes, but Katniss orders her not to. The Avox goes into the bathroom, comes out with a wet rag, and cleans the blood from Katniss. She finally apologizes to the Avox telling her that she should have saved her and the boy from the hovercraft.
Cinna and the prep team arrives to clean up and make over Katniss for her interview. She's completely transformed looking more "radiant than the sun." With a complete face of make up and a beautifully shimmering dress she's ready for her interview. Cinna tells her to act herself, be completely honest, and to look at him when she's answering questions. This whole entire process seems like they're in a beauty contest, seriously! The private session with the Gamemakers is just like the talent portion of the contest and the interview is just like the interview portion of the contest too.
At the interviews Peeta and Katniss still have to act as they're a pair. When it's Katniss's turn for her three minute interview, she follows Cinna's advice and answers honestly. She was most impressed by the lamb stew, this comment gets a laugh or two out of the audience, she adored Cinna's opening ceremony outfit, the audience reacts with oohs and ahhs, and she explained why she volunteered. Peeta's interview goes better than could be imagined, and it seems as if the crowd loves him. A surprise comes when the host asks him if he has a girlfriend. He responds saying no, but there is a girl who has had a crush for as long as he can remember, and how she didn't even know he existed until the reaping. *Sigh* Awww Peeta! I feel like things like this make the best stories if the two end up together. The host tells him that if he wins the girl will be all over him when he returns, and Peeta tells him that if he wins he won't be able to get the girl because she's there with him. Finally it's come out! Peeta has feelings for Katniss. How will this effect the Hunger Games?

More next time when I start Part Two: The Games. Thanks for reading!