Catching Fire by Suzanne Collins

This HAS to be the best series I have read ALL YEAR. I LOVE these books so much! I couldn't put it down. I really don't usually like this genre, but this book has definitely made it into my top 10 favorite books. The first book, The Hunger Games, was fantastic, and somehow, Collins has been able to not only keep up the amazing writing, but make it even better! This book was about the protagonist, Katniss Everdeen, after she won the Hunger Games in the last book. In the last book, Katniss and her friend (or boyfriend!?) Peeta find a way to beat the system of the Hunger Games: kill themselves. Being the only two left in the arena, and not wanting to kill each other, they were about to eat poison berries when they were both declared winners. In this book, the government is making sure that this act against the system does not cause a rebellion amongst the people. Katniss must be very careful about what she says or does as she embarks on a victory tour across the country. If she is the cause of a rebellion, she and her family will be tortured, or worse. The plot is extremely interesting in this book. Also, a character is being reintroduced. Gale was Katnisses friend before she entered the Hunger Games, but they grew apart. Now he is a bigger part in the book and a love triangle is beginning to form.... I don't really like this character. If he's so important, how can the author make him disappear for an entire book? Anyway, I would recommend this trilogy to ANYONE no matter what types of books they like. The third book comes out next year...I can't wait!

The Laramie Project Extra Credit

The Laramie Project was a great play. It's about a homosexual man, Matthew Shepard, who was tied to a fence and beaten to death as part of a hate crime in Laramie, Wyoming. The Laramie Project is a play that was produced by the techtonic theater company about Laramie's reaction to this crime. The actors in the play were all very good. There were a limited amount of actors, so the actors had to play more than one character each. It was very clear and they portrayed the personalities of the characters very well. The overall message of the play was portryed well also. The play was funny at times and very entertaining. I would highly reccomend anyone to watch it.

The Year of Secret Assignments by Jacelyn Moriarty

This was a great book. I picked this book to read because it is written entirely in the format of letters, diary entries, and emails. The author, Jacelyn Moriarty, is very successful at this writing style. Each of the six main characters have personalities that really stand out. I like this book a lot because the author was able to give the characters voice and personalities just by letters and written things, in which actions and event can not be shown. I also like her sense of humor. This book is about three girls, Lydia, Emily, and Cassie, who write anonymous letters to a neighboring school for a pen pal project. The letter's recipients, Sebastian, Charlie, and Matthew Dunlop, soon become very close with the girls. Soon after, though, Cassie finds out that there is no such person as Matthew Dunlop that goes to that high school, and the five friends set out on a mission to find him. Overall, this has been a very funny book, and I would definitely recommend it. I have read another book by this author, and it is in the same format.This author is very talented at really just giving her characters realistic personalities. I love this author in general and would recommend her also.