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A review by claudiaswisher
The Girl Who Was on Fire: Your Favorite Authors on Suzanne Collins' Hunger Games Trilogy by Leah Wilson
5.0
First of all, what a wonderful concept for a book! I haven't read the collection of essays on the Crank series, but I will after reading this book. 13 essays by 13 YA authors, some well-known, like Ned Vizzini and Carrie Ryan; but most are up-and-coming authors who really impressed me, both with their writing, but also with their insights. Each essay examines a different aspect of the Hunger Games series...fashion, notoriety,reality TV, rebellion, and my favorite essay, building a community.
I loved that each of these authors LOVED the books and found something different in them. I loved that each essay was a tight, well-written literary analysis essay, complete with citations. These could be great models for teachers working with students on senior-paper type research. Not a five-paragraph essay in the bunch, not a quote lump, not a false note. Everything comes from the authors' passion for the book and the clarity of their own prose.
I found some lines that resonate in today's troubling times: "The whole problem with the world is that fools and fanatics are always so sure of themselves and wiser people are so full of doubts" -- Bertrand Russell. "Unthinking respect for authority is the greatest enemy of truth" -- Albert Einstein, and "[Indulgent] societies can actually convince themselves that this self-indulgence of the few based on the work of the many can actually be a good thing for everyone...In the Hunger Games, individual rights and freedoms are dangerous toys for a careless populace." -- Adrienne Kress.
I loved that each of these authors LOVED the books and found something different in them. I loved that each essay was a tight, well-written literary analysis essay, complete with citations. These could be great models for teachers working with students on senior-paper type research. Not a five-paragraph essay in the bunch, not a quote lump, not a false note. Everything comes from the authors' passion for the book and the clarity of their own prose.
I found some lines that resonate in today's troubling times: "The whole problem with the world is that fools and fanatics are always so sure of themselves and wiser people are so full of doubts" -- Bertrand Russell. "Unthinking respect for authority is the greatest enemy of truth" -- Albert Einstein, and "[Indulgent] societies can actually convince themselves that this self-indulgence of the few based on the work of the many can actually be a good thing for everyone...In the Hunger Games, individual rights and freedoms are dangerous toys for a careless populace." -- Adrienne Kress.