Mockingjay (The Hunger Games, #3)

by Suzanne Collins

They have a whole team of people to make me over, dress me, write my speeches, orchestrate my appearances — as if that doesn’t sound horribly familiar — and all I have to do is play my part.

Another force to contend with. Another power player who has decided to use me as a piece in her games, although things never seem to go according to plan.

And now Coin, with her fistful of precious nukes and her well-oiled machine of a district, finding it’s even harder to groom a Mockingjay than to catch one.

Have these precautions been put in place because of the recent influx of immigrants?

“It’s a saying from thousands of years ago, written in a language called Latin about a place called Rome,” he explains. “Panem et Circenses translates into ‘Bread and Circuses.’ The writer was saying that in return for full bellies and entertainment, his people had given up their political responsibilities and therefore their power.”

The children form his human shield.

“That was the one thing I had going for me. Taking care of your family,” he says.