Catching Fire is the second book in The Hunger Games trilogy by Suzanne Collins. As the sequel to the 2008 bestseller The Hunger Games, it continues the story of Katniss Everdeen and the fictional, futuristic nation of Panem. Following the events of the previous novel, a rebellion against the oppressive Capitol has begun, and Katniss and fellow tribute Peeta Mellark are forced to return to the arena in a special edition of the Hunger Games. The book was released September 1, 2009, and was later released in eBook and audiobook format. The film will be released on November 22, 2013.

Major themes include survival, government control, rebellion, and interdependence vs. independence. Catching Fire has received mostly positive reviews. Reviewers praised the prose, the ending, and the development of Katniss's character. The third and final novel in the series, Mockingjay, was released August 24, 2010.

Catching Fire takes place in a fictional country called Panem, which is located in what was once the United States and Canada. It is told in the perspective of Katniss Everdeen, a seventeen year old girl, who, one year ago, won the seventy-fourth Hunger Games with fellow District 12 tribute Peeta Mellark. The Capitol, the chief city and seat of government, is located somewhere in the Rocky Mountains. District 12, Katniss's home, is located in the coal-rich Appalachian region. There are a total of 12 Districts, but there once was a 13th, which was destroyed in a rebellion against the Capitol. The Hunger Games take place annually in an arena specially built for the event in an unidentified location.

Jennifer Shrader Lawrence (born August 15, 1990) is an American film and television actress. She had lead roles in TBS's The Bill Engvall Show and in the independent films The Burning Plain and Winter's Bone, for which she received nominations for the Academy Award, Golden Globe Award, Satellite Award, and the Screen Actors Guild Award. At age 20, she was the second youngest actress ever to be nominated for the Academy Award for Best Actress. She is also known for playing Mystique in X-Men: First Class. In 2012, Lawrence achieved wider recognition starring as the heroine Katniss Everdeen in The Hunger Games, an adaptation of Suzanne Collins' best-selling novel of the same name. Her performance in the film garnered her notable critical praise and marked her as the highest grossing action heroine of all time. Lawrence's performances thus far have prompted Rolling Stone to define her as "the most talented young actress in America."

Lawrence was born and raised in Louisville, Kentucky, and has two older brothers. Her parents are Karen (née Koch), who runs a children's camp, and Gary Lawrence, who once owned a concrete construction firm, Lawrence & Associates. She acted in local theater and, by the age of 14, had decided to pursue an acting career, persuading her parents to take her to New York City to find a talent agent. Prior to finding success in Hollywood, Lawrence attended Kammerer Middle School. She graduated from high school two years early with a 3.9 average in order to begin a career in acting. While growing up and in between acting, Lawrence served as an assistant nurse at the children's summer day camp that her mother ran.

Joshua Ryan "Josh" Hutcherson (born October 12, 1992) is an American film and television actor. He began working in the early 2000s, appearing in several minor film and television roles. He gained wider exposure with major roles in the 2005 films Little Manhattan and Zathura, the 2006 comedy RV, the 2007 family adventure film Firehouse Dog, and the film adaptations of Bridge to Terabithia, Journey to the Center of the Earth and Cirque du Freak: The Vampire's Assistant. On March 30, 2008, Hutcherson won a Young Artist Award (for Leading Young Actor). Hutcherson was also featured on a Celebrity Teens edition of the hit show MTV Cribs, and portrayed Peeta Mellark in the 2012 film The Hunger Games. He will appear in the Red Dawn remake.

Josh Hutcherson was born in Union, Kentucky. His mother, Michelle, is a former Delta Air Lines employee who now assists Josh, and his father, Chris Hutcherson, is an analyst for the EPA. He has a younger brother, Connor, as well as many pets, including two dogs, Diesel and Nixon (a boxer). He has wanted to be an actor since he was four years old, but had only begun auditioning for roles in 2002, at the age of 9. He moved from Union to California, due to limited acting opportunities.

Samuel George "Sam" Claflin (born 27 June 1986) is an English actor, best known for his role in Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides And playing Prince William in Snow White and the Huntsman.

Claflin was born in Ipswich, Suffolk. His father is an accountant/financial manager and his mother is a classroom assistant at Ormiston Victory Academy. In 2010, Claflin appeared on the television series The Pillars of the Earth and Any Human Heart. In April 2010, he was cast as Phillip Swift in the fourth installment of the Pirates of the Caribbean film series, titled Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides which was released on 20 May 2011. In March 2011, he was cast as Thomas in The Seventh Son, a film adaptation of The Spook's Apprentice, but dropped out for unknown reasons and was replaced by Ben Barnes. In April 2011, he portrayed the role of footballer Duncan Edwards in the BBC TV drama United, which was centred around the events of the 1958 Munich air disaster, in which Edwards was fatally injured.

Liam Hemsworth (born 13 January 1990) is an Australian actor. He took the role of Josh Taylor in the soap opera Neighbours and as "Marcus" on the children's television series The Elephant Princess and appeared in the American film The Last Song, released on March 31, 2010. Hemsworth's elder brothers, Luke and Chris, are also actors and provided a path for Hemsworth to emulate.

Hemsworth was born in Melbourne, Australia. He is the son of Leonie, an English teacher, and Craig Hemsworth, a social-services counselor. He has two older brothers, Chris and Luke Hemsworth, who also work as actors. Hemsworth has said that though there is competition for jobs among them, it is friendly: "We are brothers and we are always competitive, but it is a good thing, it pushes us and we are always happy whenever someone books something."

When Hemsworth was in year 8, he and his family relocated to Phillip Island, a small island. Hemsworth says he spent much of his time there surfing with his brothers. In March 2009, Hemsworth moved to the United States to pursue his career there. He and his brother Chris first stayed in the guest house of Chris's agent William Ward before renting their own Los Angeles apartment in which they currently reside.