Just published: Guide to The Hunger Games!

Feb. 27, 2012 - PRLog -- Katniss the Cattail: An Unauthorized Guide to Names and Symbols in Suzanne Collins’ The Hunger Games by acclaimed pop culture scholar and professor Valerie Estelle Frankel.
Who was Cinna? What do the hawthorn and primrose symbolize? Or President Snow’s roses and Peeta’s bread? What about Katniss’s last name? Bringing details from myths, herbal guides, military histories, and the classics, English professor and award-winning pop culture author Valerie Estelle Frankel sheds light on the deeper meanings behind Panem’s heroes and villains in this hottest of YA trilogies. In her series, Collins not only weaves a heroic tale of deep complexity but harnesses the power of Shakespeare and Rome to retell an ancient epic of betrayal, violence, and glory on the stage of an apocalyptic future.
The perfect treat for fans of all ages. Everything Hunger Games, packed into one volume.
From Alma Coin to Wiress you’ll learn about
• Why roses are a flower of death
• How eighteen of the characters are used in Shakespeare’s plays
• Katniss’s nickname Catnip
• The meaning of “The Hanging Tree”
• Peeta’s pearl and Katniss’s salvation

Katniss the Cattail is now available from Amazon and other top stores where it may be ordered as a softcover book (5.5 x 8.5, 104 pages) or downloadable electronic book in multiple formats from Kindle or Smashwords.
Author: Valerie Estelle Frankel
Release Date: February 2012
List Price: $6.95
ISBN-13 (print): 978-1469968247
ISBN-10 (print): 146996824X
Pages: 104
Trim size: 8.5 x 5.5
Ages: 12 and Up
Category: Juvenile Nonfiction / Literary Criticism & Collections
Format: Trade Paperback
Available from: Amazon, Baker & Taylor, Ingram, Smashwords
Author's website: www.HarryPotterParody.com
Contact: valerie@calithwain.com


For additional information or a sample copy, Contact:
Valerie Frankel
1088 Colton Ave
Sunnyvale, CA 94089-1503
(408) 314-9308
valerie@calithwain.com


Praise for Valerie Estelle Frankel’s From Girl to Goddess
Frankel’s book is so enthusiastically written, so thoroughly researched, and so articulately argued that it leaves the reader anticipating each subsequent chapter, enjoying each exemplary tale, and longing for further discussion –Mythprint

This book is a fascinating and engaging explanation into the feminine journey and a real treasure of storytelling. It’s at once academic in scope and yet accessible to the layman reader.        
–Sacramento Book Review

The analysis is witty and Frankel's respect for the great female archetypes is obvious, as is her respect for the cultures from which the stories come. –Tamora Pierce, Bestselling YA author


Valerie Estelle Frankel has won a Dream Realm Award, an Indie Excellence Award, and a USA Book News National Best Book Award for her YA novels. She is the author of four new and forthcoming books on pop culture: From Girl to Goddess: The Heroine’s Journey in Myth and Legend, Buffy and the Heroine’s Journey, Teaching with Harry Potter, and Harry Potter: Still Recruiting.