Sunrise on the Reaping

The Hunger Games trilogy, written by Suzanne Collins, have been around for what seems like ages, and they’ve had a heavy impact on society. The first book of the three part series was released in September of 2008, and it’s changed the world since. Teens and adults alike obsess over the books and movies, dressing up as Katniss for Halloween and writing fanfictions. 

            In May of 2020, Collins released a fourth book, a prequel to the rest of the series that sets up the villain's life before the main series. This book was a huge success, and a movie was released in 2023, which was also a huge success making almost 350 million dollars in box office. 

           This past month, on March 18th, Collins released the fifth book in the series, and it was highly anticipated. 

           The book, titled Sunrise on the Reaping, is the backstory to Haymitch Abernathy, a mentor and central character for Katniss in the original trilogy. Fans have been asking for this book for ages, and its release took over social media for a short time. It sold over 1.5 million copies in the first week. 

            “I plan to (read) over April break. I’m a huge Hunger Games fan, so I can’t wait!” NHS English teacher Kristin English said.

            The book had a lot of information on backstories of characters fans didn’t know much about, and theories took over the internet. The book also focuses a lot on societal issues, and Collins uses Sunrise on the Reaping, as well as her past books to point out ways our society may be failing now. 

            “Well, as Plutarch says, the Hunger Games are the best propaganda the Capitol has. For Snow, it's the annual Hobbesian reminder of who human beings are in the state of nature and why an authoritarian government is necessary for the survival of the species. They've devised this event in which district citizens kill one another — that way, the Capitol citizens don't directly bloody their hands and the districts are at war. The participants are children, which reinforces the idea that even the most innocent of us are brutal,” Collins shared in an interview with Scholastic. 

            The book is also set to have a movie made for it, and that will be released on November 20th, 2026. The highly anticipated film will start filming in July. Billy Ray, the screenwriter for the original Hunger Games will be returning as well as Francis Lawerence who directed the past four movies. 

            This book was a surprise for the world, so who knows what we will see from Suzanne Collins next!