In a dystopian North America, a boy is pulled into the competition of a lifetime. The winner is guaranteed to never go hungry again, but the losers never make it out alive. The 50th Hunger Games have arrived, and sixteen-year-old Haymitch Abernathy must go into the arena to fight for his life.
Suzanne Collins takes readers into the nation of Panem in Sunrise on the Reaping (Scholastic 2025) and into the mind of a teenager facing impossible odds. While this prequel novel is the fifth installation in the bestselling Hunger Games series, readers who are new to the series are also able pick up the book and begin their journey with Haymitch.
Haymitch’s home is District 12, located in the rolling meadows and peaks of the Appalachian Mountains. This futuristic Appalachia is one of the districts of Panem, a country built out of North America, where twenty-four children are put into an annual competition — the Hunger Games — where they must fight to the death until a lone victor remains. District 12 is under the Capitol’s heavy boot, covered in a layer of coal dust and full of starving people; however, it’s also a place thrumming with mountain music and rebellion.
“I’m entirely the Capitol’s plaything. They will use me for their entertainment and then kill me, and the truth will have no say in it.”
The 50th anniversary of the Hunger Games calls for forty-eight children to be put forth as tributes and, as one of the chosen, Haymitch’s dreams of his future are put in peril. Despite growing up in District 12, Haymitch is still a typical teenager whose days revolve around doing chores for his family and spending time with his girlfriend. Appalachian culture is still embedded within District 12 as Haymitch runs an illegal moonshine still and his girlfriend sings rebellious ballads. They grapple with what it means to live under the Capitol’s oppression, and what choices a person can make for their own future when it’s weaponized against them.
“You were capable of imagining a different future. And maybe it won’t be realized today, maybe not in our lifetime. Maybe it will take generations. We’re all part of a continuum. Does that make it pointless?”
Part of the horror of Sunrise on the Reaping is about the Hunger Games where children kill one another, resulting in bloody violence that Haymitch must contend with. The overarching horror of the novel, though, is that the Hunger Games are televised across Panem. The propaganda of an authoritarian regime permeates every step of Haymitch’s journey, from interviews held the penultimate night before the Games or the cameras that film every tribute as they battle for their lives. Haymitch’s story isn’t just one of fighting enemies within the Games, but also fighting against the Capitol who holds all the power.
Rebellion comes in unlikely forms and the array of other characters — from a rich town girl to a boy who loves betting odds — exemplify the ways in which propaganda and resistance take form. As a natural rebel, Haymitch must find how to stand against an empire as he tries to fight for his future. In a deadly game with deadlier opponents, the hope to fight is a rare thing, but finding it is what Haymitch needs to come out alive.
“Sometimes she cries because things are so beautiful and we keep messing them up. Because the world doesn’t have to be so terrifying. That’s on people, not the world.”
Collins’ novel takes place in a fictional country, but the messages about propaganda and choice are eerily similar to modern life. The exploration of televised media and the shaping of narratives demand that readers look at what they engage with in their own lives, and how readers are influenced daily whether knowingly or not. Collins settles this story of hope and resistance in Appalachia, a place of rich history and culture, and Haymitch’s story feels as defiant and timeless as a loudly-sung ballad.
Suzanne Collins
Suzanne Collins is an internationally-bestselling author whose series, The Hunger Games, has become an international phenomenon. Sunrise on the Reaping is her most recent novel. Her first original series began with Gregor the Overlander (Scholastic 2003), a middle-grade fantasy. In addition to novels, Collins previously worked on children’s television for Nickelodeon and PBS. Originally from Connecticut, she graduated in Theater Arts from the Alabama School of Fine Arts. Collins currently lives in New York City.
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