# Sunrise on the Reaping

Sunrise on the Reaping is a dystopian novel written by the American author Suzanne Collins. It is the second prequel novel to the original The Hunger Games trilogy, following The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes, released in 2020. It is set 24 years before the events of the first novel. It was released on March 18, 2025, by Scholastic. A film adaptation was announced to be in production on June 6, 2024, and is set to be released by Lionsgate on November 20, 2026.

## Background

The second prequel begins on the morning of the reaping for the 50th Hunger Games, also known as the Second Quarter Quell, which was won by character Haymitch Abernathy. As shown in Catching Fire by the Capitol's tapes, for the Second Quarter Quell, the Capitol reaped twice the number of tributes to compete in the Hunger Games. The arena for the games appears to be luscious, but nearly everything was poisonous. While in the arena, Haymitch allies himself with fellow District 12 tribute Maysilee Donner, who saves his life by shooting a poisonous dart into a fellow tribute. Haymitch realizes that a forcefield surrounds the arena and that anything thrown at it bounces back before hearing Maysilee being killed by genetically modified birds. In his final showdown with a Career girl from District 1, Haymitch strategically dodges her axe throw and allows it to hit the forcefield, where it bounces back and hits her in the face, killing her and making him the winner of the games since he has outlasted the other tributes. As punishment for using the arena to his advantage, Haymitch's mother, brother, and girlfriend are all murdered upon orders from President Snow.
Collins' inspiration was a book by Scottish philosopher David Hume, specifically his ideas of implicit submission and "the easiness with which the many are governed by the few". Questions surrounding the use of propaganda and the power of media narratives also inspired Collins to explore the concept of what is ‘Real or not real?’ in the upcoming novel.

## Synopsis

On Haymitch Abernathy's sixteenth birthday, he attends the reaping for the 50th Hunger Games which ends in the execution of a boy who attempts to run away after being reaped. He interferes in a scuffle between a Peacekeeper and his lover, Covey member Lenore Dove, over the tribute's body, which results in him taking the tribute's place as one of two male tributes for the second Quarter Quell. On the train to the Capitol, attendants unsuccessfully attempt to ply the tributes with riches and a birthday cake for Haymitch before Maysilee Donner antagonises them. Haymitch plans an alliance with Louella McCoy, his thirteen-year-old friend from the Seam, while rebuffing Maysilee, who he and Lenore dislike for her wealth and attitude, and Wyatt Callow, an oddsmaker from a family of bookmakers who take bets on the Hunger Game, a taboo in District 12.

## Characters

* Haymitch Abernathy - The protagonist of the novel. Second male tribute from District 12 for the fiftieth Hunger Games. He is outspoken, short tempered, and trying his best to return to his family and girlfriend in District 12.
* Lenore Dove Baird - Lenore Dove is Haymitch's girlfriend. She is Covey, a once nomadic music group forced to settle in District 12 after the war.
* Louella McCoy - First female tribute from District 12 for the fiftieth Hunger Games. She is killed during the Tribute Parade and replaced with a body double by the Capitol.
* Maysilee Donner - Second female tribute from District 12 for the fiftieth Hunger Games. She is the original owner of the mockingjay pin which is given to Katniss in The Hunger Games. Has a twin sister Merrilee Donner.
* Wyatt Callow - First male tribute from District 12 for the fiftieth Hunger Games.
* Wiress - Victor of the forty ninth Hunger Games. Mentor for the District 12 tributes during the Second Quarter Quell.
* Mags Flanagan - Victor of the eleventh Hunger Games. Mentor for the District 12 tributes during the Second Quarter Quell.
* Drusilla Sickle - Capitol escort for the District 12 tributes during the fiftieth Hunger Games.
* Plutarch Heavensbee - Capitol cameraman assigned to District 12 tributes during the fiftieth Hunger Games.
* Ampert - Male tribute from District 3 for the fiftieth Hunger Games. He is Beetee's son. Part of the Newcomers alliance and an ally of Haymitch.
* Effie Trinket - Newly assigned escort and stylist for the District 12 tributes during the fiftieth Hunger Games.
* Sid Abernathy - Haymitch's brother.