Sunrise on the Reaping

Sunrise on the Reaping is a 2025 dystopian novel by Suzanne Collins and the second prequel to The Hunger Games series.

Sunrise on the Reaping is a 2025 dystopian novel by Suzanne Collins and the second prequel to the Hunger Games series. It follows Haymitch Abernathy during the 50th Hunger Games, also known as the Second Quarter Quell, set 24 years before the original trilogy. The novel was published on March 18, 2025 by Scholastic Press.

Publication and series context

Sunrise on the Reaping was published on March 18, 2025 by Scholastic Press. It is part of Suzanne Collins’s The Hunger Games series and follows The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes as the second prequel.

Plot and setting

The novel is set in Panem 24 years before the original trilogy, beginning on the morning of the reaping for the Fiftieth Hunger Games. It focuses on Haymitch Abernathy, who is selected for the Second Quarter Quell.

Themes and narrative focus

Sources describe the book as exploring propaganda, political control, oppression, and rebellion. It presents the Games as a tool of state power and follows Haymitch’s experience under that system.

Reception and sales

The novel had a major commercial launch, with Scholastic reporting more than 1.5 million World English copies sold in its first week. Later reporting placed total sales in the millions and identified it as one of the best-selling books of 2025.

Adaptation

A feature film adaptation of Sunrise on the Reaping is scheduled for release in November 2026. Reporting identifies it as part of the continuing screen adaptation of The Hunger Games franchise.