Since the first novel was released in 2008, “The Hunger Games” series by Suzanne Collins has been a pop culture phenomenon. The series has four books, including “The Hunger Games” (2008), “Catching Fire” (2009), “Mockingjay” (2010), and “The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes” (2020). “The Hunger Games” franchise helped to popularize the dystopian genre among young adults, as the themes of inequality, class, control, rebellion, sacrifice, and love seemed to inspire young readers. With the latest book, “Sunrise on the Reaping,” set to be released on March 18, 2025, here’s a quick refresher on the dystopian society of Panem.

The Hunger Games

In its first month of release, The Hunger Games sold around 200,000 copies. The book follows Katniss Everdeen, a sixteen-year-old girl who volunteers to participate in the Hunger Games in her sister Primrose’s place after she is reaped. Katniss competes in the Games, and falls in love with the male tribute from District 12, Peeta Mellark. Young adults loved “The Hunger Games” because they could see someone their age in a powerful leadership role. The film adaptation has grossed over $408 million dollars since its release in March of 2012.

The success of the series and this film adaptation helped jumpstart a number of adaptations of YA dystopia that would follow, most famously “Divergent” and “The Maze Runner” among others. It would also, of course, lead to an inevitable adaptation of the story’s sequel.

Catching Fire

As the series was picking up popularity around the nation, Collins released the second novel in the series. The second book details Katniss and Peeta’s unexpected time in the 75th Annual Hunger Games, the Third Quarter Quell. Katniss and Peeta must defeat past victors from other districts in order to survive. The Catching Fire movie was released on November 20, 2013. The film has grossed $865,011,746 worldwide.

Among some fans, the film adaptation of “Catching Fire” is considered an improvement over its predecessor, not just in terms of its further development of the most complex themes of the series, but because of the lack of shaky cam for which the first film was often criticized.

Mockingjay

The third book in the Hunger Games trilogy is The Mockingjay. Katniss is living in District 13 after District 12 was destroyed after the Quarter Quell. Peeta has been brainwashed by the Capitol to believe that Katniss is evil, so doctors are working to restore his memory of her. Katniss is working with District 13 leader Alma Coin and former Gamesmaker Plutarch Heavensbee to overthrow the Capitol and make Coin the President of Panem. As she works closely with Coin, she realizes that Coin may be as corrupt as the current Capitol leader Coriolanus Snow.

Infamously, “Mockingjay” was adapted into two films, continuing a “Part 1, Part 2” trend popularized by “Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows,” and followed thereafter by “Breaking Dawn” from the “Twilight” series. This controversial move did lead some audiences to criticize the pacing of the final two entries in the series, though both films still performed well at the box office.

The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes

The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes is a prequel to the Hunger Games series. The book tells the story of a young President Snow. Snow is a Capitol citizen competing with his classmates to win the Plinth Prize, a scholarship that will pay the tuition for a student at the Capitol’s university. To win the Plinth Prize, each student will be given a tribute to a mentor in the 10th Hunger Games, and the student whose tribute puts on the best show and wins the Hunger Games will win. Snow is assigned to be Lucy Gray Baird’s mentor, a fiery 16-year-old girl from District 12. The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes movie has grossed about $349 million since its release on November 17, 2023.

Sunrise on the Reaping

Sunrise on the Reaping will provide the backstory of Katniss and Peeta’s mentor Haymitch Abernathy. 16-year-old Haymitch is sent as the District 12 tribute in the Second Quarter Quell. The twist of this Quarter Quell? There are double the amount of tributes. 

Sunrise on the Reaping can be pre-ordered from Barnes & Noble, Amazon, Target, and Books-A-Million.