Haymitch Abernathy is in two minds as he wakes on his 16th birthday.
As he wonders what might await him from his Ma and little brother Sid, he’s already planning 
duck any chores for the morning and see his girlfriend Lenore Dove.
He’s sure he will have time to help his mother before the other event on his mind for the day. This is also the Day of the Reaping.
He and Lenore have avoided being drawn to fight in the Hunger Games for their District, but every time Haymitch has received extra rations since his father died, his name appears again in the reaping – ever increasing the chance of his name being drawn. To make matters worse, it is the 50th anniversary of the games (2nd Quarter Quell) and double the names will be drawn. 2 girls and 2 boys.
Just when he thinks he and Lenore are safe, their worlds are torn apart and Haymitch is on his way to the Capitol and the preparation for the Hunger Games.
He soon learns that what they see every year on the screens the Capitol provides, is not what really happens. Much of the footage is edited and manipulated to mean something else – ultimately hiding more deplorable truths from both the Districts and Capitol citizens.
Haymitch must decide who is friend and who is foe as he and his District 12 tributes travel by train, to prepare to fight to the death in the arena.
He’s not sure who to trust as he discovers there may be those inside the Capitol who want to bring the Hunger Games down almost as much as he does. But a run-in with the evil President Snow himself leaves Haymitch in no uncertain terms of his future. He will die.
Accepting his fate helps him make his decisions, only to realise when his life is on the line, his dreamof being with Lenore Dove is too strong to ignore.
But the games do not finish when he is the victor. President Snow’s saying, ‘The snow alway falls on top,” is truer than Haymitch can ever believe.
The fifth book in ths YA adult series that has ben published in more than 50 languages around the world – had me gripped from the first page.
After loving the previous novels all made into blockbuster movies, this is Haymitch’s story.
Sunrise on the Reaping instantly grabbed me. Knowing the setting, how the Hunger Games work and key characters like Effie Trinket, Haymitch (initially as an adult), President Snow and Caesar Flickerman, the stage is instantly set in reader’s minds for this episode of Suzanne Collin’s epic dystopian world.
Throughout the horror of choosing teens to die, training them for wealthy people’s disturbed entertainment and the slaughter itself in the arena, there are beautiful poems and songs as part of the narrative.
From Edgar Allan Poe, William Blake and the author herself, these songs are beautiful, macabre and important to Haymitch to remind him of home and bring some tiny kernel of peace amongst the evil that swallows him whole.
Haymitch was just as real to me as the girl he mentors later in life and the series.
Loved it.
Author – Suzanne Collins
Age – 12+
Publisher – Scholastic
(2025, Scholastic, Series, Dystopian, Hunger Games, Capitol, Fight to the Death, Violence, Control, Lies, Courage, Manipulation, Entertainment, Fighting Back, Plan, Love, Friendship, Comrades, Teamwork, Allies)