The Hunger Games series returns with a new book, Sunrise on the Reaping (2025), by Suzanne Collins. This is no surprise; the original trilogy has a strong following. It inspired kids to wear long braids and little girls started to see themselves as heroes for the first time. On top of this, people have used The Hunger Games as a symbol and a connection to real-life protests. In the story, the main protagonist, Katniss Everdeen, uses a three-finger salute to honor Rue, a 12-year-old tribute who Katniss took under her wing, after she was killed in the first installation. The three fingers pressed to lips and raised up is now a common protest symbol worldwide in the series. The Capitol of Panem is the only place that doesn’t sacrifice a child to the games. Instead, they enjoy the event as entertainment, wearing lavish clothes and feasting. The juxtaposition in this  scene is often likened to the Met Gala and other real-world A-list events while violence errupts in Palestine. Both the Met Gala and the Capitol dress in clothes worth enough money to save hundreds if not thousands of starving children and completely ignore the terror happening right in front of them. The Hunger Games series has become a symbol of revolution, hope, and reality to the world. 

Many might assume Collins is taking advantage of that popularity, but she’s not. Yes, there are five books, soon to be five movies and plenty of merchandise, but Collins said she adds to her captivating worlds only when she has something important to share. In an interview with her publisher, David Levithan, she said, “I have two worlds, the Underland and Panem. I use them both to explore elements of just war theory. When I find a related topic that I want to examine, then I look for a place it best fits”. 

The original trilogy includes The Hunger Games (2008), Catching Fire (2009) and Mockingjay (2010). Collins got the idea while flipping through TV channels. “[T]hese young people were competing for a million dollars or whatever then I was seeing footage from the Iraq war, and these two things began to fuse together in a very unsettling way” (Collins, The Guardian). During this time, the United States started to increase its presence in the war, deploying thousands of more soldiers and resulting in nearly 4,000 US soldiers dying. All the while, events like the Met Gala, Grammys, and other extravagant parties were happening, completely ignoring the war that cost thousands of lives. The trilogy follows a similar story. Katniss Everdeen, who is only 16, volunteers to take her sister’s place in the 74th Hunger Games and has to fight to survive. Against all odds, she and her district partner, Peeta Mellark, win the games. A series of actions forces Katniss to become the face of the revolution. Then she and other past winners, called Victors, must return to the games even though they were promised immunity for life. It is in the 75th game that Katniss shoots an arrow connected to a wire into the roof of the game arena which lightning strikes resulting in destroying the arena and ending the games. This is the true start of the revolution. The series ends with the killing of President Snow and the creation of New Panem, allowing Katniss and the few surviving Victors to live their lives in hopeful peace. Donald Sutherland, the actor who portrayed the older President Snow in the first four movies, had a passion for the series’ meaning, saying “I thought [The Hunger Games] could wake up an electorate that has been dormant since the 1970s” (Sutherland, The Science Survey). 

The inspiration struck again in 2020 with the first addition to the series, The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes. It starts during the 10th Hunger Games, where the then only 18-year-old Coriolanus Snow is a mentor for the District 12 tribute, Lucy Grey Baird. Snow is seen as a young boy who pretends to be wealthy while actually living in extreme poverty, attempting to help Lucy Grey win the games so he can get a scholarship to go to college. It ends with Snow betraying Lucy Grey, leaving her in an ambiguous ending as he gets the life he wants, eventually becoming the President and making the Hunger Games even more of a spectacle than before. This was published during Donald Trump’s first term as president and the start of his campaign for a second. Similar to Snow, Trump has repeatedly lied about his finances. Despite claiming to be a profitable businessman, Trump’s tax returns say otherwise. 2020’s return states a $3,368,970 business loss.

Sunrise on the Reaping (2025), which notably came out during Trump’s second term, follows Haymitch Abernathy, a mentor we first met in The Hunger Games (2008). He was a lovable drunk and a leader in the revolution. Until now, we only knew he won the 50th Hunger Games, a Quarter Quell with double the tributes: 48 instead of 24. This new book reveals much more about Haymitch’s life during those games. His birthday falling on Reaping Day and the many deaths caused by President Snow are just some of the tragic details we learn from his past. The most shocking thing about this new story was learning that Katniss was not, in fact, the first tribute that attempted to destroy the Capitol and President Snow’s reign. In the 50th games, Haymitch was recruited by Beetee, a Victor who later appears in the 75th games with Katniss, to be the one to destroy the area. Haymitch attempts to do so with the hope that the games would end as the area did, but he fails, which allows the games to continue for years to come. Prior to this novel, it is assumed Katniss inspired the revolution during the 74th games, but with this information, we learn that the revolution is much older than we knew by at least 25 years. 

Donald Trump and Coriolanus Snow share many similarities that are highlighted even more with this new release. One key example is the propaganda posters featuring Snow’s face, with slogans like “#1 Peacekeeper” (Sunrise on the Reaping). These posters echo AI-generated images of Trump with similar slogans, often shared by him or his supporters. For example,  a recent one he shared and AI image of himself as the Catholic pope only days after Pope Francis passed, mirroring Snow’s propaganda images. The story deepens these parallels between Snow and Trump, highlighting their immoral actions, but I don’t think that’s the primary focus of the novel. I believe that Collins’ goal is to inspire hope. She wants us to understand that resistance takes years of struggle and failure before it leads to success. It takes a pile of kindling before one match can set it aflame.

When Kamala Harris lost the presidential election on the morning of November 6, 2024, many of us lost hope. I remember that day vividly. I woke up at 4:32 a.m. with a sense of dread before I even saw the results. When I finally checked, it felt like all hope had vanished. I braced myself for a future where someone would strip away my rights.

In the months since, I’ve watched Donald Trump sign harmful tariffs, deport innocent people, strip rights from women, LGBTQIA+, people of color and so many more. He has allowed many other damaging actions to unfold, slowly harming our country. My hope faded. But when I finished Sunrise on the Reaping, I realized how long it took for the resistance in Panem to rise. That realization renewed my hope. We still have time.

As much as the world feels unbearable right now—and it really does—there is still hope. There are protests, petitions and propositions aimed at removing Trump and his cult-like following from power. It’s hard to wake up to more bad news each day. Still, I believe the events in The Hunger Games and other dystopian novels won’t literally happen as they’re portrayed on the page. We now have warnings about dictatorship hidden in the sweet language of democracy. We were raised on the fruits of dystopian fairy tales. These are the stories our generation has grown up with. We know what signs to look for, and I genuinely believe it’s because of these stories that we even recognize how truly horrific these actions are in the long run. This is the drive behind Trump’s ban on books, including Collin’s series, that have contents that challenge dictatorship and control by the government. He knows that we have been warned of villains like him and given a near step-by-step list on how to stop it. He fears our education. 

So, don’t give up hope. Even if everything isn’t fixed today, there are more people working to make sure we’re okay than you might realize. I’m not saying don’t be scared—being scared is a valid and true feeling that I share—but don’t let it control you. Speak out. Donate. Research (and I mean really research). Go to protests. Support others. And most importantly: ask those most affected by Trump’s inhumane policies how you can help. As long as we stick together we will be okay. 

“Hope. It is the only thing stronger than fear. A little hope is effective; a lot of hope is dangerous.”
— Suzanne Collins, The Hunger Games