Do You Need to Read The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes Before Sunrise on the Reaping?

No. You can read Sunrise on the Reaping before The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes. Haymitch Abernathy’s story begins with the 50th Hunger Games and gives you the context you need to follow his reaping, his relationships in District 12, and the rules of his Games. If you already know Katniss’s story and came back to Panem for Haymitch, start here.

Read The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes first if you’re planning to read both prequels and want to catch the connections as they appear. The earlier book gives you Lucy Gray Baird, the young Coriolanus Snow, and a sense of what the Games looked like before the Capitol made them into the spectacle Haymitch faces.

This guide discusses the setup of both novels and leaves their endings unspoiled.

Which Hunger Games book should you read first?

How far apart are Ballad and Sunrise?

The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes takes place during the 10th Hunger Games, when Coriolanus Snow is a student assigned to mentor District 12 tribute Lucy Gray Baird. Sunrise on the Reaping begins 40 years later at the 50th Hunger Games, also known as the Second Quarter Quell. Katniss’s first Games are the 74th, another 24 years after Haymitch’s. Scholastic’s Hunger Games reading guide covers the books and their premises.

That gap is why starting with Sunrise works. Haymitch has his own reasons to fear the reaping, and Collins introduces the Quarter Quell’s rule change as his story begins. This time the Capitol takes twice the usual number of tributes, bringing the total to 48. For more on how those anniversary Games work, see our Quarter Quell guide.

What does reading Ballad first add to Haymitch’s story?

The Covey feel familiar. In Ballad, Lucy Gray introduces readers to the Covey, a community of musicians whose songs carry stories through District 12. In Sunrise, Haymitch’s girlfriend, Lenore Dove, brings that musical tradition into his life. Collins told Scholastic that Lenore Dove’s influence even shapes how Haymitch speaks. Read Ballad first and there’s a good chance you’ll notice that influence before you have a name for it..

You see how much the Capitol had to learn about putting on the Games. In Lucy Gray’s era, the Capitol is still experimenting with ways to get viewers invested in individual tributes. By Haymitch’s reaping, it knows how to turn a child from District 12 into a character in a story it controls. Reading the books in timeline order makes that evolution easier to see. It also makes the Covey connection more interesting. A song can keep a memory alive in District 12 even when the broadcast tells Panem a different story.

President Snow comes with a history. If you know the trilogy, you already understand what President Snow represents to the districts. Ballad lets you spend time with him decades earlier, when he’s trying to secure his own future in the Capitol. That background gives his presence in Sunrise more weight. Haymitch’s decisions in the arena still make sense on their own.

Is the Ballad movie enough before reading Sunrise?

Yes. If you’ve seen The Hunger Games: The Ballad of Songbirds & Snakes, you already know who Lucy Gray is and how she meets young Snow. That’s enough background to recognize the broad connections. Save the Ballad novel for later if you’re eager to get to Haymitch. It’s especially worth returning to if you want more time inside Snow’s perspective.

If you’re picking just one book before the Sunrise on the Reaping film, choose Sunrise. It’s the novel the movie adapts, and Haymitch tells the story himself. After you finish, our Sunrise on the Reaping book-versus-movie preview looks at what the adaptation could change.

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• Find Sunrise on the Reaping in Scholastic Press hardcover on Amazon
• Find The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes in Scholastic Press hardcover on Amazon

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