You’re walking through the hallway of your elementary school. It’s your sixth grade year. The Hunger Games is the biggest new obsession. Your classmates are whistling the theme song and doing the three finger salute. It has taken over the minds of students across the world.

The Hunger Games trilogy by Suzanne Collins has been very popular since the first book was published in 2008. The three books include “The Hunger Games,” “Catching Fire” and “Mockingjay.” 

Most people have heard the story of the protective sister that volunteers as tribute for her little sister at the Reaping. Katniss Everdeen is known for her archery skills and strength throughout the trilogy. After Katnisss and Peeta win the Hunger Games, they become very popular figures in the world of Panem. They bring hope to ordinary people and are the start of a new Revolution. Readers have become invested in the Capitol of Panem and District 12. We have gotten to know the characters, including Katniss Everdeen, Peeta Mellark and Gale Hawthorne.  These three books have also been made into four movies. The movies are a reflection of the books and exciting for readers. 

Author Suzanne Collins has announced that a fourth Hunger Games book will be published this year. The newly released book, “The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes,” is a prequel, set 64 years before the first Hunger Games book. Since it’s so much earlier than the other books, we won’t be seeing characters like Katniss Everdeen or the other tributes. The two known characters to be featured are Mags and President Snow, as this book is predicted to include the backstory of the villain we have gotten to know. 

It will take a look at how the Hunger Games came to be and the unsuccessful rebellion which resulted in the civil war fought between the districts and the Capitol, 75 years prior to the first Hunger Games ever. District 13 then abandoned the rest of the districts to have their own freedom as the Capitol crushed the rebellion. We will get a look at the teenage Snow and his first duties during the tenth Hunger Games.

The prequel has already been getting some controversy with fans being disappointed that they waited this long for a new book just for it to be a President Snow origin story. Some fans think that it is a way of humanizing Snow and telling his backstory to try and justify his future actions. Others related it to the new Joker movie that just came out. 

Yet other fans are excited to see what the book entails and how the story is told. Junior Brendan Pennington shared his opinion.

“I think it’s going to be interesting because it explains what happens before the other books, so you know the context of it,” Pennington said. 

The book is set to be released on May 19, 2020. Collins shared in a statement about the book that she wanted to explore the state of nature, who the creators are and what is required for their survival. It is unknown if there will be another movie made based on this book, but the odds are in our favor.