The Hunger Games series took the world by storm in 2008, immersing young adult readers in a dystopian fiction universe.
Now, the eagerly-awaited next installment is about to hit the shelves of Penrith’s Harry Hartog in an exclusive midnight release party on Tuesday, March 18.
Sunrise on the Reaping by Suzanne Collins is a prequel that will tell the story of fan-favourite character, Haymitch Abernathy.
“This book is all about the Quarter Quell and the Hunger Games that he was a part of and how he won,” said Harry Hartog Manager, Peri MacDonald.
“Haymitch is such a troubled character, and I absolutely adore him, I think he’s one of the greatest characters in the whole series.”
The rarely-sober character was the only surviving Hunger Games winner from District 12 during Katniss and Peeta’s tale, and MacDonald isn’t the only one who can’t wait to hear his backstory.
“We had someone who reached out to us on Instagram recently who’s flying all the way from Perth just to come to our event,” MacDonald said.
“We’ve definitely got some eager beavers.”
The manager is proud that the store was selected to take part in the midnight release parties.
“We’re very lucky that Scholastic reached out to us for this opportunity, because they didn’t extend it to all the bookstores, so it’s very exclusive,” MacDonald explained.
“We’re very big on promoting ‘west is best’ and trying to bring more culture to this side of Sydney.”
Attendees are encouraged to make the trip on a school night and get dressed up for a chance to win prizes.
“We’ve got a surprise bundle that Scholastic are going to send through for us, but we’ve also got some other little goodies that we’ll announce on the night,” MacDonald stated.
“We’ve got a scavenger hunt that we’re going to be orchestrating while we’re waiting for midnight to hit, we’re encouraging people to dress up in costumes, and we’re going to have a best dressed prize.”
Doors will open at 11pm on Tuesday night, and books will be available at 12.01am on Wednesday morning.
Register to attend the midnight release party online at https://events.humanitix.com/midnight-release-party-sunrise-on-the-reaping.
Ally Hall
Ally Hall joined the Weekender in 2024, and focuses on entertainment and community stories. She's a graduate of the University of South Australia and has previously worked as a Video Journalist with Southern Cross Austereo and as a News Reader with Australian Radio Network.