Scholastic announced the title and cover for the much-anticipated new novel in the worldwide bestselling The Hunger Games series by Suzanne Collins – the first new Hunger Games book since Mockingjay, published in 2010.
The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes will be published May 19, 2020, with a World English first printing of 2.5 million copies. The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes will be published simultaneously in print, digital and audio formats by Scholastic in the US, Canada, the UK and Ireland, Australia, and New Zealand. In addition, translation rights to The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes have been sold by Stimola Literary Studio into 28 territories to date.
“It has been thrilling to see the growing excitement from readers around the globe for this new Hunger Games novel.” said Ellie Berger, President, Scholastic Trade. “Suzanne Collins is an expert storyteller and world-builder, and in revisiting the world of Panem, she again raises important questions about authority, the use of violence, and the truth of human nature.”
“This cover does an extraordinary job of capturing the conflict—both inner and outer—that lies at the heart of The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes,” said David Levithan, VP, Publisher, and Editorial Director for Scholastic. “The mockingjay has returned, but at a new angle . . . which is very much in line with the story that Suzanne Collins is telling.”
The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes will revisit the world of Panem sixty-four years before the events of The Hunger Games, starting on the morning of the reaping of the Tenth Hunger Games.
On returning to the world of The Hunger Games, Suzanne Collins said, “With this book, I wanted to explore the state of nature, who we are, and what we perceive is required for our survival. The reconstruction period ten years after the war, commonly referred to as the Dark Days—as the country of Panem struggles back to its feet—provides fertile ground for characters to grapple with these questions and thereby define their views of humanity.”