Sunrise on the Reaping is the second prequel novel from Suzanne Collins in The Hunger Games franchise, focusing on the teenage experiences of a character fans have long wanted the bestselling author to delve into. The book and movie Sunrise on the Reaping will depict the 50th Hunger Games, won by Haymitch Abernathy, who will go on to mentor Katniss Everdeen and Peeta Mellark in the original Hunger Games trilogy. Haymitch’s Games is also the second Quarter Quell, for which the Capitol demands twice as many tributes, meaning Haymitch is one of four kids between the ages of 12 and 18 reaped this year.

Sunrise on the Reaping also features characters including Haymitch’s younger brother Sid, their mother, his girlfriend Lenore Dove, and his fellow tribute turned ally, Maysilee Donner. Years later, Katniss will watch Haymitch’s Games with Peeta ahead of their own Quarter Quell (a scene that certainly shouldn’t have been cut from the Catching Fire movie) and reflect on what she didn’t know about her mentor. The tragedy of Haymitch’s story is set up to have certain parallels to Katniss, which includes their age at the time of the reaping.

Sunrise On The Reaping Starts On Haymitch’s 16th Birthday

Haymitch Is The Same Age As Katniss During Her First Hunger Games

Collins is continuing this steady parallel with her focal District 12 tributes, as Haymitch is 16 years old in Sunrise on the Reaping, the same age as both Katniss and The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes’ Lucy Gray when they are chosen for the Hunger Games. The pre-release excerpt from Sunrise on the Reaping published by People confirmed this, with Haymitch’s mother briskly wishing him a “Happy 16th.” A detail that makes Haymitch’s story even worse, Haymitch’s birthday is reaping day, meaning he is taken away for the Games on the day he turns 16, the day this story begins.

Haymitch Is 40 Years Old When The Hunger Games Trilogy Begins

The Hunger Games Picks Up 24 Years Later

Haymitch is the victor of the 50th annual Hunger Games while Katniss and Peeta are the victors of the 74th Games, meaning that Haymitch is 40 years old at the beginning of the first novel. Presumably, the day the story opens is again his birthday, something that Katniss certainly doesn’t know. In the first chapter, Katniss provides the reader with some exposition on Haymitch, who is something of a public figure in District 12 as one of only two people from their district to ever win the Hunger Games and the only one who is still alive.

As a middle-aged man, Haymitch is fairly isolated, having closed himself off and started drinking heavily following his Games and the deaths of his loved ones. Katniss learns more about Haymitch as the story goes on, who is a kindred spirit to her. Besides being the same age at this event in their lives, both Katniss and Haymitch are snarky and cynical, hardened survivors, who rattle the Capitol by thinking outside the rules that have been set in place. Sunrise on the Reaping shows more of Haymitch than we have ever seen before, underscoring this parallel.

Source: People