‘The Hunger Games’ continues to blaze in the minds of readers
Students return to ‘The Hunger Games’ fan community
By AMBER WARNKE — features@theaggie.org
“The Hunger Games” is one of the most famous book series ever written, having sold more than 100 million copies worldwide and spent more than 260 consecutive weeks on the New York Times Best Sellers list. While the original trilogy was published in the late 2000s and early 2010s, recent years have seen the release of two prequels: “The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes” in 2020 and “Sunrise on the Reaping” in 2025.
With the film adaptation of “Sunrise on the Reaping” coming out on Nov. 20, “The Hunger Games” the fan community has seen a resurgence, with readers both returning to the series and discovering it for the first time.
Grace Kratz, a third-year genetics major who recently read “The Hunger Games” for the first time, connected many of the series’ themes to contemporary political issues, illustrating the book's enduring relevance.
“Seeing the capital [...] humiliating people for their own entertainment reminded me of ICE raids that were happening, and the way that people were removed from their homes,” Kratz said.
Suzanne Collins intended for the series to encompass universal themes like war, wealth inequality, environmentalism and human rights, helping it maintain its lasting presence in pop culture.
UC Davis English professor Jennifer Tinonga-Valle taught ENL 183: Young Adult Literature in 2023, which examined Young Adult Novels and their cultural impact. In this class, Tinonga-Valle covered “The Hunger Games,” a series she described as having lasting cultural influence.
“‘The Hunger Games’ has a lot of themes that are still very resonant with young people and with the world that we live in today,” Tinonga-Valle said. “It is satisfying to see something happen [like a political revolution] that feels like what you would like to happen in the world that you live in [...] in fluctuating political times.”
Beyond its political themes, the series also draws readers back through nostalgia, according to Tinonga-Valle.
“[The students] had a lot of joy reading that series,” Tinonga-Valle said. “It’s familiar; it's a comfortable world. It's one [readers] feel like they've visited before, and that sense of nostalgia, I don't think you can underrate that.”
The release of the prequels offers readers another reason to return to the story. Tyler Cross, a second-year nursing major at Sacramento City College and bookseller at Avid Reader in Downtown Davis, has particularly enjoyed reading “Sunrise on the Reaping” and looks forward to its film adaptation.
“I loved seeing Haymitch [Abernathy] before he became an alcoholic and a little depressed,” Cross said. “I love seeing what made him that way, and the struggles that he faced during his games, and just everything that made Haymitch, because he was one of my favorite characters in ‘[The] Hunger Games.’”
As a bookseller, Cross also appreciates the opportunity to introduce new readers to the series. He reported noticing an uptick in people buying the books recently, particularly the two prequel books and the first “The Hunger Games” book.
“I'm happy it's becoming popular again; it's one of those things that I think needs to come back every once in a while,” Cross said. “And I do think that with the political climate in America, it is making people want to revisit these things of overcoming oppression.”
The books are particularly approachable for casual readers, according to Tinonga-Valle.
“Writing in first-person and writing in present tense is a really smart idea; it keeps you engaged and immersed,” Tinonga-Valle said. “You can tear through those books pretty rapidly because of the writing style, the stakes and the action.”
Tinonga-Valle discussed the series' relatability for college-aged readers.
“There’s a reason [certain themes] are common and popular, because they appeal to most readers,” Tinonga-Valle said. "There's the coming of age, there's the moving away from your family, figuring out who you are, what you believe in, what you want to do […] and looking into your relationships and what you want those to be like.”
Whether students take up the books or watch the movies, Collins’ series has become a staple of the literary world and a world beloved by many. With the release of the “Sunrise on the Reaping” film, longtime fans and first-time readers alike have another opportunity to return to the world of The Hunger Games and engage with the themes that have kept the series relevant across decades.
Written by: Amber Warnke — features@theaggie.org