Suzanne Collins Books in Order (Updated March 7, 2026)

Suzanne Collins has three clear shelves, and only one of them usually causes reading-order confusion.

The shelves are simple:

• The Hunger Games books
• The Underland Chronicles
• Picture books

If you are here for Panem, order matters. If you are here for Gregor, just read straight through. The picture books are separate.

The Panem question first

There are now five Hunger Games novels. Two are prequels, but that does not make chronological order the best first-read order.

For most readers, the safest route is:

1. The Hunger Games
2. Catching Fire
3. Mockingjay
4. The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes
5. Sunrise on the Reaping

That preserves the original reveal structure, keeps the emotional arc centered where the series first built it, and avoids turning the prequels into homework before you know whether you even want more Panem.

The Hunger Games books in order

Recommended reading order for most readers

1. The Hunger Games (2008): Katniss Everdeen volunteers to take her sister’s place in the Games, and the book establishes Panem, the Capitol, and the moral pressure that drives the whole series.
2. Catching Fire (2009): Katniss and Peeta return to a world that has become more dangerous after their first survival, and the series widens from arena survival into open political consequence.
3. Mockingjay (2010): The war against the Capitol becomes the main story, closing the original trilogy and the core Katniss arc.
4. The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes (2020): A prequel centered on young Coriolanus Snow during the 10th Hunger Games, best read after the trilogy because it gains force when you already know what Snow becomes.
5. Sunrise on the Reaping (2025): A second prequel centered on Haymitch Abernathy and the 50th Hunger Games, positioned 24 years before The Hunger Games but better read after the earlier books because it builds on your existing sense of Panem’s history.

The Hunger Games chronological order

If you want the in-world timeline, it runs like this:

1. The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes (2020): Set during the 10th Hunger Games, this is the earliest Panem novel in the timeline.
2. Sunrise on the Reaping (2025): Set during the 50th Hunger Games, this bridges the long historical gap between Snow’s youth and Katniss’s era.
3. The Hunger Games (2008): The original story begins with the 74th Hunger Games.
4. Catching Fire (2009): Continues directly after The Hunger Games.
5. Mockingjay (2010): Finishes the rebellion arc.

Best reading note: chronological order is interesting on a reread, but publication-style reading is better for most first-time readers.

The Underland Chronicles in order

This series is much easier. There are no prequel complications and no alternate path worth recommending.

1. Gregor the Overlander (2003): Gregor falls into the Underland and discovers a hidden world of giant creatures, prophecies, and a war that pulls him into responsibilities he never asked for.
2. Gregor and the Prophecy of Bane (2004): Gregor is drawn back below ground as the Underland’s fears turn toward a new prophecy and a growing threat.
3. Gregor and the Curse of the Warmbloods (2005): The stakes rise sharply as plague, loyalty, and the cost of war move closer to Gregor’s family.
4. Gregor and the Marks of Secret (2006): The conflict deepens into espionage, betrayal, and harder moral choices as the series turns darker.
5. Gregor and the Code of Claw (2007): The final volume brings the war to its conclusion and should always be read last.

Best reading note: read these five in order, with no skipping.

Suzanne Collins picture books

These are separate from both major series.

• When Charlie McButton Lost Power (2005): A rhyming picture book about a boy obsessed with screens whose world changes abruptly during a power outage.
• Year of the Jungle (2013): A picture book drawn from Collins’s family history, following a girl whose father leaves for war and the difficult year that follows at home.

Full publication order

If you want everything by Suzanne Collins in release order, use this list:

1. Gregor the Overlander (2003): The start of her middle grade fantasy series about Gregor and the Underland.
2. Gregor and the Prophecy of Bane (2004): The second Underland novel, continuing Gregor’s role in the prophecies below.
3. Gregor and the Curse of the Warmbloods (2005): The third Underland novel, where the war and its consequences intensify.
4. When Charlie McButton Lost Power (2005): A separate picture book about technology, imagination, and a blackout.
5. Gregor and the Marks of Secret (2006): The fourth Underland novel, pushing the story toward endgame territory.
6. Gregor and the Code of Claw (2007): The fifth and final Underland novel.
7. The Hunger Games (2008): The opening Panem novel and still the best place to start that world.
8. Catching Fire (2009): The direct sequel to The Hunger Games.
9. Mockingjay (2010): The conclusion of the original Hunger Games trilogy.
10. Year of the Jungle (2013): A separate picture book based on wartime separation in a family.
11. The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes (2020): The first Hunger Games prequel, focused on young Snow.
12. Sunrise on the Reaping (2025): The second Hunger Games prequel, focused on Haymitch and the Second Quarter Quell.

Best starting points, depending on what you want

1. Start with The Hunger Games: if you want Suzanne Collins’s defining work and the clearest entry into her biggest series.
2. Start with Gregor the Overlander: if you want middle grade fantasy and a complete five-book arc.
3. Start with Year of the Jungle: only if you specifically want the picture books first, because it is separate from her fantasy and dystopian fiction.

Latest release status

As of March 7, 2026, Suzanne Collins’s most recent novel is Sunrise on the Reaping, published in 2025. Scholastic also notes upcoming 2026 Hunger Games editions, including a paperback, a movie tie-in edition, and a five-book paperback boxed set, but those are new editions rather than a new sixth Panem novel.

Final recommendation

If you want one clear answer, read Suzanne Collins this way:

1. The Hunger Games
2. Catching Fire
3. Mockingjay
4. The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes
5. Sunrise on the Reaping

Then, separately, read The Underland Chronicles from Gregor the Overlander through Gregor and the Code of Claw. That gives you the cleanest experience in both of her major fictional worlds.