THE BALLAD OF SONGBIRDS AND SNAKES SUZANNE COLLINS | SCHOLASTIC

Collins returns to Panem with a prequel exploring President Snow’s early days as an increasingly ruthless mentor in the Hunger Games. With the Games themselves not yet fully formed, there’s plenty of lore to explore, threaded with dark themes of ambition, authority and the politics of exploi-tainment. Yet at 500-plus, lyric-laden pages, it lacks the sleek punch of Katniss’ struggles; the upcoming movie adap may need to lose a song or three… Matthew Leyland