Author to Embark on 12-Market National Tour This Fall

New York, NY (July 1, 2010) — Scholastic, the global children’s publishing, education, and media company, announced today that it has increased the first printing of Mockingjay, the final book in the nationally bestselling The Hunger Games trilogy, to 1.2 million, from a previously announced 750,000 copies. First published in September 2008, The Hunger Games was an instant bestseller, appealing to both teen readers and adults. It has appeared on the New York Times bestseller list for more than 93 consecutive weeks since publication, and there are more than 2.3 million copies of the first two books in the trilogy in print in the U.S. and Canada to date (more than 1.4 million copies of The Hunger Games since September 2008 and more than 900,000 copies of its sequel Catching Fire in less than one year since its September 2009 publication). Mockingjay, which is embargoed, will be published in the U.S. and Canada on August 24, 2010 (August 25, 2010 in the U.K., Australia, and New Zealand). The trade paperback edition of The Hunger Games, is scheduled for U.S./Canadian publication on July 3, 2010, with a first printing of 500,000 copies.

Scholastic also announced today that the New York Times bestselling author Suzanne Collins, who was named among the 2010 TIME 100 Most Influential People, will embark this fall on a twelve-market North American tour to promote the release of Mockingjay. Beginning on the August 24, 2010 publication date for Mockingjay, Collins will tour bookstores in New York City, New Jersey, Connecticut, and Boston, her first bookstore tour since September 2008. In September 2010, she will continue the tour in Philadelphia, Baltimore, and Washington, DC, and in October she will travel to Chicago, and Minneapolis/St. Paul. The tour will conclude in November 2010 with visits to bookstores in Northern California, Seattle, and Vancouver.

“Excitement for The Hunger Games trilogy continues to grow each day as new readers discover Suzanne Collins’s indelible heroine Katniss Everdeen,” said Ellie Berger, President of the Scholastic Trade Publishing division. “We join Collins’s many fans in counting down to the publication of Mockingjay.”

The Hunger Games is a futuristic trilogy for ages 12 to adult by Suzanne Collins, author of the bestselling Underland Chronicles series for middle-grade readers. Published in September 2008, The Hunger Games was an instant bestseller, appealing to both teen readers and adults. Called “addictive” by Stephen King in a review in Entertainment Weekly and “amazing” by Stephenie Meyer on her website, The Hunger Games has captured the imagination of critics and readers alike. The Hunger Games was named a New York Times Notable Book of 2008, a New York Times Book Review Editors’ Choice, a Publishers Weekly Best Book of 2008, a School Library Journal Best Book of 2008, a 2008 Booklist Editors’ Choice, a Kirkus Best Book of 2008, and a 2008 Horn Book Fanfare Book.

Catching Fire, the second book in The Hunger Games trilogy, was published September 1, 2009. It debuted at #1 on the USA Today bestseller list its first week on sale and simultaneously appeared at #1 on the New York Times, Wall Street Journal, and Publishers Weekly bestseller lists. Since the publication of Catching Fire, it and The Hunger Games have appeared together on the New York Times bestseller list (Children’s Chapter Books) for 40 consecutive weeks to date (through June 20, 2010). In addition, Catching Fire has been named a Time Magazine Top 10 Fiction Book of 2009, a People Magazine Best Book of 2009, a Publishers Weekly Best Book of 2009, a Booklist Editors’ Choice, and a Kirkus Best Young Adult Book of 2009. Foreign publishing rights for The Hunger Games and its sequel have been sold into 39 territories to date. In May 2010, Suzanne Collins was named to the TIME 100. Film rights for The Hunger Games have been optioned by Lionsgate, and Nina Jacobson’s Color Force production company will produce the film with Suzanne Collins set to write the initial screenplay.

More About The Hunger Games
In the ruins of a place once known as North America lies the nation of Panem, a shining Capital surrounded by twelve outlying districts. The Capital is harsh and cruel and keeps the other districts in line by forcing them to participate in the annual Hunger Games, a fight-to-the death on live TV. One boy and one girl between the ages of twelve and sixteen are selected by lottery to play. The winner brings riches and favor to his or her district. But that is nothing compared to what the Capital wins: one more year of fearful compliance with its rules. Sixteen-year-old Katniss Everdeen, who lives alone with her mother and younger sister, regards it as a death sentence when she is forced to represent her impoverished district in the Games. But Katniss has been close to death before—and survival, for her, is second nature. Without really meaning to, she becomes a contender. But if she is to win, she will have to start making choices that weigh survival against humanity and life against love. Acclaimed writer Suzanne Collins delivers equal parts suspense and philosophy, adventure and romance, in this stunning novel set in a future with unsettling parallels to our present. For more information about The Hunger Games and to download digital images, visit http://mediaroom.scholastic.com/hungergames.

About Suzanne Collins
Suzanne Collins has had a successful and prolific career writing for children’s television. She has worked on the staffs of several Nickelodeon shows, including the Emmy-nominated hit Clarissa Explains It All and The Mystery Files of Shelby Woo. Collins made her mark in children’s literature with the New York Times bestselling five-book series for middle-grade readers The Underland Chronicles, which has received numerous accolades in both the United States and abroad. In the award-winning The Hunger Games trilogy, Collins continues to explore the effects of war and violence on those coming of age. Collins lives with her family in Connecticut.

The Hunger Games
By Suzanne Collins
Scholastic Press • Ages 12 & up • September 2008
ISBN: 978-0-439-02348-1 • $17.99 U.S. (Hardcover)
ISBN: 0-545-09102-2 • $39.95 U.S. (Audio)
ISBN: 978-0-439-02352-8 • $8.99 U.S • (Paperback) • Publication date: July 3, 2010
ISBN: 978-0-545-22993-7 • $14.99 • (eBook)

Catching Fire
By Suzanne Collins
Scholastic Press • Ages 12 & up • September 2009
ISBN: 978-0-439-02349-8 • $17.99 U.S. (Hardcover)
ISBN: 978-0-545-10141-7 • $39.95 U.S. (Audio)
ISBN: 978-0-545-22724-0 • $17.99 (eBook)

Mockingjay
By Suzanne Collins
Scholastic Press • Ages 12 & up • August 24, 2010 • Embargoed laydown
ISBN: 978-0-439-02351-1 • $17.99 U.S. (Hardcover)
ISBN: 978-0-545-10142-4 • $39.95 U.S. (Audio)

For more information about Scholastic, visit our media room at: http://mediaroom.scholastic.com.

Media Contacts:
Tracy van Straaten, Vice President of Publicity
Scholastic Trade Book Publishing
212-389-3782 • tvanstraaten@scholastic.com

Sheila Marie Everett, Senior Publicist
Scholastic Trade Book Publishing
212-389-3786 • severett@scholastic.com