Suzanne Collins, the author of the wildly successful “Hunger Games†trilogy, as well as the five-volume teen fantasy series “The Underland Chronicles,†has completed a a new book, “Year of the Jungle,†a 40-page children's book, which will be published next September by Scholastic.
The book, Collins's first since “Mockingjay,†the conclusion of the “Hunger Games†series, in 2010, is based on Collins's memories of her father's deployment in Vietnam in the late 1960s, when she was the first grade. It is for readers 4 and up, and was illustrated by James Proimos, The Associated Press reported.
“For several years I had this little wicker basket next to my writing chair with the postcards my dad had sent me from Vietnam and photos of that year,†Ms. Collins, 50, said in a statement. “But I could never quite find a way into the story. It has elements that can be scary for the audience and it would be easy for the art to reinforce those. It c ould be really beautiful art but still be off-putting to a kid, which would defeat the point of doing the book.
“Then one day I was having lunch with Jim and telling him about the idea and he said, ‘That sounds fantastic.' I looked at him and I had this flash of the story through his eyes, with his art. It was like being handed a key to a locked door. So, I just blurted out, ‘Do you want to do it?' Fortunately he said ‘Yes.'â€
The book's protagonist will be a child named Suzy, whose father has gone off to war, and will touch upon her feelings as he misses family gatherings, her fears about whether he will return and the adjustments she must make when he returns, changed by the experience.
