Hollow Fires

This powerful, gripping thriller from a New York Times bestselling author shows the insidious nature of racism, the terrible costs of unearthing hidden truths--and the undeniable power of hope.

Safiya Mirza dreams of becoming a journalist. And one thing she's learned as editor of her school newspaper is that a journalist's job is to find the facts and not let personal biases affect the story. But all that changes the day she finds the body of a murdered boy.

Jawad Ali was fourteen years old when he built a cosplay jetpack that a teacher mistook for a bomb. A jetpack that got him arrested, labeled a terrorist--and eventually killed. But he's more than a dead body, and more than "Bomb Boy." He was a person with a life worth remembering.

Driven by Jawad's haunting voice guiding her throughout her investigation, Safiya seeks to tell the whole truth about the murdered boy and those who killed him because of their hate-based beliefs.

This gripping and powerful book uses an innovative format and lyrical prose to expose the evil that exists in front of us, and the silent complicity of the privileged who create alternative facts to bend the truth to their liking.

Review Citation(s):
Kirkus Reviews 03/01/2022
Booklist 03/15/2022 pg. 65
Publishers Weekly 03/28/2022
Bulletin of Ctr for Child Bks 05/01/2022
Horn Book Magazine 07/01/2022 pg. 110
School Library Journal 08/01/2022 pg. 90

About the Author
Samira Ahmed is the New York Times bestselling author of Love, Hate, & Other Filters; Mad, Bad, & Dangerous to Know; Internment, and Hollow Fires. She was born in Bombay, India, and has lived in New York, Chicago, and Kauai. Find her online at samiraahmed.com and on Twitter and Instagram @sam_aye_ahm.