"She deserved more than what Fenix, Colorado could offer. She deserved a loving home. A future. But all she gets now is a hypocritical memorial service and a place in the cold, dark ground. She's stuck here forever, and so am I."
In the wee hours of the morning in a town dominated by the powerful Lewis Industries a school burns. A girl dies jumping from a second story window. As we learn at her funeral her death is considered a suicide...
...Or was it? Marieke Nijkamp's After We Burn is narrated in alternating voices by teens:
*Eden, the deceased, shares the story of that fateful night when she broke into the school to get out of the rain and sees muddy footprints where there shouldn't be any;
*Peyton, a close friend who knew that Eden was trying for a better life, not death. They were attempting to run away together. Now with Eden dead she feels trapped. Eden had been her safe space, the only person in Fenix she had been able to trust.
*Kelsey, a student who had been molested by a popular chemistry teacher--a member of the all powerful Lewis family--and then called a liar by school administration when she tried to report him. She and her friends had been in the school spray painting accusations in Mr. Lewis's room the night of the fire.
*Theo, a neighbor and close friend of Eden who is convinced that Eden would not have killed herself. Sneaking into the school nine days after the fire he finds alarming evidence. An aspiring journalist with a reporter mother, he wants to uncover and expose the truth.
Unfortunately there are very powerful people who are equally motivated to hide revelations that could threaten the status quo.
After We Burned is a suspenseful novel with relatable characters and a complex and well crafted plot. It deals with an issue many schools try hard to not deal with. I highly recommend it for more mature YA readers. But I'd be remiss if I didn't give trigger warnings for molestation of students and domestic violence.
On a purrrsonal note, well Mother Nature is not playing nice. According to the meteorologist we're about to be slammed by another big old storm. Which means that Eugene will probably have to plow on his birthday. And we've postponed the family birthday lunch until next Saturday.
A great big shout out goes out to the one and only Eugene.
Jules Hathaway
Sent from my U.S.Cellular© Smartphone
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