This Book Won't Burn

'Blazes with searing honesty and unflinching emotional truth' Becky Albertalli, award-winning author of SIMON VS. THE HOMO SAPIENS AGENDA

From the New York Times bestselling author of Internment comes a timely and gripping social-suspense novel about book banning, activism, and standing up for what you believe in.

'Reading is dangerous because it shows us the truth. Words give us power; that's why some adults want to silence us'

Noor Khan is the new girl at school. Moving to the tiny town of Bayberry with her mother and sister after their family life is upended, she's determined to keep her head down and make it through her final year, unnoticed.

While hiding out in her school library, Noor notices that hundreds of books are being removed from the shelves and boxed up: a new school policy banning books that parents object to. Worse, almost all the books being targeted are by queer and BIPOC authors.

Outraged, Noor and her new friends decide to read some of the banned books out loud to their classmates, to protest this new policy at school. But in Bayberry, trouble is never far behind.

Can Noor effect change by speaking up, while navigating the politics of small-town life? And can she trust the son of the school board president, who she finds herself falling for?

'Rings with truth and hope' Joanna Ho, bestselling author of THE SILENCE THAT BINDS US

'With pin-sharp attention to the complexities of grief, anger, and hope, Samira Ahmed gives us a main character who connects us with our own hearts and a story that connects us with our power to change our world' Anna-Marie McLemore, author of National Book Award nominee SELF-MADE BOYS
Ring with truth and hope Joanna Ho, bestselling author of THE SILENCE THAT BINDS US
'[Ahmed] employs high stakes, increasing tensions, romantic near-misses, and adult hypocrisy to powerful effect' Publisher's Weekly, starred review
'Blazes with searing honesty and unflinching emotional truth' Becky Albertalli
'A relevant, powerful, tender story of what it takes to resist, of what it means to rise' Renée Watson
'[Ahmed] employs high stakes, increasing tensions, romantic near-misses, and adult hypocrisy to powerful effect' Publisher's Weekly, starred review
'Blazes with searing honesty and unflinching emotional truth' Becky Albertalli

Samira Ahmed is the bestselling author of Love, Hate & Other Filters, Internment, Mad, Bad & Dangerous to Know, Hollow Fires, and the Amira & Hamza middle-grade duology, as well as a Ms. Marvel comic book mini-series. Her poetry, essays, and short stories have appeared in numerous publications and anthologies including the New York Times, Take the Mic, Color Outside the Lines, Vampires Never Get Old and A Universe of Wishes.

She was born in Bombay, India, and grew up in Batavia, Illinois, in a house that smelled like fried onions, spices, and potpourri. A graduate of the University of Chicago, Samira has taught high school English in both the suburbs of Chicago and New York City, worked in education non-profits, and spent time on the road for political campaigns.

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