
We Are the Ashes, We Are the Fire
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Narrated by:
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Frankie Corzo
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By:
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Joy McCullough
About this listen
From the author of the acclaimed Blood Water Paint, a new contemporary YA novel in prose and verse about a girl struggling with guilt and a desire for revenge after her sister's rapist escapes with no prison time.
Em Morales' older sister was raped by another student after a frat party. A jury eventually found the rapist guilty on all counts - a remarkable verdict that Em felt more than a little responsible for, since she was her sister's strongest advocate on social media during the trial. Her passion and outspokenness helped dissuade the DA from settling for a plea deal. Em's family would have real justice.
But the victory is short-lived. In a matter of minutes, justice vanishes as the judge turns the Morales family's world upside down again by sentencing the rapist to no prison time. While her family is stunned, Em is literally sick with rage and guilt. To make matters worse, a news clip of her saying that the sentence makes her want to learn "how to use a sword" goes viral.
From this low point, Em must find a new reason to go on and help her family heal, and she finds it in the unlikely form of the story of a 15th-century French noblewoman, Marguerite de Bressieux, who is legendary as an avenging knight for rape victims.
We Are the Ashes, We Are the Fire is a searing and nuanced portrait of a young woman torn between a persistent desire for revenge and a burning need for hope.
©2021 Joy McCullough (P)2021 Listening LibraryListeners also enjoyed...
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Critic reviews
A Chicago Public Library Best Book of 2021
A Kirkus Best Book of 2021
"What is art if not a sword? With We Are the Ashes, We Are the Fire, Joy McCullough wields and strikes her sharp-edged, finely honed blade. A fierce beauty.” (Elana K. Arnold, Printz Honoree and National Book Award finalist)
"Intense, unrelenting, and inspiring." (Kirkus, starred review)
"McCullough emphatically confronts the toll that sexual violence takes and deftly questions who gets to control history’s narrative." (Publishers Weekly, starred review)