Narrators Soneela Nankani and Amin El Gamal deliver the alternating voices of the two narrators in this audiobook. Nankani shows the determination and intelligence of Indian-American Safiya, who courageously takes on the Islamophobia in her Chicago private high school. Safiya feels the privilege of the other students, scorn for being on scholarship, and the curious attention of a popular white classmate. El Gamal portrays Jwad Ali, an Iraqi refugee who is murdered early in the book. His voice is haunting as it reaches from the grave to urge Safiya to seek justice for his death despite mounting danger. At the conclusion of the fast-paced mystery, author Samira Ahmed adds a stirring note urging Americans to face the truth of “all we are.” S.W. © AudioFile 2022, Portland, Maine

★ 03/28/2022

When high school freshman Jawad Ali, the son of Iraqi refugees to the U.S., crafts a model jet pack for Halloween, he’s excited to showcase the approved makerspace project to his classmates and teachers. But the things go badly wrong with the costume: mistaken for wearing “something like a suicide bomber vest,” Jawad is marched out in handcuffs and suspended from school. Then, after receiving a series of threatening texts, he’s murdered. But Jawad’s ghost remains, communicating with 17-year-old Indian American Safiya Mirza, an aspiring journalist who grows to believe in their connection, and whom he leads to his body in a neglected area of Jackson Park. Spurred on by his spirit, Safiya works to solve the murder, a journey that forces her to face dark truths about their community, in which a festering hatred has led to threats against her mosque. Writing in dual perspectives that highlight Jawad’s innocence and Safiya’s determination amid personal themes of romance and friendship, Ahmed (Mad, Bad & Dangerous to Know) weaves evocative prose with images, articles, and text messages to explore with skill and depth the twining of social media in an age of misinformation, alt-right political movements, and racism and Islamophobia. Ages 12–up. Agent: Joanna Volpe, New Leaf Literary. (May)

"With Hollow Fires, Samira Ahmed offers us an impossible-to-put-down thriller that is both spectacularly haunting and deeply thoughtful. Safiya and Jawad are not narrators we usually see, and their harrowing story is a wholly original commentary on perception, community, and the way society weighs one life against another." —Sabaa Tahir #1 NYT bestselling author of An Ember in the Ashes

"A powerful, timely, and relentlessly compelling read. Hollow Fires burns brightly with Samira Ahmed's trademark blend of thought-provoking social relevance, heartfelt coming-of-age, and whip-smart plotting."—Karen M. McManus, #1 New York Times bestselling author of One of Us Is Lying

"The book presents a ripped-from-the-headlines story that will be an easy sell both in terms of theme and topic."—School Library Connection

"A deeply chilling, inventive, and timely page-turner."—Kirkus, starred review

"Weaving alternating perspectives with articles and other media quotes, both real and fictional, this drives an all-too-real story that educates as much as it enthralls."—Booklist

"Ahmed weaves evocative prose with images, articles, and text messages to explore with skill and depth the twining of social media in an age of misinformation, alt-right political movements, and racism and Islamophobia."—Publishers Weekly, starred review

"Ahmed offers up a twisty, thrilling mystery while deploying the details of the crime as a framework for her exploration of Islamophobia and how wealth and privilege shield criminals from suspicion. The Chicago setting and the ultimate revelations of the horrific act call up elements of the Leopold and Loeb murders... it also makes a timely whodunnit that will satisfy any reader looking for a mystery, rich in secrets and social commentary."—BCCB

"In a novel that cleverly uses time jumps; alternates narration (between Safiya and ghost Jawad); and occasionally incorporates text messages, newspaper articles, and the like, Ahmed positions her story in the larger context of a racially divided world."—Horn Book

*"Her devastating and inspiring book is at once a gripping thriller and a passionate call for change that’s urgent and timely—and sadly, also timeless."
 —Book Page

"This impassioned ride toward the truth, based on a true story, will make readers think about the media bites they consume and white youth’s easy access to radicalization."—School Library Journal, starred review

★ 08/01/2022

Gr 9 Up—In this short-chaptered, dual-narrative exploration of the tragic confluence of Islamophobia and white supremacy, readers are privy to the diary entries of Safira, a young second-gen high school journalist's investigation into several hate crimes she thinks are connected: a cyberattack on the school newspaper, vandalism of her parents' Indian food store, and what's worse, a missing fellow high school student. Jawah, a 14-year-old child of Iraqi refugees is falsely accused of being a suicide bomber by a teacher after making a jetpack at the school's makerspace and is now missing. Jawah's chapters are brief attempts at directing Safira towards him and through his thoughtful recollections, readers slowly discover his truth. Introducing each chapter are statements in the form of facts, truths, and lies; interwoven are news reports, court briefings, police statements, blog posts, book chapters, radio transcripts, and more. This page-turner is sophisticated and easy-to-digest, a difficult balance to achieve, but Ahmed is extremely adept at threading pieces of a murder mystery together within the greater context of how the media influences youth. The portrait of immigrant families, small business owners both, and the role that kindness plays in undoing the spectrum of hurt—from bullying to the adoption of Nietzsche-fueled white supremacy—perpetrated in a small-town setting makes this a must-read for patrons in libraries across the country. VERDICT This impassioned ride toward the truth, based on a true story, will make readers think about the media bites they consume and white youth's easy access to radicalization.—Sara Lissa Paulson

Narrators Soneela Nankani and Amin El Gamal deliver the alternating voices of the two narrators in this audiobook. Nankani shows the determination and intelligence of Indian-American Safiya, who courageously takes on the Islamophobia in her Chicago private high school. Safiya feels the privilege of the other students, scorn for being on scholarship, and the curious attention of a popular white classmate. El Gamal portrays Jwad Ali, an Iraqi refugee who is murdered early in the book. His voice is haunting as it reaches from the grave to urge Safiya to seek justice for his death despite mounting danger. At the conclusion of the fast-paced mystery, author Samira Ahmed adds a stirring note urging Americans to face the truth of “all we are.” S.W. © AudioFile 2022, Portland, Maine

★ 2022-02-09
An unconventional murder mystery takes a sharp look at racism and Islamophobia in America.

Aspiring journalist Safiya Mirza, a high school senior in Chicago, has always wanted to tell the full story of DuSable Prep, the exclusive private school she attends on scholarship. But when 17-year-old Safiya starts reporting on White supremacist sympathies among members of the student body, she runs afoul of the administration. Chicago public school ninth grader Jawad Ali first received media attention after his teacher believed the jet pack he created for a school project was a bomb. Jawad’s suspension leads people from local police to a right-wing talk show host to wonder if the Iraqi American child of refugees deliberately orchestrated a bomb hoax. When Jawad goes missing, the tightknit Muslim community in the area is shaken and wonders why the case isn’t a police priority. After Indian American Safiya, whose family has roots in Hyderabad, starts investigating what happened, she begins hearing messages from Jawad’s ghost, who leads her to his body. When, in a breathtaking twist, Safiya realizes that Jawad’s killer is closer than anyone had ever imagined, she is both terrified and determined to bring about justice. Ahmed’s gripping story details how racism, xenophobia, Islamophobia, and other forms of extremism are normalized on the internet and in the media. The book’s skillful construction combined with its sharp observations makes it a must-read with strong reader appeal.

A deeply chilling, inventive, and timely page-turner. (Thriller. 14-18)