Hollow Fires by Samira Ahmed

 

Yesterday, I finished reading Hollow Fires by Samira Ahmed. This paranormal thriller is about Safiya Mirza, a 17-year-old high school senior who dreams of becoming a journalist and making the world a better place. She is the editor of the Spectator, the newspaper at her private high school, DuSable Prep, in Chicago and has a crush on Richard Reynolds, the captain of the swim and lacrosse teams. After the website for the Spectator is hacked, someone spray-paints a swastika on the facade of her school, and Jawad Ali, a 14-year-old boy who built a cosplay jetpack that a teacher mistook for a bomb, goes missing, Safiya is determined to figure out what is going on at school and in her community and what happened to Jawad. With the help of her friends who also work on the Spectator, she follows the clues left by Ghost Skin, who wrote the racist manifesto posted to the Spectator website. She is immediately suspicious of Nate Chase, a boy in her current events class who comments about how they lack freedom of speech at school and quotes Nietzsche, and his friend, Joel, but as she gets deeper into the mystery, she begins to suspect someone closer to her. When she follows the guidance of Jawad's ghost and finds his body in a culvert in Jackson Park, she seeks to expose his murderers and remember his life.

This novel was absolutely riveting. I was intrigued at the very start when it was immediately revealed that Safiya found Jawad's body and had to know everything that happened leading up to that point. I also really enjoyed the innovative format of the novel. In addition to traditional chapters from Safiya's and Jawad's perspectives, there were news articles, interview transcripts, phone call transcripts, diary entries, and more. I especially liked the drawing of Jawad's cosplay jetpack that was shared during his first chapter because it proved that it didn't look anything like a bomb. I began suspecting the identity of the second murderer less than halfway through the book, so I can't say I was surprised when Safiya figured it out, but I was still on the edge of my seat because I was afraid she would get hurt during her investigation. I don't blame her for not trusting the police, though. The story really emphasizes the harms of bigotry (especially Islamophobia and white supremacy) and alternative facts, the privilege of white men and boys, and how they can get away with hate crimes and murder if not for the persistence of those who are dedicated to finding and sharing the truth. Not to mention, tt's chilling how evil can hide in plain sight. I certainly admired Safiya's courage, even while Jawad's story left me heartbroken. Included at the end of the book are a historical note explaining the true crime on which Jawad's murder is based and an author's note sharing her inspiration for writing Hollow Fires. Although the story is quite dark and does have swearing, it's not particularly graphic, so I think it can be enjoyed by most teens who have an interest in social justice and/or crime.