Emma on fire

Following up their collaboration Raised by Wolves, Patterson and Raymond offer a taut thriller that's also an affecting look at the transformative power of grief. Emma Blake, once a straight-A star student at her elite high school, has been neglecting her studies since her mother died and her older sister took her own life. When Emma's AP English teacher assigns the class to write a detailed essay about a personal experience, Emma decides to finally participate again. In her essay, she gruesomely describes her plan to set herself on fire at school in four days, in a desperate attempt to wake up the world. Her teacher is appalled, and the students are horrified. Even so, Emma's father doesn't believe she'll go through with it, and the principal is more worried about the school's reputation than Emma's life. Rolek narrates skillfully, capturing the book's nail-biting suspense and sensitively conveying Emma's grief and teenage angst. VERDICT Patterson and Raymond offer both a gripping thriller and an intimate character study of a grieving young woman determined to make her mark.--Ilka Gordon