I’M NOT DYING WITH YOU TONIGHT
Lena and Campbell aren’t friends.
Lena has her killer style, her awesome boyfriend, and a plan. She knows she’s going to make it big. Campbell, on the other hand, is just trying to keep her head down and get through the year at her new school.
When both girls attend the Friday-night football game, what neither expects is for everything to descend into sudden mass chaos. Chaos born from violence and hate. Chaos that unexpectedly throws them together.
They aren’t friends. They hardly understand the other’s point of view. But none of that matters when the city is up in flames,
Lena and Campbell aren’t friends.
Lena has her killer style, her awesome boyfriend, and a plan. She knows she’s going to make it big. Campbell, on the other hand, is just trying to keep her head down and get through the year at her new school.
When both girls attend the Friday-night football game, what neither expects is for everything to descend into sudden mass chaos. Chaos born from violence and hate. Chaos that unexpectedly throws them together.
They aren’t friends. They hardly understand the other’s point of view. But none of that matters when the city is up in flames, and they only have each other to rely on if they’re going to survive the night.
- Sourcebooks Fire
- Hardcover
- August 2019
- 272 Pages
- 9781492678892
Buy the Book
$17.99
About Kimberly Jones & Gilly Segal
Kimberly Jones is the former manager of the bookstore Little Shop of Stories and currently works in the entertainment industry.
Gilly Segal spent her college years in Israel and served in the Israel Defense Forces (IDF). She is currently a lawyer for an advertising agency. Visit gillysegal.com.
Both authors live in Atlanta, Georgia.
Praise
“A compelling and powerful novel that is sure to make an impact.” — Angie Thomas, #1 New York Times bestselling author of The Hate U Give
“A vital addition to the YA race relations canon.” —Nic Stone, New York Times bestselling author of Dear Martin
“A powerful examination of privilege, and how friends are often found in surprising places. Jones and Segal have penned a page-turning debut, as timely as it is addictive.” —David Arnold, New York Times bestselling author of Mosquitoland and Kids of Appetite
Discussion Questions
1. Do you feel that either or both Lena and Campbell begin with a “me vs. you” or “us vs. them” mentality? If so, does that change over the course of the night and why or why not? Do Lena and Campbell ever become an “us”?
2. How do the girls perceive each other upon first meeting? Do they idealize or stereotype one another?
3. What is the racial epithet that starts the fight at the high school? How do each of the characters perceive it?
4. Would the events of this night have transpired the same way if one or both of these characters had been male or male presenting? What might have changed?
5. What do you make of the scene when Lena and Campbell come upon the parking lot full of police? How might their life experiences leading up to that moment create their attitude?
6. How does Lena’s familiarity with the neighborhood drive her decisions when she realizes it is not safe to remain at school during the fight? How does she use her instincts to judge decisions?
7. How does Lena feel about the rivalry between her high school, McPherson, and Jonesville High? What does she think about the racist incidents that occur in the lead up to the football game?
8. How would you characterize Campbell’s relationship with her mother and her father? How does that impact her actions during the night of the riot?
9. Does Campbell’s attitude toward the police evolve over the course of the novel? If so, how?
10. Lena says Campbell hasn’t tried to get to know the neighborhood and walks around like she doesn’t live there. What do you think she means by that? What does Campbell realize about herself, if anything, in that conversation?
11. What do you think happens the day after the riot to Campbell and Lena? To the school? To the city?
12. If you could meet one of these characters in real life, what would you say to them?