One of our recommended books is Nothing Burns as Bright as You by Ashley Woodfolk

NOTHING BURNS AS BRIGHT AS YOU


From acclaimed author Ashley Woodfolk, Nothing Burns as Bright as You is an impassioned story about queer love, grief, and the complexity of female friendship that will keep your heart racing, and breaking, until the very last page.

Two girls. One wild and reckless day. Years of tumultuous history unspooling like a thin, fraying string in the hours after they set a fire.

They were best friends. Until they became more. Their affections grew. Until the blurry lines became dangerous.

Over the course of a single day, the depth of their past,

more …

From acclaimed author Ashley Woodfolk, Nothing Burns as Bright as You is an impassioned story about queer love, grief, and the complexity of female friendship that will keep your heart racing, and breaking, until the very last page.

Two girls. One wild and reckless day. Years of tumultuous history unspooling like a thin, fraying string in the hours after they set a fire.

They were best friends. Until they became more. Their affections grew. Until the blurry lines became dangerous.

Over the course of a single day, the depth of their past, the confusion of their present, and the unpredictability of their future is revealed. And the girls will learn that hearts, like flames, aren’t so easily tamed.

It starts with a fire.

How will it end?

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  • Versify
  • Hardcover
  • April 2022
  • 288 Pages
  • 9780358655350

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$18.99

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About Ashley Woodfolk

Ashley Woodfolk is the author of Nothing Burns as Bright as YouAshley Woodfolk has loved reading and writing for as long as she can remember. She graduated from Rutgers University and worked in children’s book publishing for over a decade. Now a full-time mom and writer, Ashley lives in a sunny Brooklyn apartment with her cute husband, her cuter dog, and the cutest baby in the world. Her books include The Beauty That Remains, When You Were Everything, and the Flyy Girls Series. Find her on Twitter or Instagram @ashwrites.

Praise

“A fierce, wrenching, deeply honest look at first love—I invite Ashley Woodfolk to break my heart with a book like this anytime.” – Leah Johnson, author of You Should See Me in a Crown

“This highly original story is both heart wrenching and hopeful. Ashley Woodfolk takes chances with form that make this verse novel captivating. Her skill as a writer has never burned so bright. Pure fire!”Kwame Alexander, New York Times bestselling author

“Wildly ambitious, fearlessly honest, and crackling with the top volume feelings of messy first love. Ashley Woodfolk is a virtuoso. Consider my breath fully taken.”—Becky Albertalli, #1 New York Times best-selling author of Simon vs. the Homo Sapiens Agenda and Leah on the Offbeat

Discussion Questions

1. Woodfolk says in the author’s note “how ingrained bi-erasure is in our culture.” What does she mean by this and what examples in the story illustrate this concept?  

2. The story’s timeline is told in a non-linear fashion. If Woodfolk had written the story in a more traditional narrative style and with a linear timeline, what effect would it have on the book’s message and the relationship between the Narrator and You?

3. Re-read “1232 Days Before the Fire” (page 39). How does this incident relate to the Narrator’s relationship with You? Why does she recount this memory and what do you observe about her emotional strength?

4. What is the symbolic significance of the dilapidated house that the Narrator visits? Does its meaning shift from the first visit to the last?

5. Nothing Burns as Bright as You is written in free verse. How does this change the tempo of the storytelling? How does this style help to create a deeper understanding of the Narrator’s emotional experience?

6. The use of fire is a key important symbol in the story. It represents the volatility of the relationship between the Narrator and You. Provide other interpretations as fire relates to the central characters and/or supporting characters.

7. A central narrative theme is “the promise of something is better than the actual thing” which is referenced when the Narrator and You are watching movie trailers. Explain the significance of this quote. Do you agree with this idea

8. Nothing Burns as Bright as You is told from the Narrator’s point of view. If the story was told from You’s point of view, how do you think she would have understood the relationship? Consider her age, socioeconomic, and psychological background. Can you be empathetic to her circumstances?

9. How does the Narrator’s relationship with her family (i.e., her mother, father, brother, and Grandmother) help to inform her about her relationship with You? Which family member’s advice and wisdom are the most helpful and least? Why?

10. Why do you think Woodfolk wrote the “A Truth” and “A Lie” sections separately and in a different format from each other? How do they play into the overall theme of the story and what do they tell you about how the Narrator understands the connection between herself and You?  

Excerpt

After the Fire

I’d been running away from everything for years,
my body like the flame of a lit match,
tip touched to a line of gasoline.
But this was the first time I’d turned to look back.

You were right where I’d left you,
stooped and steadfast,
at the opposite end of the bridge between us:
as lovely and as luminous as you’d ever been.

You still seemed desperate and devoted too,
but you were not coming after me.
You were not even looking in my direction.
And I wondered at this change in you.

Had you broken an unspoken promise between us?
(That where I went, you would follow.)
Or had I finally shattered something that had been cracked
and slowly splintering since the day we met?

I was used to absence. I was used to being alone.
But I’d also grown too used to you.

I wept as I waited for you to glance up.
Struggled to catch my breath as I silently urged
those dark eyes of yours to find me in the early morning light.
I clung to my own fingers, hoping you’d say something,
anything,
that would make me turn around and come back.

You never looked for me.
(Or maybe you were tired of always looking for me.)
You didn’t fight for me this time.
You let me go.
So I went.

I love you. I think you know I will always love you.
But maybe I’ll let you start
from the beginning.