Contemporary Authors

1. Nothing left to burn https://lccn.loc.gov/2018011697 Ezell, Heather, author. Nothing left to burn / Heather Ezell. [New York] : Razorbill, 2018. 1 online resource. ISBN: 9780448494289 (E-book) 2. Nothing left to burn https://lccn.loc.gov/2018003773 Ezell, Heather, author. Nothing left to burn / Heather Ezell. [New York] : Razorbill, 2018. pages cm PZ7.1.E98 Not 2018 ISBN: 9780448494265 (hardback)

• Heather Ezell - http://heatherezell.com/bio/

  Bio

  I am Heather. I was born and raised in Southern California, but can’t admit this without insisting I spent a chunk of my teens in Colorado Springs. After graduating from high school at sixteen, I earned my BA from Colorado College and spent three semesters as a grad student at the University of Alaska-Fairbanks. I currently live in Washington State, where I freelance edit and book coach, tutor students of all ages, and practice ballet in the forest. I am represented by Sarah Davies of Greenhouse Literary Agency and am a Pitch Wars mentor. It’s worth mentioning that I’m rather obsessed with the weather.

  Please note that I’ve been off and on blogging here since 2008 when I was seventeen (!). This space is where I let myself be messy, embrace typos, and long sentences. I waffle and rant and my mom says I should start being more professional. Maybe someday, but not yet. While some old (and new) posts are outrageously embarrassing, a tad dark (looking at you, early 2011), and rather pointless, I invite you to enjoy my frequent moving tangents and weather dramatics.
  Contact Info

  Contact Heather via the form below or at heatherezellbooks@gmail.com. For Work & Rights Inquiries please contact Sarah Davies at Greenhouse Literary Agency

Ezell, Heather: NOTHING LEFT TO BURN
Kirkus Reviews.
(Jan. 15, 2018): From Book Review Index Plus. COPYRIGHT 2018 Kirkus Media LLC http://www.kirkusreviews.com/
Full Text:
Ezell, Heather NOTHING LEFT TO BURN Razorbill/Penguin (Children's Fiction) $17.99 3, 13 ISBN: 978-0-448-49426-5
The Sunday morning after she loses her virginity, white 16-year-old Audrey Harper is home alone when the evacuation order arrives.
A wildfire rages in the nearby canyons, and it's spreading, moving toward the gated Orange County community where she lives with her mother, father, and 13-year-old sister. Audrey's boyfriend, Brooks, a volunteer firefighter, is creepily euphoric about the prospect of fire; he seems to look forward to it. As Audrey acts to save some of her family's most cherished belongings, including her sister's secret pet kitten, and to find a safe place to wait out the fires, she reflects on her sometimes-rocky relationship with Brooks. The story is deftly punctuated with flashbacks of the past several months--from Audrey's meet-cute with Brooks to falling in love to their ill-fated three-month "anniversary"--showcasing events leading up to the present. As the story moves forward, and the fire moves closer to home, Audrey discovers Brooks hasn't told her the whole truth about his past. Is he the tortured soul he's led her to believe he is, or is he a manipulative liar? Clues throughout hint at the fire's origins; observant readers will have it figured out in no time. Audrey is aware that her gated community is "painfully whitewashed and lacking in diversity"; to that end, characters are assumed white.
A decently entertaining story of love, loss, and hope. (Fiction. 14-18)
Source Citation (MLA 8th Edition)
"Ezell, Heather: NOTHING LEFT TO BURN." Kirkus Reviews, 15 Jan. 2018. Book Review
Index Plus, http://link.galegroup.com/apps/doc/A522642980/GPS?u=schlager&sid=GPS& xid=f58e2648. Accessed 20 May 2018.
1 of 4 5/20/18, 10:35 PM
http://go.galegroup.com/ps/marklist.do?actionCmd=GET_MA...
Gale Document Number: GALE|A522642980
2 of 4 5/20/18, 10:35 PM

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Nothing Left to Burn
Molly Horan
Booklist.
114.9-10 (Jan. 1, 2018): p92. From Book Review Index Plus. COPYRIGHT 2018 American Library Association http://www.ala.org/aboutala/offices/publishing/booklist/
Full Text:
Nothing Left to Burn.
By Heather Ezell.
Mar. 2018.332p. Razorbill, $17.99 (9780448494265). Gr. 9-12.
The morning she's evacuated from her Orange County home to escape an approaching fire, Audrey Harper is already nearing the brink of collapse. After what seemed like the perfect summer romance with her boyfriend, mysterious, brooding Brooks, the autumn has left her with too many questions about who Brooks really is--and who she'd be without him. Unfolding over the course of a single day, the narrative manages to mix the ticking-clock tension of the approaching, unforgivable fire with flashbacks that pull back the curtain on a mystery without slowing the pace. First-time author Ezell has perfectly captured the disquieting feeling inherent to the dawning realization of an undesirable truth. She avoids assigning Audrey's multilayered pain a neat set of labels or causes, allowing the character space to explore them. This is a gripping novel about finding out who you are under the worst circumstances, and still maintaining hope that your new sense of self will carry you through to better times.--Molly Horan
Source Citation (MLA 8th Edition)
Horan, Molly. "Nothing Left to Burn." Booklist, 1 Jan. 2018, p. 92. Book Review Index Plus,
http://link.galegroup.com/apps/doc/A525185751/GPS?u=schlager&sid=GPS& xid=d6cd5001. Accessed 20 May 2018.
Gale Document Number: GALE|A525185751
3 of 4 5/20/18, 10:35 PM

http://go.galegroup.com/ps/marklist.do?actionCmd=GET_MA...
EZELL, Heather. Nothing Left To
Burn
Taraneh Matloob Haghanikar
School Library Journal.
64.2 (Feb. 2018): p101+. From Book Review Index Plus.
COPYRIGHT 2018 Library Journals, LLC. A wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
http://www.schoollibraryjournal.com/
Full Text:
EZELL, Heather. Nothing Left To Burn. 336p. Penguin/Razorbill. Mar. 2018. Tr $17.99. ISBN 9780448494265.
Gr 9 Up--Sixteen-year-old Audrey Harper knows who started the Caspers Fire soon after she loses her virginity. Uncertain, scared, and deeply heartbroken, she struggles with keeping "the silence before words." Despite the fact that Audrey longs for love, she comprehends the complexity of her situation as well her dreadful emotions. From the beginning, the author creates a sense of being inside Audrey's head throughout the most difficult time in her life. In parallel, however, there's a more engaging story about Brooks with many mysterious pieces that remain unconvincing. Audrey's fragmented and unsettled feelings infuse the story with melancholy, fear, and loss. The nonlinear narration is creative and the unconventional chapter headers with time signatures make the setting more believable. However, from the very first chapters, it is easy to anticipate the ending, making the story less suspenseful and gripping. Still, distinguishing a healthy and loving relationship from a manipulative one is a worthy message that may resonate with readers. VERDICT An additional purchase.--Taraneh Matloob Haghanikar, University of Northern Iowa
Source Citation (MLA 8th Edition)
Haghanikar, Taraneh Matloob. "EZELL, Heather. Nothing Left To Burn." School Library
Journal, Feb. 2018, p. 101+. Book Review Index Plus, http://link.galegroup.com/apps/doc /A526734115/GPS?u=schlager&sid=GPS&xid=f8fe6e15. Accessed 20 May 2018.
Gale Document Number: GALE|A526734115
4 of 4 5/20/18, 10:35 PM

"Ezell, Heather: NOTHING LEFT TO BURN." Kirkus Reviews, 15 Jan. 2018. Book Review Index Plus, http://link.galegroup.com/apps/doc/A522642980/GPS?u=schlager&sid=GPS&xid=f58e2648. Accessed 20 May 2018. Horan, Molly. "Nothing Left to Burn." Booklist, 1 Jan. 2018, p. 92. Book Review Index Plus, http://link.galegroup.com/apps/doc/A525185751/GPS?u=schlager&sid=GPS&xid=d6cd5001. Accessed 20 May 2018. Haghanikar, Taraneh Matloob. "EZELL, Heather. Nothing Left To Burn." School Library Journal, Feb. 2018, p. 101+. Book Review Index Plus, http://link.galegroup.com/apps/doc/A526734115/GPS?u=schlager&sid=GPS&xid=f8fe6e15. Accessed 20 May 2018.

• Medium
  https://medium.com/no-blank-pages/heather-ezell-book-coach-releases-nothing-left-to-burn-on-march-13-4fbd4fb5afce
  Word count: 919

  Heather Ezell (Book Coach) releases Nothing Left to Burn on March 13!
  Author Accelerator Success Stories

  Heather Ezell (Book Coach) sat down with us for an interview about her new release!

  What inspired you to write this book?

  As is evident from the synopsis, NOTHING LEFT TO BURN’s ticking clock is centered around a raging wildfire in Orange County. In retrospect, my first novel having a wildfire was perhaps inevitable. I grew up under what felt like a constant threat of wildfires bulldozing my childhood home and naturally developed a severe fear and obsession with fire. Nothing spikes my anxiety like the smell of smoke. But, in general, everything I write is deeply inspired by extreme weather and place — I think it’s fascinating to examine how both the extremes and the subtleties of a place can so deeply impact the lives that are settled there. I usually think of setting first when a new story idea comes to mind.

  But, that said, the wildfire is really only the face of NLTB. At the story’s core is Audrey’s relationship with an intensely passionate boy named Brooks. I’ve always been intrigued by the blurred lines within relationships — obsession and love, passion and dependency, the ways in which relationships define us. And this intrigue came from my experience as a teenager, when I was in an extremely fraught, co-dependent romance. We were both intensely passionate, volatile, in love and painfully young, and we both built our identities around the idea and the possibilities of us. My finally coming to terms with the realities of that relationship is what fed Brooks and Audrey’s story.

  Tell us one surprising thing about your book

  One could say (and I have on many occasions myself!) that I wrote the first draft of NLTB when I was thirteen… that first draft did not include a fire, a Brooks, a non-linear structure, ballet, Grace, Maya… and many other key elements.

  So, one could also say, perhaps more accurately, that I wrote the first draft of NLTB in 2014, over the course of three months.

  What was one struggle you had in the writing of this book?

  Oh, that’s easy. Brooks. Brooks was a headache and heartbreak and an infuriation of a character. It was incredibly difficult to find the right balance between his really dark, charred parts and his genuine goodness.

  He’s a sweetheart and he’s terribly flawed and messes up bad time and again and god does he just want approval but he doesn’t know how to go about getting it and is painfully selfish… It’s a bit of a battle to write a somewhat antagonistic character that you want readers to love, to some degree, while also showing his most wretched layers.

  I know of many early readers that have struggled with Brooks, hated him from the go (though the synopsis DOES kind of set up readers to be dubious of him), but there have also been many early readers who found the Brooks I worked so hard to get on the page. So, I’m happy!

  And, oh yeah, ha, writing the ending of NLTB nearly did me in. I was rewriting it until my final round with my editor. It’s no surprise that it was Brooks’s last action that had me spinning in frantic circles.

  What do you dream your ideal reader will say to her best friend about your book?

  I’ve been SO lucky to hear readers say the loveliest things about NLTB. It’s always especially wonderful to know that I portrayed the blurred relationship in a way that resonates, that readers have related to Audrey on various levels, that I didn’t do harm in the sensitive topics I handled.

  Really, it’s simply a dream come true to HAVE readers talking about my book! And it’s always a delight to know I caused someone to stay up late reading. :)

  What’s next for you in your writing life?

  Keep writing. :)

  My personal “writing goal” for 2018 is to master (as much as I can) the dreaded synopsis and crafting of proposals. I’ve never been one to outline or know a story before writing it, so proposals have proven DIFFICULT for me. While I’m a believer in doing what works for you, I also acknowledge that writing pitches and synopses and the like ARE skills that can be learned.

  On that note, I’m currently working on a few different potential “second book” project proposals (*fingers crossed*), as well as drafting a paranormal passion project on the side.

  Where can readers find more information about you and your books?

  You can purchase Nothing Left to Burn at:

  Amazon • B&N • iBooks • Kobo • Google Play

  You can find Heather in these places:

  Website: http://heatherezell.com/

  Twitter: https://twitter.com/heatherezell

  Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/heathermezell/

  Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/15111490.Heather_Ezell
  Want to work with a book coach like Heather?

  Check out our premier book coaching programs and how a book coach can help you get to “the end.”
  www.authoraccelerator.com

• Read. Eat. Sleep. Repeat.
  https://readeatsleeprepeat.com/2018/03/13/review-nothing-left-to-burn-by-heather-ezell/
  Word count: 404

  Review: Nothing Left to Burn, by Heather Ezell
  March 13, 2018
  ~ Nicole (Read. Eat. Sleep. Repeat.)

  Nothing Left to Burn by Heather Ezell
  Published by Razorbill on March 13, 2018 (expected)
  Series: n/a
  Genre(s): fiction, contemporary, young adult
  Format & Pages: e-book, 320
  Find on Goodreads
  Purchase at Amazon, Barnes & Noble, Book Depository
  The autumn morning after sixteen-year-old Audrey Harper loses her virginity, she wakes to a loud, persistent knocking at her front door. Waiting for her are two firemen, there to let her know that the moment she’s been dreading has arrived: the enormous wildfire sweeping through Orange County, California, is now dangerously close to her idyllic gated community of Coto de Caza, and it’s time to evacuate.
  Over the course of the next twenty-four hours, as Audrey wrestles with the possibility of losing her family home, she also recalls her early, easy summer days with Brooks, the charming, passionate, but troubled volunteer firefighter who enchants Audrey–and who is just as enthralled by her. But as secrets from Brooks’s dark past come to light, Audrey can’t help but wonder if there’s danger in the pull she feels–both toward this boy, and toward the fire burning in the distance.

  A compelling coming of age story, Nothing Left to Burn is Heather Ezell’s debut novel – and a fairly impressive one, at that.
  “…I don’t know how to say what I don’t yet understand.”
  This book is told in two timelines: one in the present that follows the twenty four hours after Audrey is woken to the firemen evacuating her community due to an oncoming wildfire; and another in the several months prior leading up to the night before the evacuation. The two timelines are woven together nicely as they alternated and fed off one another. The characters are well thought out with believable relationships, and Ezell perfectly captures that crazy first love feeling.
  Nothing Left to Burn touches on some complex, tough issues including mental health and toxic relationships but is nicely balanced with healthy relationships and lighter topics, making for a gripping read. I look forward to see what this author does next. Recommended.
  *Many thanks to Penguin Random House’s First to Read program for providing an arc of this edition in exchange for an honest review.

• Utopia State of Mind
  https://utopia-state-of-mind.com/review-nothing-left-burn-heather-ezell/
  Word count: 783

  Review: Nothing Left to Burn by Heather Ezell
  April 16, 2018 inautopiastateofmind Leave a comment

  Nothing Left to Burn totally caught me by surprise. It’s kind of described as this YA contemporary, but to me it’s more like a YA Contemporary Thriller/Mystery.

  The autumn morning after sixteen-year-old Audrey Harper loses her virginity, she wakes to a loud, persistent knocking at her front door. Waiting for her are two firemen, there to let her know that the moment she’s been dreading has arrived: the enormous wildfire sweeping through Orange County, California, is now dangerously close to her idyllic gated community of Coto de Caza, and it’s time to evacuate.
  Over the course of the next twenty-four hours, as Audrey wrestles with the possibility of losing her family home, she also recalls her early, easy summer days with Brooks, the charming, passionate, but troubled volunteer firefighter who enchants Audrey–and who is just as enthralled by her. But as secrets from Brooks’s dark past come to light, Audrey can’t help but wonder if there’s danger in the pull she feels–both toward this boy, and toward the fire burning in the distance.

  (Disclaimer: I received this free book from First to Read. This has not impacted my review which is unbiased and honest.)
  TW: self harm
  I’m not really sure what I was expecting with Nothing Left to Burn but whatever it was was nothing like what happened. I was expecting this like find-yourself story with this forest fire background, but what it ended up being was this almost thriller-mystery atmosphere that just rose and rose.
  The Characters
  I saw a lot of myself in Audrey – and a lot of who I was in high school. This both made me really happy, and also a bit nostalgic, and even sad. In high school I was very much like Audrey. I felt like I was living on the outside and then I had this toxic relationship. Would my ex have been like Brooks? Maybe actually.
  They have this mutually toxic relationship, like a wildfire, where they just fuel it. I really loved this metaphor because I was recently talking to someone about how relationships are like fire – the quick to start, quick to burn out, or the passionate one, or the slow burning ones. Not to mention how many love language and love words are actually fire metaphors (consume, burn for you, etc.).
  Suffice it to say, I could really identify with Audrey and her relationship to Brooks in a way I wasn’t sure I would have from the summary. And because of this, it enriched the whole reading experience. It felt almost like an ode to my younger self – the self that didn’t understand that we can’t always save someone or wait for them to change, the self that didn’t know that she was fueling a fire, the self that felt her family’s pressure.
  (Audrey’s best friend is also bisexual).
  The Thrills
  Nothing Left to Burn starts off with a fascinating hook. Immediately we feel similar overwhelmed because there’s a lot we’re catching up on. It almost feels like we’ve walked into the heat of the flames both in the intensity of the writing and the story. Audrey is making sense of her lost virginity, this forest fire, and events that are alluded to. The tension only rises as Ezell has these alternating chapters of the past with the present that are almost like flashbacks. Actually, that’s probably what they are. And they build in tension, fear, and panic.
  (It also made me think a lot about the importance or the pressure we put on virginity and this ‘rite of passage’).
  Overall,
  I deeply connected to Audrey and her sort of awakening in this book. It was a book that was deeply about our relationships to other people and to ourselves. There were catchy and evocative one liners and this book was rife with tension. There’s something intoxicating, and enthralling, about being lost in the fire – watching it burn and consume. It’s hard because we want to protect the people we love, the toxic relationships we think we can save, that we ignore our get feeling, but we can’t and it’s hard process a hard life a hard thing to break off contact, to douse the flames and face the night
  Make sure to check out Nothing Left to Burn on Goodreads.

  Any other thrillers creep up on you?

• Boston Book Reader
  https://bostonbookreader.wordpress.com/2018/03/31/book-review-nothing-left-to-burn-by-heather-ezell/
  Word count: 472

  BOOK REVIEW: NOTHING LEFT TO BURN BY HEATHER EZELL
  Posted on March 31, 2018 by bostonbookreader
  Nothing Left To Burn by Heather Ezell
  Published March 13, 2018
  Hardcover, 320 pages
  MY GOODREADS RATING 5/5 STARS
  (Thanks to Netgalley & Razorbill, I received an eARC)

  GOODREADS SYNOPSIS:
  The autumn morning after sixteen-year-old Audrey Harper loses her virginity, she wakes to a loud, persistent knocking at her front door. Waiting for her are two firemen, there to let her know that the moment she’s been dreading has arrived: the enormous wildfire sweeping through Orange County, California, is now dangerously close to her idyllic gated community of Coto de Caza, and it’s time to evacuate.
  Over the course of the next twenty-four hours, as Audrey wrestles with the possibility of losing her family home, she also recalls her early, easy summer days with Brooks, the charming, passionate, but troubled volunteer firefighter who enchants Audrey–and who is just as enthralled by her. But as secrets from Brooks’s dark past come to light, Audrey can’t help but wonder if there’s danger in the pull she feels–both toward this boy, and toward the fire burning in the distance.

  MY THOUGHTS:
  I really enjoyed how the story was set up in flashbacks, it went from the moment she was woken up to be evacuated, until the final outcome of the book. I felt like I was along for a very turbulent ride the whole time, with everything going on as the fire got closer, to everything that led up to Audrey’s choices. I didn’t feel like I was missing out on any parts. I thought this also helped portray Audrey’s internal struggles in a way that was easy to comprehend.
  I thought Audrey was a very brave and honest character. She had some tough decisions to make about romance, friendship and life in general. With all that was going on I felt like she kept her head on her shoulders. This part where Audrey is explaining herself really resonated with me. “Me, obsessive, one-track mind, all-or-nothing attitude” Like Audrey I did ballet, and abruptly walked away, though I was a bit older, a senior in high school. This part kept coming up and I felt as though I knew a lot of what she was feeling about that particular subject.
  For some reason I kept feeling like I was reading something by Gayle Foreman, who I absolutely adore. I think it had to do with the way the story flowed, and how it hit you in the feels. I highly enjoyed this whole book, and kept wanting more. I can’t wait to see what comes next from this author, she has quickly become an auto-buy author for me.

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