Joy McCullough writes books and plays from her home in the Seattle area, where she lives with her family. She studied theater at Northwestern University, fell in love with her husband atop a Guatemalan volcano, and now spends her days surrounded by books and kids and chocolate. Her debut novel, Blood Water Paint, was longlisted for National Book Award and was a finalist for the William C. Morris Debut Award. Her debut picture book, Champ and Major, was a New York Times bestseller.

Critically acclaimed. Three starred reviews and counting.A brilliant sophomore novel. McCullough builds on the resonant and relevant power of her critically acclaimed debut, Blood Water Paint, whiched earned a place on the National Book Award longlist, a Morris Honor, and a rave review in the New Yorker, among many other accolades.A detailed examination of how the courts can fail victims. McCullough carefully depicts the ways the legal system often fails sexual assault survivors.Captures the long shadow of trauma. By focusing on the rape victim's sister, McCullough sheds new light on all the ways sexual violence affects a family.Prose, verse, and illustration. We Are the Ashes, We Are the Fire elegantly incorporates all three mediums to interwine Em and Marguerite's stories.Award-winning illustrator. Maia Kobabe, Alex- and Stonewall-award-winning author of Gender Queer: a Memoir, has contributed illuminations.Unique and engaging storytelling form. The contemporary story of Em Morales is told in prose, but Em tells Marguerite's story in verse (with illumnations from a newfound confidant), and we read the story they tell together as Em struggles with the trial's aftermath.

From the author of the acclaimed Blood Water Paint, a new contemporary YA novel in prose and verse about a girl struggling with guilt and a desire for revenge after her sister's rapist escapes with no prison time.

Em Morales's older sister was raped by another student after a frat party. A jury eventually found the rapist guilty on all counts--a remarkable verdict that Em felt more than a little responsible for, since she was her sister's strongest advocate on social media during the trial. Her passion and outspokenness helped dissuade the DA from settling for a plea deal. Em's family would have real justice.

But the victory is short-lived. In a matter of minutes, justice vanishes as the judge turns the Morales family's world upside down again by sentencing the rapist to no prison time. While her family is stunned, Em is literally sick with rage and guilt. To make matters worse, a news clip of her saying that the sentence makes her want to learn "how to use a sword" goes viral.

From this low point, Em must find a new reason to go on and help her family heal, and she finds it in the unlikely form of the story of a fifteenth-century French noblewoman, Marguerite de Bressieux, who is legendary as an avenging knight for rape victims.

We Are the Ashes, We Are the Fire is a searing and nuanced portrait of a young woman torn between a persistent desire for revenge and a burning need for hope.