This Book Won't Burn

By: Samira Ahmed

Published by Little, Brown Books for Young Readers, 2025-09-23

★ "[Ahmed] employs high stakes, increasing tensions, romantic near-misses, and adult hypocrisy to powerful effect." -Publisher's Weekly, starred review



From the New York Times bestselling author of Internment comes a timely and gripping social-suspense novel about book banning, activism, and standing up for what you believe.



After her dad abruptly abandons her family and her mom moves them a million miles from their Chicago home, Noor Khan is forced to start the last quarter of her senior year at a new school, away from everything and everyone she knows and loves.

Reeling from being uprooted and deserted, Noor is certain the key to survival is to keep her head down and make it to graduation.

But things aren't so simple. At school, Noor discovers hundreds of books have been labeled "obscene" or "pornographic" and are being removed from the library in accordance with a new school board policy. Even worse, virtually all the banned books are by queer and BIPOC authors.

Noor can't sit back and do nothing, because that goes against everything she believes in, but challenging the status quo just might put a target on her back. Can she effect change by speaking up? Or will small-town politics--and small-town love--be her downfall?