How to Set a Fire and Why

By Jesse Ball,

Book cover of How to Set a Fire and Why

Book description

“Ball has created a voice that echoes the beloved narrators of J. D. Salinger and John Green. . . . With her tragic past, brilliant mind and subversive potential, Lucia could be thought of as a young Lisbeth Salander, or a high-IQ, antiheroic Katniss Everdeen, but with a better sense…

Shepherd is reader supported. When you buy books, we may earn an affiliate commission.

Why read it?

1 author picked How to Set a Fire and Why as one of their favorite books. Why do they recommend it?

It’s not often that a thirty-something man nails the depiction of the interior life of a seventeen-year-old girl, but Jesse Ball did exactly that in his 2016 novel. Scrappy, arson-obsessed Lucia Stanton just might be my favorite literary teenage hero of all time. I think of her as a mix between Holden Caulfield’s charming disaffection and Juno’s precocious wit.

Ball imbues Lucia’s voice with intelligence and a hint of world-weariness, but he still manages to convey her innocence. You learn a lot from her, but you also want to protect her. My copy is dog-eared and underlined into oblivion.…

From Caroline's list on for adults about being a teenager.

Want books like How to Set a Fire and Why?

Our community of 11,000+ authors has personally recommended 75 books like How to Set a Fire and Why.

Browse books like How to Set a Fire and Why

5 book lists we think you will like!

Interested in arson, teenage girls, and dysfunctional families?

Arson 14 books
Teenage Girls 135 books