Can Mara survive in a world where the fire in her veins is worth killing for?

In a frozen wasteland suffocating beneath a dying sun, Mara is a young phoenix raised by her father to explode at his command. He’s the only one who can help her control her fire, and Mara desperately follows his orders to protect their phoenix family from relentless human hunters.

Her sheltered existence is shattered when her family mysteriously vanishes, thrusting Mara into a perilous quest to find them. Along the way, she unravels a devastating truth: her people may not be the innocent victims she’s been taught to believe.

When she comes face-to-face with the kindhearted Eli, she begins to wonder if the humans aren’t the monsters she’s always feared. What if the greatest danger doesn’t lie in the icy world outside—but in the truth of who Mara really is?

The sun is dying and the world is freezing. Mara’s sheltered existence has protected her from enemies who would kill her to steal the warmth from her phoenix blood. But she was not prepared to navigate the world she must confront after that her family has been abducted. Mara must choose whether to trust what she’s been told about her stolen family, or to rely on her potential friend Eli. Kara Swanson’s fantasy novel Ignite sparks and soars with its coming-of-age storyline. This first book of the Phoenix Flame series may also inspire further conversations about how heroes confront abuse and deceptions as well as disentangle heresy from truth.

Best for: Young-adult fans of coming-of-age tales with complex relationships.

Discern: Spiritual and emotional abuse by parents and other authorities, animals are hunted for food, and some lightly described scenes of torture.