• Booklist Reviews : Booklist Reviews 2019 November #1
  Despite her loved ones' urgings to stay out of the Wars, Valerie desperately wants revenge for her brother, murdered by a gang called the Boars. So when Jax, leader of the Stags, a rival gang, offers her the name of her brother's killer, Valerie readily joins up. Almost immediately, she—along with her family and friends—finds herself in the middle of the gangs' machinations. When the body count starts to rise, Valerie begins questioning whether her bloodlust is worth the destruction of everything she holds dear. Using a story loosely based on The Iliad, debut author Price portrays an alternate version of modern-day San Francisco in which class tensions have erupted into an underground proxy war between violent street gangs. An interesting, if not altogether smoothly integrated, aspect of the story is how a contemporary city, complete with shopping areas, schools, and modern technology, exists side by side with a gritty gang war reminiscent of The Warriors. Fans of stories of factional conflict such as Veronica Roth's Divergent trilogy will feel right at home. Grades 9-12. Copyright 2019 Booklist Reviews.

SHANNON PRICE is a proud Filipina-American and Bay Area native. She once led an a cappella group for three years despite not knowing how to read music, and she carries that same level of confidence in every area of her life. When not writing, she can be found watching baking shows, exploring old bookstores, and going to the beach as often as she can. A Thousand Fires is her first novel.