Playing with Fire

A wildfire closes off a well-traveled trail through an Oregon forest, leaving a handful of hikers with no clear route home. Their only option is to get out on their own. Natalia has built her life around caution since a house fire six years ago killed her baby brother and nearly took her too. Wyatt, a coworker, has pestered her for months to join him on a hike, and she finally says yes. What began as a bright, easy day turns dangerous once smoke rises and the trail behind them is lost.

With no cell signal, little food or water, and the fire spreading through the trees, Natalia and the other strangers in the group have to put their differences aside and work together. Their path forward runs through the dark, toward a footbridge that crosses a steep canyon. They have to reach it before the flames do.

April Henry is an author of suspense novels for young readers. This is a fast-paced survival story for teen readers that blends a wilderness setting with a tense race against a natural disaster.