Words on Fire, page 23
The German invaders had taken everything from me: my home, my family, even much of my faith, which had once been the center of my life.
So I had no problem taking something back from them: my dignity, my fight. My will to live.
But if I’d learned anything from this war, it’s that we can never go back.
This book would be incomplete without a recognition of those who gave me a love of words. Thank you, Mrs. Flores, the first teacher to truly celebrate me as a reader. Thank you, Lorraine, for the challenging word finds and crossword games. Thank you, Mom, for always giving me access to books, no matter what, and to Dad, for the word definition games.
I also wish to honor the knygnesiai—the book carriers, who are among the true heroes of Lithuanian history. This work that began with a single priest eventually expanded to include nearly every citizen in the country, either involved in smuggling, transporting, hiding, teaching, or purchasing the illegal books. Over the forty years of the ban, nearly eight million books were published across 1,740 titles. More than three thousand people were arrested in connection with the ban, and approximately 10 percent of the books were seized by authorities. The Kražiai Massacre in November 1893 deepened the Lithuanian resentment against the Russian occupation, and efforts to resist their laws intensified.
Eventually, it became apparent to the Russian Empire that the press ban had been a failure, and in 1904, Tsar Nicolas II revoked the ban. On February 16, 1918, Lithuania officially received its independence. Another seventy-three years of difficulty with Russia followed until 1991, when Lithuania finally regained its independence, which exists today.
Many thanks to my family for their constant support of my writing, especially Jeff, who is the best of men, best of husbands, and my best friend. Thanks also to my agent, Ammi-Joan Paquette, for her enthusiasm and input on this project, and to my editor, Lisa Sandell, for her extraordinary work in the editing of this book, though I never see anything less from her. My gratitude as well to the talented people throughout the Scholastic family, for all the hard work they put into every one of my books. I am deeply indebted to each of you.
And because this is a book celebrating the love of words, my thanks extend to the teachers and librarians who have made it their lives’ work to spread words to their students and patrons. You are literally building a better future for us all.
Finally, to readers, I hope you loved this book, and that upon finishing you will look for another book to dive into and love just as much, and then another and another. For who are we all, if not the product of who we love, what we know, and every wonderful word that we have read?
Jennifer A. Nielsen is the critically acclaimed author of the New York Times bestseller The Traitor’s Game and its sequel, The Deceiver’s Heart, as well as the New York Times and USA Today bestselling Ascendance Trilogy: The False Prince, The Runaway King, and The Shadow Throne. She also wrote the New York Times bestselling Mark of the Thief trilogy: Mark of the Thief, Rise of the Wolf, and Wrath of the Storm; the standalone fantasy The Scourge; the critically acclaimed historical novels Resistance and A Night Divided; book two in the Horizon series, Deadzone; and book six of the Infinity Ring series, Behind Enemy Lines.
Jennifer collects old books, loves good theater, and thinks that a quiet afternoon in the mountains makes for a nearly perfect moment. She lives in northern Utah with her family, a dog that won’t play fetch, and a cat that hallucinates. You can visit her at jennielsen.com.
THE ASCENDANCE TRILOGY
The False Prince
The Runaway King
The Shadow Throne
THE MARK OF THE THIEF TRILOGY
Mark of the Thief
Rise of the Wolf
Wrath of the Storm
THE TRAITOR’S GAME SERIES
The Traitor’s Game
The Deceiver’s Heart
A Night Divided
Resistance
The Scourge
Copyright © 2019 by Jennifer A. Nielsen
All rights reserved. Published by Scholastic Press, an imprint of Scholastic Inc., Publishers since 1920. SCHOLASTIC, SCHOLASTIC PRESS, and associated logos are trademarks and/or registered trademarks of Scholastic Inc.
The publisher does not have any control over and does not assume any responsibility for author or third-party websites or their content.
This book is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents are either the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously, and any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, business establishments, events, or locales is entirely coincidental.
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Names: Nielsen, Jennifer A., author.
Title: Words on fire / Jennifer A. Nielsen.
Description: First edition. | New York, NY : Scholastic Press, 2019. |
Summary: In 1893 twelve-year-old Audra lives on a farm in Lithuania, and tries to avoid the Cossack soldiers who enforce the Russian decrees that ban Lithuanian books, religion, culture, and even the language; but when the soldiers invade the farm Audra is the only one who escapes and, unsure of what has happened to her parents, she embarks on a dangerous journey, carrying the smuggled Lithuanian books that fuel the growing resistance movement, unsure of who to trust, but risking her life and freedom for her country.
Identifiers: LCCN 2018053894 | ISBN 9781338275476
Subjects: LCSH: Smuggling—Lithuania—Juvenile fiction. | Books and reading—Juvenile fiction. | Government, Resistance to—Juvenile fiction. | Interpersonal relations—Juvenile fiction. | Adventure stories. | Lithuania—History—19th century—Juvenile fiction. | Lithuania—History—Underground movements—Juvenile fiction. | CYAC: Smuggling—Fiction. | Books and reading—Fiction. | Government, Resistance to—Fiction. | Interpersonal relations—Fiction. | Adventure and adventurers—Fiction. | Lithuania—History—19th century—Fiction. | Lithuania—History—Underground movements—Fiction. | LCGFT: Action and adventure fiction.
Classification: LCC PZ7.N5673 Car 2019 | DDC 813.6 [Fic] —dc23 LC record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2018053894
First edition, October 2019
Cover art © 2019 by Tim O’Brien
Cover design by Christopher Stengel
e-ISBN 978-1-338-27551-3
All rights reserved under International and Pan-American Copyright Conventions. No part of this publication may be reproduced, transmitted, downloaded, decompiled, reverse engineered, or stored in or introduced into any information storage and retrieval system, in any form or by any means, whether electronic or mechanical, now known or hereafter invented, without the express written permission of the publisher. For information regarding permission, write to Scholastic Inc., Attention: Permissions Department, 557 Broadway, New York, NY 10012.
Jennifer A. Nielsen, Words on Fire
