The Book That Wouldn't Burn
by Mark Lawrence
A boy has lived his whole life trapped within a vast library, older than empires and larger than cities.
A girl has spent hers in a tiny settlement out on the Dust where nightmares stalk and no one goes.
The world has never even noticed them. That's about to change.
Their stories spiral around each other, across worlds and time. This is a tale of truth and lies and hearts, and the blurring of one into another. A journey on which knowledge erodes certainty, and on which, though the pen may be mightier than the sword, blood will be spilled and cities burned. (Goodreads synopsis)
Content Notes: war, moderately graphic violence, destruction (fires), racism/xenophobia, classism, child labor, scary situations, genocide. The author writes about difficult content in a thoughtful way with a goal towards raising awareness and discussion. Sometimes graphic descriptions are used judiciously to convey the horrors of war.
How These Live Book Clubs Work
Participation in the live book club includes access to a set of resources and activities as well as interactive components.
Participants receive
- A suggested reading schedule
- PDF reading guides with comprehension questions
- Vocabulary/reading activities
- Discussion board posts in our online classroom
- Writing/multimodal project prompts related to the reading
- An invitation to a live discussion
- A recording of the summary of the live discussion
- An optional feedback add-on for the final paper/project
- Rubrics for at-home feedback
Families are welcome to use as much or as little of the suggested resources and activities as they'd like to fit their interest and schedules.
(There is an option to add a Feedback Add-on for Final Projects at checkout.)
Ages:
13-18
Dates:
January 1-31, 2026
Live Meeting:
January 30, 2026
1:00 PM ET / 12:00 PM CT / 11:00 AM MT / 10:00 AM PT
Sessions typically last around 1 hour.
Those who cannot attend the live session will receive a recorded summary.
(Note: If there is high enrollment, additional live sessions may be opened to keep sessions small enough for meaningful discussion.)
Supplies:
- A copy of the book The Book That Wouldn't Burn (ISBN
9780593437926) - Used and borrowed copies will work just fine! If your learner is going to participate in final projects and reading guides, I recommend having a physical copy even if they primarily read the audiobook.
- See Dayla Learning's affiliate Bookshop List
- Zoom account for live session
- Microphone and camera for live session (optional)
- PDF reader
-
Access to printer if you want to print worksheets