Words on Fire

How are Lukas and Audra different from each other, and how are they similar? What can they offer each other, and how is their partnership crucial to their successful smuggling?

Through book smuggling, Audra loses her biological family but is later taken in by a community of book smugglers. In what ways do Milda, Ben, Lukas, and Roze fill the roles of family members for Audra?

Nielsen incorporates an embedded narrative in the novel—the story of Rue. What kinds of lessons does Rue’s story teach Audra? How does storytelling allow Audra and Lukas to communicate indirectly with each other?