The decision to do a third season of the Cascadia Writers-in-Conversation Series kept me from reading as many books as I hoped over the summer (other than those for the series), but one I did read was Tae Keller‘s engrossing YA novel When Tomorrow Burns. I don’t review YA books because I don’t feel I know what to look for in them except a compelling story. Keller’s book certainly has that.
Don’t take my word for it. Take the word of the National Book Awards Committee, which just named When Tomorrow Burns a finalist for its 2026 award in Young People’s Literature.
Published by Random House this past March, Keller’s novel follows three seventh-graders– Nomi, Vi, and Arthur–on their search for the follow-up volume to a book of prophecies they’ve discovered and come to believe is true. The book’s final prophecy leaves them thinking its companion book will answer important questions. If it exists.
Of course, searching for something as middle-schoolers without involving your parents is tough. Especially when the world you live in is full of fire and dangers of other kinds, including crushes that turn bad, adults who don’t understand, and tensions that threaten your friendship.
Keller dedicates individual chapters to each of the three friends and to a voice that speaks collectively for the world’s trees, offering important lessons about the environment, history, and the communal dependence of flora and fauna.
A winner of the Newbery Medal for her previous novel, When You Trap a Tiger (Random House, 2020), Keller has published several books for kids in grades 3-7. When You Trap a Tiger was a New York Times bestseller and her books have received widespread praise from teachers, parents, and reviewers.
In August, Keller was one of two writers chosen by the State of Washington to participate in the National Book Festival. She was joined in Washington, DC, by Rena Priest, author of the essay collection Positively Uncivilized (Raven Chronicles Press).
In addition to the Newbery, Keller is the recipient of the Asian/Pacific American Award for Literature, the Boston Globe/Horn Book Honor, and the Washington State Book Award. Her books have been translated into 15 languages.
“Threading a grounded story following three tweens on the precipice of change with adroit musings about climate disaster, misogyny, and the cyclical patterns of history, Keller delivers a moving, clear-eyed exhortation on the necessity of community,” says Publishers Weekly about When Tomorrow Burns. In more lyrical terms, Kirkus Reviews calls the novel “as beautiful and intricate as the rings of an ancient tree.”
You can read more about Tae on her website. To read her most recent writings, sign up for her Substack: The Drafts Folder.
Congratulations, Tae!