This is Michael Maxwell with the Sioux City Public Library and you’re listening to Check It Out.
Today, I am recommending Paradise: One Town's Struggle to Survive an American Wildfire by Lizzie Johnson.
Paradise is a book that shook me to my core. I’m not a tearful person, but while reading Paradise I found myself on the verge of crying several times. The truth is often stranger than fiction, and it’s equally true that reality can also be more tragic than fiction. This story of the California wildfire that claimed the community of Paradise is one such true tale.
Many of us are vaguely familiar with the recurring threat of wildfires in the Western half of the United States, and so the blaze that Lizzie Johnson recounts in Paradise, known as the Camp Fire of 2018, will be fresh in the minds of many readers. My basic familiarity with this particular fire still did not prepare me for the pure terror Johnson shares in this book.
For example: I was completely naïve to how quickly a wildfire can consume a town. After this wildfire passed, bodies were found in positions that suggested people were incinerated in the process of fleeing the flames, with some unfortunate folks immolated as they tried to get into their vehicles. Those lucky enough to make it into a vehicle were forced to race for their lives through panicked traffic and low visibility while flames lapped at their backs.
This level of urgency is tangible to readers through the way Johnson writes. My adrenaline was spiked throughout this book as I kept going to see what happened next. Since this is nonfiction, the stakes are real. Readers don’t lose beloved characters in this book; they lose fellow human beings.
Check out Paradise: One Town's Struggle to Survive an American Wildfire by Lizzie Johnson at the Sioux City Public Library today!
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