Description

Major streaming series coming soon to Hulu

Starring in the Hulu adaptation of this cult bestseller: Alex Fitzalan, Alex Wolff, Sebastian Chacon, and Camila Perez.

On April 21, 2008, Steven "Crash" Crashinsky saved more than a thousand people when he stopped his classmate David Burnett from taking their high school hostage armed with assault weapons and high-powered explosives.

You likely already know what came after for Crash: the nationwide notoriety, the college recruitment, and, of course, the book deal. What you might not know is what came before: a story of two teens whose lives have been inextricably linked since grade school, who were destined, some say, to meet that day in the teachers' lounge of Meadows High.

And what you definitely don't know are the words that Burn whispered to Crash right as the siege was ending, a secret that Crash has never revealed.

Until now.


  • A Dark Coming-of-Age Story: Follows two boys, Crash and Burn, from a childhood incident with fire to a violent confrontation that defines their lives. This is the story of how a hero is made—and what he has to hide.
  • High-Stakes Psychological Thriller: Told from Crash's raw, first-person perspective, this page-turner delves into the mind of a teen forced to stop his lifelong rival... and live with the consequences.
  • A Decade-Long Rivalry: From grade-school conflicts to a deadly high school hostage situation, Crash and Burn's lives were always on a collision course. But their story is more complex than the media knows.
  • The Secret That Changed Everything: For years, only Crash knew what Burn whispered to him in the final moments of the siege. Now, he's finally telling the truth.

About the author(s)

Michael Hassan lives in the Northeast. Crash and Burn is his first novel.

Reviews

“Michael Hassan has written a darkly funny story about a school shooting. I didn’t know it was possible but I knew it was brave. Thankfully, he pulls it off.” - Ned Vizzini, author of It's Kind of a Funny Story and The Other Normals

“Sprawling, messy, vulgar, sexy, irreverent, violent, bighearted, harrowing. These are just a few of the many adjectives about to be hurled in the direction of this roaring freight train of a debut… Gutsily conceived, written, and edited, this is, quite simply, a great American novel.” - Booklist (starred review)

“[Crash and Burn] is a must-read for teens and adults alike who want to understand the lack of empathy that permeates contemporary culture; it offers no answers, but the mirror it does present may be chilling enough to awaken readers to the costs of not getting it right.” - Bulletin of the Center for Children’s Books (starred review)

“Crash and Burn is more than just a coming of age story. Dealing with the expectations of heroism, ADD, broken families and just getting by during adolescence, this story is not only timely but a necessary read. Hassan lifts the veil of what we as a society want to believe teenagers are doing from what they actually are.” - Liz Kossnar, Teenreads.com

More by Michael Hassan

More Coming of Age

More Young Adult Fiction

More Epistolary

More Violence

More Social Themes

More Suicide

More Drugs, Alcohol, Substance Abuse

More Sexual Abuse

More Depression

More Girls & Women

More Physical & Emotional Abuse

More Contemporary

More Romance