The Fire Never Goes Out: A Memoir in Pictures

by Noelle Stevenson

Overview

From ND Stevenson, the New York Times bestselling author-illustrator of Nimona, comes a captivating, honest illustrated memoir that finds him turning an important corner in his creative journey—and inviting readers along for the ride.

In a collection of essays and personal mini-comics that span eight years of his young adult life, author-illustrator ND Stevenson charts the highs and lows of being a creative human in the world.

Whether it’s hearing the wrong name called at his art school graduation ceremony or becoming a National Book Award finalist for his debut graphic novel, Nimona, ND captures the little and big moments that make up a real life, with a wit, wisdom, and vulnerability that are all his own.

Named one of Bank Street College of Education's Best Children’s Books of the Year!

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780062278265
Publisher:	HarperCollins Publishers
Publication date:	07/06/2021
Pages:	208
Sales rank:	91,814
Product dimensions:	6.00(w) x 8.40(h) x 0.70(d)
Age Range:	14 - 17 Years

About the Author

ND Stevenson is the award-winning, bestselling author and illustrator of Nimona and The Fire Never Goes Out, the co-creator of Lumberjanes, and was the showrunner for the award-winning Netflix series She-Ra and the Princesses of Power. He currently lives in Los Angeles. Visit him online at https://twitter.com/Gingerhazing.

ND Stevenson is the award-winning, bestselling author and illustrator of Nimona and The Fire Never Goes Out, the co-creator of Lumberjanes, and was the showrunner for the award-winning Netflix series She-Ra and the Princesses of Power. He currently lives in Los Angeles. Visit him online at https://twitter.com/Gingerhazing.

Editorial Reviews

Deeply affecting, heart-wrenchingly honest. This work of pure vulnerability and ultimately hope may serve as a vital lifeline for young fans in need of having their own inner struggles reflected in their heroes. An incredibly brave offering from one of comics’ most precious creators.

Booklist (starred review)

Stevenson makes [himself] vulnerable, and readers will appreciate [his] honesty, compassion, and hard-won wisdom.

Bulletin of the Center for Children’s Books

[The book] is a coming-out story, a love story, a tale of disorientingly rapid professional triumph, and a story about mental health and illness.

The New Yorker

Stevenson makes herself vulnerable, and readers will appreciate her honesty, compassion, and hard-won wisdom.

Bulletin of the Center for Children's Books

Stevenson makes herself vulnerable, and readers will appreciate her honesty, compassion, and hard-won wisdom.

Bulletin of the Center for Children’s Books

2020-02-09
The portrait of an artist as a young (wo)man.

Artist, writer, and youngest National Book Award finalist to date, Stevenson’s rise to prominence in the graphic-novel industry was meteoric, yet fame couldn’t fill the gaping hole she often felt in herself. Adrift during her college years, Stevenson found a fan base in drawing fan art. A summer internship with BOOM! Studios—later her publishers—offered a glimpse of her future…and doubtlessly contributed to her career. But independence and isolation, struggles with her faith and sexuality, and serious mental health issues persisted despite success. Otherwise told from a first-person point of view, the book sometimes detours into second person for discussions of mental illness, which may elicit a sense of intimacy and immediacy for readers. Both the art and narrative thread are intermittent and somewhat impressionistic; the illustrations are largely in grayscale, often with characters adrift in white space, lending a feeling of rawness but also incompleteness. Absent are the bright colors, sly humor, and polish of her other pieces, such as Nimona (2015) and the Lumberjanes series. Rather than a how-to guide to publishing or a behind-the-scenes peek at Stevenson’s artwork and process, this is a highly personal tale of an emotional journey that somehow also manages to feel universal.

A snapshot of success and struggles that adds to the conversation about mental health. (Graphic memoir. 14-20)

Kirkus Reviews

04/20/2020

A scrapbook of diary entries, drawings, illustrated song lyrics, photos, and sticky notes honestly captures the uncertainty of youth in pseudo-real time. Between 2011 and 2019, comics artist Noelle Stevenson created year-in-review blog posts for her online followers, presented and expanded upon here. The years include early and astronomical artistic and professional successes, as she leverages a Tumblr following into a book deal (Nimona) and a Netflix show (She-Ra and the Princesses of Power), as well as mental health challenges that ebb, flow, and eventually culminate in an unnamed diagnosis. Depicting herself with a range of hairstyles and frequently with a hole in her center, she documents her spiritual struggles, burgeoning independence, and deep fears, often in the form of gentle letters to her younger self. By conveying key events primarily via generalized summaries—about coming out as queer, workplace burnout, secret projects, troubled relationships, and mental crescendos—Stevenson sometimes undermines her own raw emotion, which is on clearer display where she depicts, for example,discovering that her grandma accepts her sexuality or describes the titularfireas a thing that “lit you up or burned you apart.” Stevenson’s illustrations are sweet, simple, and confident. If the memoir feels a bit scattered at times, so does the experience of youth itself; Stevenson brings unique and endearing insight to the messy process of growing up. Ages 14–up. (Mar.)

Publishers Weekly

This is a highly personal tale of an emotional journey that somehow also manages to feel universal. A snapshot of success and struggles that adds to the conversation about mental health.” — Kirkus Reviews

“Stevenson makes [himself] vulnerable, and readers will appreciate [his] honesty, compassion, and hard-won wisdom.” — Bulletin of the Center for Children’s Books

“Deeply affecting, heart-wrenchingly honest. This work of pure vulnerability and ultimately hope may serve as a vital lifeline for young fans in need of having their own inner struggles reflected in their heroes. An incredibly brave offering from one of comics’ most precious creators.” — Booklist (starred review)

“Stevenson’s illustrations are sweet, simple, and confident. If the memoir feels a bit scattered at times, so does the experience of youth itself; Stevenson brings unique and endearing insight to the messy process of growing up.” — Publishers Weekly

“[The book] is a coming-out story, a love story, a tale of disorientingly rapid professional triumph, and a story about mental health and illness.” — The New Yorker

“The imagery Stevenson builds around mental health and burnout is so well-crafted and sincere that it should be added into the mental vocabulary of every creative human.” — Buzzfeed

From the Publisher

[The book] is a coming-out story, a love story, a tale of disorientingly rapid professional triumph, and a story about mental health and illness.

The New Yorker

The imagery Stevenson builds around mental health and burnout is so well-crafted and sincere that it should be added into the mental vocabulary of every creative human.

Buzzfeed