Billy Ray is one of modern Hollywood's preeminent screenwriters and the author of Burn the Water. He wrote the Oscar-nominated screenplay for Captain Phillips, for which he won the Writers Guild of America Award. Ray's films as writer, co-writer, or writer-director include The Hunger Games, Richard Jewell, Shattered Glass, Showtime's The Comey Rule, and the forthcoming Sunrise on the Reaping. Billy lives in Los Angeles. He believes in democracy, justice, his children, and the Dodgers.

Praise for Burn the Water:

"...Ray deftly examines the brutality of war across an evocatively depicted vision of a future drowned metropolis." -- Publishers Weekly

"Ray builds a grim, brutal world on the bones of Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliet... allowing the characters here enough depth and distinction to make this a unique endeavor." -- The Bulletin of the Center for Children's Books

"Burn the Water is an electrifying, cinematic read that adventurous tween readers will devour. It's immersive, fast-paced, and surprisingly tender, making it a bold, unforgettable start to the year." -- Portland Book Review

"The book will be escape or revelation. Or both." -- Sam Wasson, author of The Big Goodbye

"One of our greatest screenwriters has written a stunner of a first novel. Romeo and Juliet with a dystopic spin, Burn the Water has it all - love and betrayal, action and suspense, life-threatening battles and world-ending stakes. Richly imagined, beautifully written, and poetically rendered, this one's a must read." -- Gregg Hurwitz, bestselling author of Orphan X

Publisher: Scholastic Press

Pub date: 2027-03-02

Length: 368 pages