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Fernanda Santos

Goodreads Author

Born

in Salvador, Brazil

Website

http://www.fernandasantosbooks.com

Twitter

FernandaNYT

Genre

Contemporary, Nonfiction

Member Since

February 2016

URL

https://www.goodreads.com/fernandasantos

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Fernanda Santos is an award-winning journalist and the author of The Fire Line: The Story of the Granite Mountain Hotshots, winner of the Western Writers of America 2017 Spur Award for Best First Nonfiction Book. "The Fire Line" tells the story of 19 firefighters killed in an Arizona wildfire in 2013 — the deadliest in the United States since 1933, with the greatest loss of life among firefighters since the September 11 attacks.
Fernanda has reported in three languages, in Latin America and in the United States. She grew up in Brazil, where she bore witness to violence, inequality and immeasurable hope. In those scenes, she found her passion for telling true stories. ...more

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Who is your favorite fictional couple, and why?

Fernanda Santos I'm originally from Salvador, capital of the state of Bahia, in northeastern Brazil. Bahia is also the birthplace of one of my favorite authors, Jorge…moreI'm originally from Salvador, capital of the state of Bahia, in northeastern Brazil. Bahia is also the birthplace of one of my favorite authors, Jorge Amado, whose books unveiled the beauty in the hardened lives lived by the people of the Northeast, Brazil's poorest region. I remember reading "Captains of the Sands" in middle school, a book about a gang of street children who roamed the streets of my hometown. They were fictional characters, but so vividly described that I could never look at street children the same way.
Jorge Amado developed many strong women in his books. My favorite – she is also the most admired female character I've read – is Tereza Batista, a young woman forced to prostitute herself to survive. Tereza has many men in her life, most of them awful to her. But through the horrors she endured and the twisted morals of her twisted world, she nurtured a pure, sincere love for a married fisherman, Jereba, whose sick wife dies in time for him to rescue Tereza from a marriage of convenience, adding a measure of happiness to a tortured existence.
Tereza is the quintessential strong woman: She organized a strike among prostitutes to demand for better treatment against disease – and to demand respect. Jereba's strength is in forgiving Tereza for all her sins and in his resolve to reignite a romance interrupted by his loyalty to his ailing wife. (less)

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Where did you get the idea for your most recent book?

Fernanda Santos I am a Phoenix-based staff writer for The New York Times. On June 30, 2013, when 19 firefighters died battling a wildfire in the central Arizona villa…moreI am a Phoenix-based staff writer for The New York Times. On June 30, 2013, when 19 firefighters died battling a wildfire in the central Arizona village of Yarnell, I jumped in my car and worked all night, filing the first of several stories I'd write for The Times from a darkened parking lot on the edge of a ghost town. I remember hearing coyotes howling in the distance and watching the fire burn on a mountain up above.
As I wrote about the fire and the firefighters, I became increasingly curious about the lives they lived and their final stance against a wave of flames that moved their way. These men – all of them members of the same crew, the Granite Mountain Hotshots – were together when they died, clustered in a hollow that measured no more than 30 feet by 20 feet. I wanted to know why none of them ran. I wanted to know why they did not break ranks – they were young, had wives and children at home or on the way, and so much to live for. I wanted to know about the culture of loyalty they built on and off the fire line.
Every question I had yielded other questions. Who were these 19 men? What are hotshots? How do wildfires burn? How did the fire in Yarnell burn? I'd say I developed a healthy obsession about this story. (My husband might disagree with the "healthy" part of this statement ...) And I knew that to satisfy my curiosity, to answer all the questions I had, I needed time and I needed room to let the story develop itself. That's when the story developed into a book.(less)

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Average rating: 4.15 · 973 ratings · 132 reviews · 52 distinct works • Similar authors

	The Fire Line: The Story of the Granite Mountain Hotshots 4.15 avg rating — 962 ratings — published 2016 — 7 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	Domênico: O mafioso protetor (Irmãos Manccini Livro 1) (Portuguese Edition) 4.25 avg rating — 4 ratings	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	Alessandro: O mafioso possessivo (Irmãos Manccini Livro 2) (Portuguese Edition) 3.60 avg rating — 5 ratings	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	Crazy Bitch: When you lose faith, evil takes over you. 0.00 avg rating — 0 ratings	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	Carruagens de fogo 0.00 avg rating — 0 ratings	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	DEEP WATERS: THE GENUINE WAY TO REACH GOD 0.00 avg rating — 0 ratings	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	RECREIO - CURIOSIDADES - 254 RESPOSTAS PARA AS PERGUNTAS MAIS MALUCAS DO MUNDO 0.00 avg rating — 0 ratings	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	Crazy Bitch: When you lose faith, evil takes over you. 0.00 avg rating — 0 ratings	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	ÁGUAS PROFUNDAS: A genuína maneira de se chegar á Deus. 0.00 avg rating — 0 ratings — 2 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	Ser ou Nada 0.00 avg rating — 0 ratings	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars

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The Fire Line on NPR's Here & Now!

I was on NPR's Here & Now this week talking about my book, The Fire Line , which hits bookstores on May 3. Click here to listen and read an excerpt of the book.

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Published on April 26, 2016 12:01 • Tags: nonfiction

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The Song and the Silence: A Story about Family, Race, and What Was Revealed in a Small Town in the Mississippi Delta While Searching for Booker Wright

by Yvette Johnson (Goodreads Author)

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Dec 19, 2017 02:26PM

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The Taken: True Stories of the Sinaloa Drug War

by Javier Valdez Cárdenas

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Jul 09, 2017 08:37PM

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The Roald Dahl Omnibus: Perfect Bedtime Stories for Sleepless Nights

by Roald Dahl

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Jul 09, 2017 08:36PM

Quotes by Fernanda Santos (?)

“We’re the front line,” Danny had told Wade. “On September eleventh, 2001, they didn’t call the navy. They didn’t call the Marine Corps. They called the policemen and the firemen. We are the soldiers of our community.”
― Fernanda Santos, The Fire Line: The Story of the Granite Mountain Hotshots and One of the Deadliest Days in American Firefighting

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