... an immersive, comprehensive look at Jones’ life and the lives of other incarcerated firefighters, as well as California’s history of inmate firefighting and its growing reliance on it.

... remarkable.

The California penal system allows prisoners to train and form crews in the Conservation Camp program to fight the state’s all-too-frequent wildfires. Author Lowe spent more than five years in research and intimate interviews with a group of women who chose this path.

Journalist Lowe (Mental) tackles climate change, mass incarceration, and the 'war on drugs' in this deeply reported if uneven account of California’s inmate firefighting crews.

A detailed and infuriating depiction of America’s inhumane practice of deploying inmate firefighters. In this expansion of her work for the New York Times Magazine, journalist Lowe delves into the stories of the incarcerated women fighting California’s frequent, deadly wildfires. At great personal risk, these women remain prisoners as they battle flames and endure grueling physical challenges.