Common Sense Note
Parents need to know that this is a sad story about a boy struggling to deal with a classmate who was been severely disfigured in a horrible accident, the description of which is not graphic, but is disturbing.
Families who read this book could discuss how people act around those who are disabled or disfigured. Why are we so uncomfortable? How should we act? How would you want people to act if it was you?
Common Sense Review
Reviewed By: Matt Berman
Though the title is FIREGIRL, this poignant little book isn't about Jessica, the disfigured burn victim. It's about Tom, and how he tries to deal with her presence in his class and neighborhood, and how doing so changes everything in his life. It's a story in which, as Tom himself says as narrator, "It wasn't much, really, the whole Jessica Feeney thing. If you look at it, nothing much happened." In terms of physical events, or plot, he's right. What happens is inside him, and that's what author Tony Abbott delicately chronicles.
Tom is nothing special, just a good kid trying to do his best. And that seems to be the real point -- that goodness is a struggle, and even with the best will in the world it's hard to be sure we've done all we can, or should, do. In trying to be a person, Tom doesn't end up miserable or triumphant, or guilty or satisfied -- he's just changed, in ways that will, no doubt, continue to resonate through his life. If effort towards becoming a better person, coupled with introspective self-examination and criticism, are the hallmarks of adulthood, then this gentle, touching little novel is a true coming-of-age story.
From The Book
It wasn't much, really, the whole Jessica Feeney thing. If you look at it, nothing much happened. She was a girl who came into my class after the beginning of the year and was only there for a couple of weeks or so. Stuff did get a little crazy for a while, but it didn't last long, and I think it was mostly in my head anyway. Then she wasn't there anymore.
That was pretty much it.
Plot Summary:
Tom is a sweaty, overweight kid at a Catholic school. His best friend is Jeff, who is angry about his parents' divorce and his dad's disinterest. Tom has a crush on pretty, popular Courtney, and dreams of rescuing her as a superhero. An ordinary kid in an ordinary life.
Then his class gets a new student, Jessica, who has been severely disfigured in a fire, and who is in town for skin grafts at the hospital. None of the children know how to deal with her, and Jeff is angry about her mere existence. Wild rumors about her circulate around the school. But Tom gradually establishes a tentative relationship with her during the short time she is in school, a few weeks that change everything.
Related Books:
Other Books by Tony Abbott:
Secrets of Droon series
Kringle
Touched by Fire:
Forged By Fire by Sharon M. Draper
Falling from Fire by Teena Booth
Locomotion by Jacqueline Woodson
Into the Firestorm: A Novel of San Francisco, 1906 by Deborah Hopkinson
Related Web Sites:
Author's site
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ViolenceA child suffers serious burns in a car accident. |
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Social BehaviorMany of the children don't know how to act around a child with severe disfigurement, and they resent her and spread false rumors about her. The main character struggles with doing what is right. |
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