Firegirl

Not a lot happens in this novel for intermediate readers, as young protagonist Tom Bender himself states: ”On the outside it doesn't look like much happened. A burned girl was in my class for a while. Once I brought her some homework. In class she said my name. Then she was gone. That's pretty much all that had happened.”

But although the narrative of Firegirl may be simple and straightforward, its sensitive exploration of a child's first encounter with difference and true suffering has a quiet power that sometimes moved me to tears. When Jessica Feeney appears in his seventh-grade class, Tom's first reaction is one of incredulous horror at her terribly disfigured appearance. Although he knows that he "shouldn't" feel this way, he show more longs for the normalcy of life before she first appeared, and only gradually does he come to see that there is a real person underneath all that frighteningly "melted" flesh.

Abbott handles Tom's inner conflicts beautifully, giving a realistic portrayal of how young people react to difference, but also showing an appreciation for their ability to see past it. Highly recommended. show less

This is a great book for helping kids think about what it means to be an outsider. The book is narrated by a Catholic school boy, and tells about the short period of time when Jessica Feeney, a young girl who'd been terribly burned, joined the class. The book doesn't flinch away from hard truths and doesn't lecture or condescend to younger readers. The book openly acknowledges that Jessica, with her hard experience and terrible scars, is not the same as her classmates. It explores the fear and gossip that her differences inspire in her classmates. And finally, the book points out that in spite of all her differences, she is still just a girl, and could get lonely behind all those scars. It's a challenging read, at times touching, and show more can help start conversations about how to face our unfounded fears when we meet someone like Jessica. show less

Narrated by Sean Kenin. Tom's character comes off as being rather more emotionally sensitive than your average 7th grade boy, but his conflicting emotions towards burn victim Jessica and his occasional lapses of moral courage ring true. Young teens will recognize Tom's difficulty of figuring out what's black and what's white when everything is suddenly gray.

I would like to believe that young adults are far more capable readers than this book implies.

It felt hastily written, undeveloped, and lazy through a great majority of the book.

That being said, the premise is a brilliant start. Outcast boy has a slight connection with outcast girl, teaching him that the inner circle may not be all it is cracked up to be. But the moments are brief, and the time passes before he is able to make a fully developed friendship. Perhaps he should learn from this lost opportunity.

I was left wanting, and even though I am fine with the lesson learned through a lack of exploration, the writing was both dull and maudlin. The main character was written as though a 12 year old himself had written his immediate show more thoughts. Perhaps that is brilliance, but I would prefer to see those 12 year old's thoughts written with the grace of an author with 60 plus books in his repertoire.

I shall not be seeking out any of the other 59 done by Abbott without a huge push from another reader I trust. show less

The class doesn't quite know what to make of new-girl, Jessica who suffered severe burns a few years ago and is in town undergoing therapy. Tom doesn't quite know what to make of it when he finds himself drawn to the girl even though it's resulting in funny looks and comments from his classmates and friends. When Tom does the little thing of being nice to Jessica and starts getting to know her, he becomes changed in ways that will last a lifetime.

Touching story aching for class discussion.

An inspiring book, "Firegirl" reaches readers on a more personal level. A girl trapped in a fire with burns disfiguring her whole body moves to a town in order to seek medical help. There, she attends a catholic school, where she is shunned by everyone but a young boy; a neighbor. He is the only one who will hold her hand in the prayer circle, and learns her story, choosing her over a ride in a hot red rare sports car. This story is a great one, but the only upset for me is the way it's written. I look for colorful, descriptive language, and although I love the story, it didn't work for me.

Tom is a seventh grader, with seventh-grader preoccupations: school stuff, cars, buddies and girls who are starting to come into the picture. Until a new girl comes into his class that September morning. The new girl's name is Jessica Feeney, and she has been in a horrific accident which has left her badly burned on most of her body. And from then on, Tom's life and that of his classmates changes. They are scared of Jessica and her appearance, and do not know how to behave with her. They have trouble seeing her as a human being under her melted-looking puffed-up skin. They would much rather forget all together about her, which is easy on the many school days that she misses to undergo treatments at the hospital. Jessica has her own ways show more of dealing with the situation, which involves modifying reality, and the school kids start making up all kinds of stories on how the accident happened.

One day, Tom is asked by his teacher to take the class homework to Jessica because she was absent from school, and Tom lives close by. There, in Jessica's bedroom, he begins to see her for who she really is, a girl whose everyday struggle to live teaches her over and over again what matters and what does not matter in life. Little by little, Tom starts to see her less as a burned girl, and more as a girl who can be a friend. And Jessica now has one person at school who is nice to her. Their friendship is just budding when Jessica has to leave after only a few weeks to go receive treatment in a different hospital. But Tom will never be the same again after meeting her.

This is a very good story about difference, in this case physical appearance, and how difference often scares people, whether they are young or old. Yet, this book shows us that if we are able to get beyond our initial fears, and are willing to go past our preconceptions is when our lives can change the most, and it makes us better people because we become richer as human beings. Tom is aware of this when he says at the end of the book that if he sees Jessica again, he would "want to tell her thank you". He is not as shy as he was at the beginning of the story anymore, and he wants to take his life into his own hands, and do something good with it.

I think middle school students can identify with this story, and it could be something they have experienced in their life under one form or another, from either side of the mirror. In any case, it is a nice story to read, with an important message, and it is nicely written, which is why I believe it would be a good addition to a school library.

"Firegirl" won the Golden Kite Award in 2007. show less