Burning Up

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Burning Up (Mass Market Paperback - Reissue) Pub. Date: 1/9/2001 Publisher: Random House Children's Books
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Burning Up Pub. Date: 3/1/1999 Publisher: Bantam Doubleday Dell Books for Young Readers

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Burning Up (Other - Unabridged) Pub. Date: 1/7/2002 Publisher: Recorded Books, LLC

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Overview

This bestselling author explores the destructive nature of hatred, the crime of indifference, and the power of accepting love and responsibility.

Fifteen-year-old Macey Clare has always loved her quiet, beautiful Connecticut hometown. It's the place where her grandparents live, the place where her mother grew up. Macey is looking forward to the summer to come. She's hoping for fun and romance with her neighbor's perfect grandson Austin. But when Macey wants to research the facts behind who set fire to a barn across the street from her grandparent's home, she is shocked no one wants to answer questions about the place that burned down 38 years ago. And when a tragedy strikes a new friend who lives in the inner city, something clicks in Macey. She must discover her own true colors and face whatever it is she is going to find. Can she stand alone and take responsibility for the present while uncovering the past?

When a girl she had met at an innercity church is murdered, fifteen-year-old Macey channels her grief into a school project that leads her to uncover prejudice she had not imagined in her grandparents and their wealthy Connecticut community.

Editorial Reviews

Publishers Weekly

Macey senses a connection between a 1959 barn fire and an arsonist's attack on an inner-city church. PW wrote, "Even though Macey's introduction to prejudice and her unshakable nobility are slightly overdrawn, she remains a sympathetic figure." Ages 12-up. (Jan.) Copyright 2001 Cahners Business Information.

ALAN Review

Down the road from her grandparents' Shell Beach, Connecticut, home, fifteen-year-old Macey Clare discovers the foundation of a barn that burned down nearly forty years ago. Naturally curious, Macey wants to know more about the barn and the circumstances behind the fire. So, she begins asking her grandparents and their neighbors. But, when Macey finds normally friendly people evading her questions, her desire to learn more about the barn only increases. Macey meets up with another neighborhood teenager, Austin, and together, they begin to gather facts about the barn's mysterious fire. They learn that the last inhabitant of the barn was one Wade Sibley, the first and only African-American teacher in this small Connecticut town. Macey suspects racism and her hunt for the truth leads her to a conflict that unwittingly tears her once perfect hometown and family apart. Caroline Cooney, author of many fine young adult novels, writes another fine coming-of-age tale where young love--Austin and Macey eventually become an item--and the desire for truth and justice become intertwined in a moving and convincing read. Genre: Family/Friendship/Racial Issues. 1999, Delacorte Press, Ages 12 up, $15.95. Reviewer: Kimberly Quackenbush

More Reviews (5) Fewer Reviews

KLIATT

To quote KLIATT's Jan. 1999 review of the hardcover edition: Macey, age 15, lives happily in a wealthy town in Connecticut. When her teacher assigns a local history project, she decides to investigate a fire in her grandparents' neighborhood that took place 38 years ago and left a man homeless. Oddly, no one wants to discuss it, and when Macey finds out that the man was the first African American teacher in town, she's more determined than ever to find out what really happened. Her resolve is further strengthened when she's almost killed in a fire set by an arsonist at an inner-city school where Macey had volunteered to paint. When the African American girl she met there is later killed in street violence, Macey decides to take a good, hard look at the racism she hadn't realized existed in her community—and in her own family. Another plot line deals with her new boyfriend, Austin, who's living with his grandparents while his parents sort out their relationship. This look at racism and family relationships will most likely appeal to readers like Macey, who is just learning about becoming part of the solution instead of standing by and ignoring social problems. Cooney isn't subtle about spelling out her messages: finding your own "true colors" and putting out "the fire of hate." These are important messages, though, and perhaps this novel will open some readers' eyes to racism in their communities. KLIATT Codes: JS—Recommended for junior and senior high school students. 1999, Random House/Dell Laurel-Leaf, 230p, 18cm, $5.50. Ages 13 to 18. Reviewer: Paula Rohrlick; May 2001 (Vol. 35 No. 3)

VOYA

This story, about teens experiencing young love and trying to solve a mystery from the past, also tackles our country's racial divide. Fifteen-year-old Macey lives in an idyllic Connecticut town, where her mother grew up and her grandparents still live. At an inner-city church Macey meets Venita, a tough-talking but likeable girl. When an arsonist sets fire to Venita's church, Macey is scared and intrigued enough to begin investigating a racially motivated fire in her town from 1959. Rebuffed by the town residents, Macey enlists the help of Austin, a new boy in town living with his grandparents, and the two form a close bond as they explore the town's history. When Austin's grandfather asks him to stop Macey investigating the 1959 fire, his relationship with his grandparents is jeopardized. Macey and Austin discover that the 1959 fire was set to burn the home of the town's first African American teacher, and though nobody admits to setting it, their grandparents watched with the rest of the town and did nothing. These revelations trouble the teens as they reexamine the kind of people their grandparents were at the time. Austin's grandparents are his safe haven away from his parents' rocky marriage, while Macey's are like second parents. When Austin has to leave, Macey is left to figure out how her perception of the town has changed her. Venita is killed in gang crossfire while defending the children in her church, making Macey wonder if 1959 and 1997 are really that different after all. Although the background on race relations sometimes threatens to overwhelm Macey and Austin's story, the plot moves along and stays right on track in this complex and thought-provoking novel. The deep and well-written characters provide a look at the relationship teens have with their grandparents uncommon in most YA novels. This title is more suited for older YAs because it is a more serious book than Cooney's Face on the Milk Carton (Bantam, 1990/VOYA February 1990) and most of her other works. VOYA Codes: 4Q 4P J S (Better than most, marred only by occasional lapses, Broad general YA appeal, Junior High-defined as grades 7 to 9 and Senior High-defined as grades 10 to 12).

School Library Journal

(Gr 7-10) -- Researching a local-history project for school, 15-year-old Macey happens upon a 1959 arson case that targeted the first African-American teacher in her privileged Connecticut town. Shocked to learn that her community could have been so racially biased as to tolerate this attempted murder, she is further outraged when she realizes the extent to which her community remains segregated. Using library and Internet resources as well as interviews, Macey and her boyfriend, Austin, gradually uncover enough facts to confront the prejudice they perceive in others and begin to assess their own level of responsibility. This story line is strong. Clever phrasing and likable central characters enliven the story. The emotions are palpable, and the topic is important. Unfortunately, other details detract. Coincidentally, Macey, Austin, and friends are nearly killed by an arsonist while performing a community-service project. Coincidentally, the black girl Macey worked with is soon killed in an altercation with a gang. Macey and Austin live as neighbors with their respective grandparents and their romance is sweetly portrayed. However, it seems unrealistic that Austin would rather go back to Chicago to hope for his parents' reconciliation than finish the last three weeks of school with Macey. Extensive foreshadowing seems melodramatic and overwrought. It rankles that the word "fire" or related terms are present on more than one-third of the pages. Macey's investigation into racism is heartfelt and her personal commitment to action is laudable, but the book is not entirely convincing. -- Joel Shoemaker, Southeast Jr. High School, Iowa City, IA

Cathy Young

If you've read The Face on the Milk Carton, Whatever Happened to Janie?, or any of this bestselling author's other novels, you know that Caroline B. Cooney is a master at unraveling suspenseful yarns. As they unwind, these stories tug on our curiosities and pull us deeper and deeper into her characters' lives and circumstances. Cooney's newest, Burning Up, will grab your attention with equal force.

When 15-year-old Macey Clare decides to research a barn fire that happened decades ago in her small Connecticut town for a school project, she's met with a confusing, stony silence everywhere she turns. Even her parents and grandparents refuse to answer her questions about what happened that night 38 years ago. Why? Everyone, including her teacher and the librarian at school, encourages her to study another subject. Macey thinks this is very strange, but she grudgingly cooperates and begins researching the boring topic of the impact of railroads on her town's history.

Then, one Saturday, when she and her pals are helping to paint the classrooms of an inner-city church, Macey barely escapes a raging fire. As the fire roars around them and the teens run for safety, Macey's long hair catches fire. It is Austin who smothers it with his own shirt. If it weren't for her friend's fast reflexes, Macey might have burned to death. Now, with smoke lingering in her nose and lungs -- even days after the fire -- and her head covered only in short wisps of her remaining hair, Macey's curiosity about the barn fire 38 years ago returns.

Could there be a connection between the barn fire and the church fire in which Macey and her friends almost lost their lives?

Now Cooney's magic begins to blaze. Readers will be riveted in their seats, unable to put this novel down until its last page is devoured.

Macey enlists Austin's help, and together the two teens bravely piece together some answers about what happened the night the barn burned down. They discover that a man once lived in the barn's apartment, and that the man was also the very first black man hired to teach in the town's middle school. Macey's mother remembers the man well. In fact, he was her very favorite science teacher. Forty years later, Macey's mother can still remember specific lectures Mr. Sibley gave. If that's true, Macey wonders, why can't her mother remember the fire? And why do her grandparents, such jovial people normally, get so tight-lipped and evasive when she asks questions about that night? Does Macey have the courage to crack the town's stony silence and find out the truth -- even if it's an ugly truth about her own family?

Burning Up is a fast-paced, literary firestorm that will sweep into the hearts of teen readers and help them wrestle with difficult issues of race, prejudice, family secrets, and the profound destructiveness of hate, especially the quiet and polite kind of hate that gets institutionalized in some exclusive towns across America. This also is a story of courage -- courage that not only allows people to survive raging fires but also inspires them to stand up for what's right. Cooney's characters are complicated and drawn with depth and even some unexpected humor. Warming this story up even more is the crush that begins to smolder between Macey and Austin and the friendship that unfolds from the crush's energy. Cooney has done it again. Burning Up sizzles.

--Barnesandnoble.com

Kirkus Reviews

From Cooney (The Voice on the Radio, 1996, etc.), a hard look at the tacit, unacknowledged racism that lurks beneath the surface of an affluent, supposedly enlightened community. Macey loves her Connecticut town. Her grandparents, Papa and Nana, provide a home for her during the frequent absences of her upwardly mobile parents; school and friends are great; and handsome Austin is taking a flattering interest in her. The only thing that worries her is the reaction she gets from everyone she asks about a mysterious fire in 1959 that destroyed a local barn, and a renovated apartment within it, where a black teacher lived. When Macey is assigned community service painting an inner-city church, she is paired with a parishioner, Venita, and they bond, immediately. That day, however, an arsonist sets fire to the church, and they and others are almost killed. Macey is shocked at the viciousness of the act, and more curious about the long-ago fire near her home. When Venita is killed trying to protect a little girl from a gang, Macey grieves and begins to question seriously the chasm of hate between blacks and whites. The truth about the 1959 fire, which was deliberately set and witnessed by those closest to her, nearly destroys her. This thought-provoking story has a powerful message, effortlessly woven into the ordinary trappings of a teenager's life. Cooney allows for no cozy ending; as Macey faces what racism has done to her community, readers will question what it has done to theirs. (Fiction. 12-14) .

Product Details

ISBN-13: 9780440226871
Publisher: Random House Children's Books
Publication date: 1/9/2001
Format: Mass Market Paperback
Edition description: Reissue
Pages: 240
Sales rank: 569,189
Age range: 12 years
Lexile: 0720L (what's this?)
Product dimensions: 4.84 (w) x 6.82 (h) x 0.67 (d)

Meet the Author

Caroline B. Cooney is the author of the Janie novels, as well as many other books for young adults.

Read an Excerpt

Macey dashed out of the high school, filled with the energy of Friday afternoon. She always had to run toward the weekend. The first thing she did on Friday was put distance between herself and the school. Macey was good at school, had friends, liked her teachers—and yet the end of every school week was such a relief.

Around her, sports teams were piling into vans and buses: tennis, baseball, golf and swim teams. Kids with cars shot out of the student parking lot, windows down, so everybody could shout to everybody else.

"Hey, Mace!" came two voices. "Want a ride?" Macey's best friends, Lindsay and Grace, leaned out the window of a Volvo. Grace's mother had come to pick them up.

"I'm walking, thanks!" yelled Macey.

"Oh, right, it's Friday," said Lindsay, rolling her eyes. "She's got her shortcuts to take."

"Oh, brother," said Grace, laughing out the car window. "Being a juvenile again?"

Grace's mother blew a kiss to Macey, and they drove on. Macey waved no to the driver of her own school bus. It was a three-mile hike to her grandparents', but Macey took shortcuts. Her route was closer to a mile and a half, and if she ran, she could make it in twenty minutes. What the run really did was cut her off from school, making the weekend clean and separate and safe. Macey cut through the golf course, cut through the woods and behind the old supermarket, through backyards and finally through the swamp.

The swamp wasn't a hundred feet across, and it wasn't a block long, but it had the strength of a canyon. Nobody but Macey ever crossed it.

A few years ago, she'd dragged boards into the swamp to give herself a path over the wettest parts. She hopped on the edge of the first board to be sure it wouldn't split when she put her weight on it.

From a hundred yards away drifted the rich scent of ocean: mudflats and fish and salt water. It was a warm-weather smell. Last week had been March, when school was a thing that would last forever—but today it was the first week in April, and Macey could shade her eyes and catch a glimpse of summer.

Beyond the swamp was the old stone foundation of a barn. Come summer, wild roses and tiger lilies would make it a sunken garden. Macey was not basically a sitting-down person, but she loved to sit here. It was peaceful. Even in early April, the sun warmed the stones.

Back when there were horses, all these old shorefront houses had had stables. This one, turned into a garage and apartment, had burned when Macey's mother was a girl. Supposedly a man had been in it at the time. When Macey was very little, she'd been afraid of the foundation, because what if the body was still there, waiting for her to find the bones?

But now, at fifteen and a half, she found the idea of discovering bones appealing, like archaeology or journalism.

Ten seconds was plenty of time to sit and consider the olden days. Macey jumped up and cut across the backyards of Shell Beach to her grandparents' house.

Her parents were staying in New York City for dinner. This was good. Mom and Dad were so exhausted at the end of a week that they were useless; on Fridays they just plopped down and faded away, while the television droned and the pizza got cold.

Macey came in Nana and Papa's back door. Her grandparents' back porch was a large glassed-in room, sagging with piles of stuff. There were broken china cups filled with beach glass. There were collections of knotty driftwood and yellow seashells. There were old bathing suits, hung up to dry when Macey was six, or twelve, and never worn again, because Mom bought new ones that weekend. There were magazines that somebody meant to clip something from and lawn chairs somebody meant to repair. There were old golf clubs and new fishing rods and an outboard motor.

Hot cinnamon smells drifted out from the kitchen. Nana and Papa were baking. Food was the centerpiece of their lives. They watched all the TV cooking shows and quoted the great chefs as if they were family friends. They greeted Macey with hugs and kisses and went straight to the crucial topic: what to have for dinner.

"Three-cheese pasta?" suggested Papa. Papa had very high blood pressure and cholesterol, but he didn't care; he ate whatever he felt like. He usually felt like eating a lot.

"No, dear, I found luscious asparagus in the market this morning," said Nana. "We'll have asparagus omelets." Nana ate more than Papa, and together they made a very roly-poly couple. They were even fatter in their red-and-white-striped French chef aprons.

"Asparagus. Yuck," said Macey. "It's tall, thin slime."

Two sets of blue eyes turned on her. Two identical frowns beneath snowy white hair. "You walk the dogs," ordered Nana. "And we'll decide the menu," said Papa.

Zipper was an old collie, tired and lame, and the leash was not needed, because he would never stray from her side. Zipper liked to walk down to the sandy edge and sniff the salt water, maybe think about fish for a minute or two, and then totter home.

Moose was a chocolate Lab so large they had respelled his name from (chocolate) Mousse. Macey and Moose would fly down Shell Road, Macey more on the leash than Moose. If Macey didn't take care of Moose's exercise, nobody would, because her grandparents had pretty much surrendered on the exercise front.

Macey took each dog separately, five minutes for Zipper and half an hour for Moose. Back in the kitchen, her grandparents were between cooking shows, and so they turned to their second favorite subject: what Macey was up to.

"We have to do a local history paper," said Macey. "When Mrs. Johnson assigned it this morning, it felt like a ten-ton truck driving over my shoulders. But I ran all the way here, and now I think it might be okay."

"Tomorrow morning we'll go to the library and dig for a topic," said Papa, waving a sifter. Flour dusted his face.

"Papa, I'm not that excited about it. Anyway," she said gloomily, "tomorrow I have Saturday Group."

There was an expedition arranged, and they were to meet at 8:30 a.m. Macey did not feel like showing up. Saturday Group was hard. Volunteer work was supposed to make you feel wonderful, but Macey just came home feeling guilty. She was not in a Saturday Group mood. She was in a sleep late, watch cartoons, eat stacks of waffles and do nothing mood.

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Anonymous

Posted February 28, 2007

TOTALLY AWESOME!!!!!!!!

Burning Up is a very interesting book. There are two main characters, Austin and Macey who are neighbors and really good friends. This is the main summary Macey is assigned a local history project and thinks about doing the old barn fire in 1959. She is in a Saturday Group with her neighbor, Austin. They were going to paint Sunday School rooms, but it all went wrong. One minute they¿re cheerful and happy, the next they¿re panicking and running from a fire! Austin catches a glimpse at Macey and her hair is on fire! He puts it out with his t-shirt. After the fire everybody is stunned and in shock, but Austin isn¿t. He figures out that he¿s crazy about Macey. What he doesn¿t know is that she¿s crazy about him, too. Macey does more research on her project and finds a lot of information that doesn¿t help her. Then she finds the man who was living in the barn. He tells her to be her true colors. She figures out what that actually means and in the end she says the sentence that explains it all. ¿There are other fires to put out.¿ I think the message that the author, Caroline B. Cooney, was trying to make is that not everybody is perfect and always be caring and show your true colors, even though your family¿s true colors may not be the same. I think that this book is truly wonderful and amazing because Caroline B. Cooney sends out the right message by saying always care and show your true colors, plus not everybody is perfect. I would absolutely recommend this book to people who like adventures, laughs, and just a little bit of sadness. This book is perfect for preteens, teenagers, and even adults!!!!!

1 out of 1 people found this review helpful.
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harry76HF

Posted March 1, 2009

Burning up ( book review)

Author Charoline B. Cooney
When Macey goes to visit her grandparents she always takes the "shortcut" to get there. Everytime she runs by the foundation of burnt down barn. WHen her history teacher assigns a History report she decides to do a report on the barn. What comes next is the digging up of the cities worst secrets.
When she decides to take on the project she also takes on a new friend Austin. First when they attend a community service project in the slums they become friends through a very interesting situation to say the least. What follows is alot of work and frustration between Macey Austin and the rest of the community. Bringing up past actions against the first African American teacher in the school in the late fifties. When her Grandparents are no help she does what ever it takes to avenge Mr. Silbeys accident and her friends death.
I recommend this to anybody looking for a mystery that keeps you guessing right up til the end. It is an easy read that you can follow and get into.
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Anonymous

Posted December 4, 2007

A reviewer

This book was good, but it was not my favorite. It was good insight into the world that exists around us, but we ignore it.
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Anonymous

Posted November 17, 2007

review of a lifetime

My thought when I first got this book was that it sounded ok. When I started reading I could not stop. It was amazing. A real page turner. I'm definatly going to read more of her books.
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Anonymous

Posted March 19, 2007

The 1959 Barn Fire

Fifteen-year-old Macey Clare was on her way to her grandparents she loved going to her grandparents house because of a boy that¿s now living across the street with his grandparents. His name is Austin and she has a really big crush on him but they don¿t have any classes together except for Saturday group but Macey doesn¿t like going to Saturday group but because she finds out Austin is going to the next one she goes to the church to on Saturday but everyone wants her to be careful because the church is in a town where a lot of bad things happen. When Saturday comes and they arrive at the church Macey doesn¿t get paired up with Austin, instead she gets paired up with a girl named Vinita to repaint some rooms. Vinita and Macey become really good friends after this although while their painting they smell something really bad so they go to look for it to see what it is and when they opened the door to go through it fire came out at them and Macey almost lost all of her hair so when Austin heard and everyone else heard the screams they all went to see what was going on, when they got to them Austin saved Macey with his shirt because Vinita had already gotten out and then they all ran through an exit. After the fire at the church Macey had only two inches of hair left so she got interested in the barn fire in 1959. Losing her hair in the fire was not the only thing interested her about the fire it was also that she needed that for her school project but it wasn¿t a good idea to choose that for her project because nobody liked to talk about it so that¿s what made her think that it was her grandparents and Austin¿s grandparents that set the fire but it wasn¿t.I liked everything about this book but some parts were confusing.
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Anonymous

Posted January 18, 2007

burning up

Macey wanted to do a report on an old barn she lived nexted to.Nobody wanted to tell her what happened to it.It burned down many years ago.She started to do lots of research on the burnded down barn.
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Anonymous

Posted December 21, 2006

Burning Up Is A Good Book

Macy, 15, Was in a church fire, when doing saturday school. After the fire, she starts to reserch a fire that happened in 1959. The book gets better half way through. Even if you hate to read, I think you will enjoy Burning Up By Caroline B. Cooney. Has a great ending that makes you think about the last sentence in the book. When you buy it, You won't regret it. GREAT BOOK!!!!!!!!!!
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Anonymous

Posted August 16, 2006

LOVE THIS BOOK!

Macey ,a fifteen year old girl, has to do a project on history in her town. She is awestruck by a burned down building that she crosses everyday after school. She questions everyone about the night it was burned down, but can't get the answers! To her amazment, she find out that it belonged to the first black male teacher in her town. With the help of her friend Austin, she finds answers that she wasn't looking for. This book is great for anyone. It has prejudice and discrimination. I think the book would be great for black history month. This book shows you that everything isnt what it seems and no town is perfect! It really opens your eyes.
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Anonymous

Posted July 19, 2006

One of the BEST books I've ever read

Burning Up is one of the best books I've read. It was very interesting and made you think. It always left off with a great cliffhanger. I've never been much of a mystery reader, but this book got me hooked.
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Anonymous

Posted May 31, 2005

this book stunk

I expected this book to be good. I thought there was going to be a good romance between Macey and Austin, but it turned out to be a dud. Dont' get me wrong, I love Carolyn B. Cooney, but this just wasn't her best book. I still have no idea why this book was rated 12 and up.It didn't have anyhting bad in it.
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Anonymous

Posted March 11, 2005

good book

This book is about Macey Clare and her little town in Connecticut. She uncovers a secret about a fire that went around an old school teacher. She becomes kind of obsessed with the fire. Every one in town says let the sleeping dog lie. She also has a little fire of her own in the city. She meets Venita, a black girl, and starts a friendship. And her not-quite boyfriend Austin helps her through her problems while dealing with his own. It's a very good book I recommend it.
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Anonymous

Posted November 9, 2004

Burning Up Review

Burning Up is an excellent novel filled with many serious, and scary twists. 15 yr. old Macey and her neighbor, Austin, team up together to find info about a town mystery of a burnt down barn. With many well-written descriptions and well described feelings. It¿s filled with teamwork, love, and drama. This book is one of the most well written books I have read. In one part of the novel Cooney shows great descriptions of the harsh world of urban life. Burning up is a very good book for ages 12-16 with great descriptions teenagers can relate to.
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Anonymous

Posted April 5, 2004

Awesome Book for Teens

What would you do if you friend was murdered? Fifteen year old, Macey had to deal with this, after her parents had moved out and she had been living with her grandparents. They became great friends when Macey¿s church group went to an innercity church to help restore it. While they were there a fired exploded in the church. Macey, Austin, Venita, and their friends were all painting and were trapped. Macey was the only one injured, she had minor burns and a small amount of hair. Venita and Macey then became great friends, although they had a racial difference. When the church returned and Macey¿s grandparents wouldn¿t let her go back. She then finds out that Venita was shot. She was torn and took out all of her anger on a school project. She started an investigation on the fire of 1959, which occurred in a barn down the street. The property, on the other hand, belonged to an African American. Her grandfather wouldn¿t even give her any information. Does she figure this mystery out? This book keeps the pages turning, by the good tone, easy pace, and great use of dialogue. This realistic fiction pulls you straight into the book, like you are really there. I think that this is one of the best books I have read. Caroline Cooney is a great author, I have read a lot of her books. She pulls you right into the story. I would prefer this book if you want a great fiction book with lots of action.
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Anonymous

Posted April 5, 2004

This is a great book for anyone who enjoys some fun with words.

Growing up with her grandparents, Macey lives a non-stop lie. How would you handle that? Well, Macey and her friend, Austin go under cover asking everyone she can about the fire on December 4, 1959. When a black teacher comes to Connecticut, the only housing avaliable is an apartment over a garage. Against the odds, he faces racism, torture, and heartache but continues bravely to teach. Macey and Austin are continuously brought to the same question: Who started the fire? As they reach their question, they too are faced with problems of their own, emotional problems. Caroline B. Cooney is an awesome writer. The way she gives her character a life and so many feelings of their own will make you think you¿re there. She makes the story come alive and you¿ll be there in the action all the way! This book is spectacular and deceiving. I recommend this to anyone who loves a great realistic fiction story along with a little secretive romance. -Logan Spencer
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Anonymous

Posted May 8, 2004

GREAT BOOK!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! :)

This is the best book I have read! It's interesting, and a page turner.
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Anonymous

Posted March 11, 2004

Burning Up

Burning Up Delacorte Press 1999 230 pgs $15.95 Caroline B. Cooney 0-385-32318-2 Fire. The one word which seemed to rule Macey Clare's life. The fire of 1959, 1997, and her own fire, inside, with Austin. Follow the adventure of Macey as she bounces back and forth into the past, where many people think she doesn't belong. Macey Clare, a 15 year old high school student, spends a lot of time with her grandparents. Macey is assigned a local history project and she decides to investigate the burning of a barn in 1959. As Macey begins her search for answers she notices her grandparent's dodging her questions, as if they didn't want her to know the truth. A fire of her own in a broken down church building only leaves her wanting more answers. Macey takes a path for the truth, her true colors, and finds a winding road full of twists and hurdles. Follow Macey's adventures searching through truth, racism, new friendships, and love, which sometimes seem to intersect. Burning up is a very good book and I would recommend it to anyone who enjoys getting caught up in the lives of characters. This book includes many situations you can relate, like the search for truth and the struggle of love and racism. It keeps you reading and wanting more in the finial search and answer of the truth. Macey finally finds her true colors and attempts to put out the fire that has overcome her life.
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Anonymous

Posted January 7, 2004

not great

it was horrible
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Anonymous

Posted February 19, 2004

What was this author thinking?

The author of the book Burning Up is Caroline B. Cooney. I thought that this book was not very enjoyable. It was not very exciting, and it felt like it was dragging on. The characters were not very realistic because I couldn¿t even imagine them being caught in a fire. I was left wondering what they looked like, or even if they were even in the book. There was no humor in this book: it was boring. The plot was predictable, like after the fire when she found out about the arson. You knew right away that she would go and check it out. The theme of the story is the same old story, something bad happen, and the main character goes and checks it out. I had no emotional reaction to this book. I had to force myself to continue to read it. I really didn¿t like this book. I would not recommend this to anyone unless you want to read a book that won¿t keep your attention. This book is quite boring.
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Anonymous

Posted February 19, 2004

Very Mouth Watering

Burning Up Jeff Weck, 1999, 230 pg., $5.50 Carolyn B. Cooney ISBN 0-440-226-2 ¿¿¿¿¿ This is a book with a lot of an emotion and heart behind it. This book takes place in a small quiet town in Connecticut that has a secret behind it one that there not about to be let fond out. This is not a book for the weary. With much knowledge behind the book you can tell they know what they¿re talking about. It¿s also a love story with the blossoming love between Austin and Macey. The book seems to emphasis nicknames too much every page there¿s Grac, Mac, or Aus. Still it doesn¿t make the book hearendus this is still a book with romantic suspense and seriousness to it by incorporating inner city violence into the mix. This is a constant roller coaster with loops, twists, and turns that will turn you emotionally upside down. The authors style is unmatched she keeps you turning the pages. You feel as your right there every step of the way thought every good, evil, horrible, and choragus step the character makes. As an example from the book As Austin and his friends were stuck in the burning church he thinks, ¿I don¿t deserve this I¿m rich and¿ white I don¿t deserve this.¿ This is one of those books you can¿t put down and shouldn¿t. This is really a tremendous book. That¿s why I gave it four stars. Robert Drury, 8th grade Willow Creek Middle School, Portage, Indiana
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Anonymous

Posted November 16, 2003

Wow!!

I'm a sophomore in High school now, but last year I needed to find a book to do my last book report of the year, and I was having trouble. So i went down to the local barnes and nobles and went in search of a book. I saw this book, and read the description on the back. I figured, hey it's a book, it'll do. Anyway, I started reading it, and I finished it in like literally 4 days. I thought it was an awesome book. It was very well written and showed much emotion and dedication. I loved the book. Anyway, after I read the book, i went back to the bookstore and looked in search of more books by Caroline B Cooney, and since then have read about 3 or4 more books of hers. Oh yeah, by the way, I ended up getting a 96 on my report.
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TOTALLY AWESOME!!!!!!!!

Burning up ( book review)

A reviewer

review of a lifetime

The 1959 Barn Fire

burning up

Burning Up Is A Good Book

LOVE THIS BOOK!

One of the BEST books I've ever read

this book stunk

good book

Burning Up Review

Awesome Book for Teens

This is a great book for anyone who enjoys some fun with words.

GREAT BOOK!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! :)

Burning Up

not great

What was this author thinking?

Very Mouth Watering

Wow!!