Burning Up

By Caroline B. Cooney

Book Overview

When a girl from an inner city church is murdered, 15-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... This description may be from another edition of this product.

• Format: Mass Market Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0440226872
• Release Date: January 2001
• Publisher: Laurel Leaf
• Length: 230 Pages
• Weight: 0.30 lbs.
• Dimensions: 6.8" x 0.7" x 4.8"

Customer Reviews

Burning Up

Macey Clare lived in a little town in Conneticut where she concidered it to be a nice little town with wonderful people. When the boy next door moves in, Austin, they beocme friends right off the bat. Then she discovers, after her won tragic experience, about a barn near her grandparents house was burned to the ground because of the man who lived there! After her friend was a victim of inner city violence she became more infatuated with the burning that took place in 1959. Will she come to find that the town has something to hide? Read this inspiring novel to fine out if she finds what she is looking for... I recomend everyone who is everyone who cares about civil rights and everyone who doesnt to read this book adn asked the same questions I did. Is my town a place where whites and blacks cant come together and get along? Is this place like in the story? Before I read this book I knew it was wrong but I never truly cared. Now I care about injustice and about how things were and still are! Read this book to find answeres to questions you nay had never asked yourself before!

Fast paced and thoughtful

Macy will not be detered from finding out about a fire set in 1959 in her small Conn. town. As she unravels the mystery, she learns more than she expected to learn about her family, discrimination, and her responsibilities as a human being.Macy grows tremendously throughout the novel, leaving behind her self centeredness and finally gaining empathy and understanding.This book is well worth your time!

5 Stars Burning Up

After Macey's dangerous encounter with fire, she becomes curious and interested in a fire that burned down a house on her street in 1959. She and her friend Austin research this fire for a school report, and find out it was arson. They also find out that nobody wants to talk about it. Not even her parents will give her a clue as to what happened. Through her own research, she finds out that the person living there was an African American teacher. This was offensive to the people living in the neighborhood at the time, because it was set at a time when blacks and whites did not get along. Macey figures out that the arsonist must be someone that was living on that street at that time, which includes both her grandparents and Austin's grandparents. Macey and Austin continue to search through old files to find out information, but the more time they spend together, the more their friendship turns into a romance. To find out the end of this suspenseful story, read Burning Up. I would recomend this book to only those who enjoy suspense. There are many climaxes that seem to pop out of nowhere. They made me reread that page just to make sure I did not miss anything. For example, when the Good Shepard Church was set on fire, that was the last thing I suspected. Macey was peacefully talking with Venita and then flames shot up. Also, it was very sad at times. The ending especially made the reader feel the pain of the characters, like when Austin left Macey, and you knew that they loved each other. The beginning and middle were by far the most interesting parts, however the end was quite disapointing. In a way, it almost left the reader hanging to figure out what happens next. I hope the author writes a sequel, so that the loose ends, like Macey and Austin's relationship, can be tied.

Burning Up with curiosity

I loved this book! Like most books I couldn't put it down until finished. I think people who don't mind being curious and shaken at the end, who can put up with the 'boring parts' of this book should go for it. It's about a girl who is trying to find facts about an old barn that burned down once long ago with her new love, Austin. I give this book a thumbs up!

Very Touching.

I had only read one of Caroline Cooney's books(the face on the milk carton)but I loved this one. I thought it was a GREAT mystery and a terrific plot, though the ending was a bit shaking. If you read this book and enjoyed it you would also like Sharon Creeches writing.