Kerosene

Rating:
Summary: A reader
Review: Despite its shortcomings, I really enjoyed this book and found it to be a refreshing change from the same old ditsy teenage books that have been floating around lately. This book is also british, and of course there's lots of weird/funny things the brit's do that are hilarious.

As you can assume from the title and cover, the book is indeed about a pyromaniac, but not the type you'd expect. Cal it's some delinquent gang-banger getting a kick out of setting things on fire, he's a seriously depressed teen trying to cope with life just like any other teens who are cutters/anorexics/suicidal/ or what not. One thing this book does an excellent job of is explaining Cal's shyness; showing other teens that most shy kids aren't stuck-up, but are really just scared, lonely teens caught in a cycle of painful shyness. Woodson does a great job of showing how Cal's depression and shyness found its release in pyromania.

This book is far from a classic, however. There are a few pin-prick holes in the plot, odd p.o.v. transitions, and can be a bit predictable at times. Plus, the ending was, well, not to give anything away, rather ill-fitting and not very believable. I guess you can blame it on the first attempts of a twenty-year-old writer. Honestly, though, this book is very good for a young, inexperienced author.

OVER ALL:
A fun, yet serious, british-cultured tale that does a superb job of analyzing the thoughts and motives of a young depressed teen. The plot isn't entirely perfect, but it's still an enjoyable and recommended read.

Rating:
Summary: im in love w/ this book
Review: I love this book it is write different then most books and I love it some ppl might thing o great a guy that likes to burn things but its so much more then that ..its about high school love pain and so much more... and the writer is just so good he makes u feel like ... u r there feeling the same way as Cal is or as Abby is... and how u just want to make everything better in his life. 2 things from the book that really made me thing was the fact that being shy can be a sickness and we as ppl don't always c that. And 2 something that Abby says that ur going to get hurt no matter what its part of life.. something along those lines. Just read and yes the beginning is a lil confusing but once u r past that.. It's really a beautiful book.

Rating:
Summary: How Does This Stuff Get Published, Anyway?
Review: Sorry to say that this book is possibly the worst I've ever read. About your typical depressed teen dealing with your typical depressive issues. How does this one handle them? By setting things on fire! Well, it is a (relatively) new concept, but who wants to read a book about an arsenist?

Perhaps PUSH is simply not the series for me. While Cut (by Patricia McCormick) wasn't half bad, it wasn't half good either. Perhaps they aim to the overly troubled and depressed masses- but what help could this book offer to an arsenist? (About as much as Cut offers to cutters.)

Rating:
Summary: Wont go into the depths of history but is still brilliant..
Review: Sure this book will not go into the depths of history, it might not even last twenty years but despite all of that it is an amazing read. It takes you into the mind of those anti-social people in our society (which I could relate to being anti-social myself). They are often labled freaks but that is unfair. It is a true picture of what we as humans often due to those anti-social people with low self esteem. We pick on them and make them do crazy things like Cal in Kerosene. Cal starts setting fires because he can find no other way out. Everyone has abused him and he feels alone and unworthy of living until Abby comes along. Abby is one of the first people to truely take an intrest into Cal and to tell him he is worth something. Of course Cal thinks that she is using him for various reasons, this also often happens in real life to those anti-social people. The book is pretty realistic. Sure setting fires everywhere might be a little extreme but besides that this is pretty much what anti-social people are like. If you want an amazing real-life read then read this book. Once you get past the drugs, alcohol and fire you will see a true portarit of what "anti-social" people are like and the true brutality of life.

Rating:
Summary: Heather W.'s Review of Kerosene
Review: This book is an excellent choice of literature for anyone over the age of 13. The book delt with drugs, alochol,and violence, which wouldnt be appropriate for a yonger reader. Besides that, I though that the book was very intriguing and full of action. One thing after another happened in it, and it was enough to make me want to keep reading,altough the ending kind of leaves you hanging.

Rating:
Summary: Page-turner about Pyromania
Review: Wow! I picked up this book in a store out of curiosity when I saw the title. And I certainly am glad that I did. Young author Chris Wooding writes a riveting tale for Scholastic's new label of teenage fiction known as "PUSH".

Set in modern-day London, Cal is a lonely teenager who feels as though he has hit rock-bottom. He is the mistake which his parents will not let deter them from their careers; his shyness leaves him invisible to his classmates (on good days); and he knows it is only a matter of time before his only friend, Joel, leaves him to hang around with his cool, clubbing buddies. All he has, or thinks, he has is the beauty--the beauty which comes from setting fires and watching the bright blaze emitted from the flames.

Ben Deerborn is an investigator of arson, who is called to the scenes of two fires which have been suspiciously set in deserted locations. However, he finds himself feeling conflicted between the need to perform his job and the identification he finds in this troubled youth to his own son, Carl, who died along with Ben's wife in a car accident when Ben was behind the wheel.

What sends Cal over-the-edge is a prank started by two spiteful girls seeking revenge for minor, unintended upsets, using the guise of true love for someone who cannot help but believe it is real. Cal is also spooked when Joel tells him that he has been dealing in marijuana and has come into debt with some shady and malevolent characters. He needs to get them their money or risk dire consequences. Under these circumstances, Cal plots away to keep his life from going up in flames around him: he will beat life to the chase. Cal knows there is something wrong with him, that he is a teen in trouble, yet how can he tear himself away from the confounding yet beautiful peace he finds in the blazes of the fire?

With titles such as "trigger" "fuel" and "conflagration" in respective order, author Wooding knows how to build up suspense. He is a master of description, particularly in the scenes about fire. The novel is well-plotted in that veiled hints about what Cal is planning to do are dropped before he actually does it. All of the characters are incredibly well-developed and easy to empathize with, and the various viewpoints of the story in third-person narratives add a complementary dimension to the story. Although I found the ending to be a bit unrealistic, and did not quite understand how Joel was so aware of his friend's obsession with fire, I still found this to be a suspenseful, fast-paced read, elucidating the dangers of ignoring a teenager's desperate cry for help. I look forward to exploring much more of Chris Wooding's work as well as other "PUSH" authors.

Rating:
Summary: A very good book
Review: You know why you are looking at this book. I am guessing it is because you have seen other stuff by Wooding (i.e. Broken sky) and let me tell you that this is just about his best work. A suprisingly dark story, with no real way to describe the story accurately. BUY IT.