Burning Up

Rating:
Summary: A Study of the story Burning Up
Review: Caroline B. Cooney, the author of Burning Up lives in Westbrook, Connecticut. She also is an award-winning author of many books for young adults. She began her career with short stories sold to magazines like Seventeen. Cooney is the author of many young adult novels, including The Face in the Milk Carton, and its companions, Whatever Happened to Janie? and The Voice on the Radio. The story takes place in Connecticut during the summer time. Macy went to stay with her grandparents for a while. She also wanted to look up the story about a building that had burned down in that area. There was a church that everybody was working in. So as they were working, they had radios in ever room. Venita saw a big gray cloud of smoke, she thought that someone was smoking in the church. She decided to go and tell them to stop smoking inside the church, but she realized that the church had caught on fire. The style that Cooney writes in is very unique. The style she writes in her book is like it is in action but at the same time it is in suspense. She also writes very creatively, and has the reader wondering what is going to happen next in the book. Cooney uses many different figurative devices in her book. She has foreshadowing, personification, simile, hyperbole, and allusion. Even though I do not like to read, this was a good book. It teaches many lessons about life. I also liked it because the story points out how people in a church community can help one another. Burning Up is a sad, touching novel that would interest many readers.

Rating:
Summary: Burned Out
Review: Assigned a local history project, 15-year old Macey chooses to research the account of the mysterious 1959 burning of a barn in her family's hometown. For an unknown reason, no one wants to talk about it and it seems the entire town is strongly discouraging her investigation. When Macey discovers that the town's first black teacher had been living in an apartment above the barn, she is forced to face the underlying bigotry in her seemingly idyllic community - even in those who are closest to her. This popular novelist has taken an engaging topic but, in fact, has written a seriously flawed introduction into the subject of racism. The few blacks in the book are all saintly yet tragically victimized characters. A recurring theme entails Macey being concerned that rich schools are donating broken crayons to urban schools instead of new ones, trivializing the issues. A light romance engages the reader but doesn't fit the story line. This is one Cooney to pass up.

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Summary: Burning Up Is On Fire!!!
Review: Caroline B. Cooney's Burning Up is an awesome mystery/realistic fiction novel for teens! The imaginative plot and theme of this story is one that catches eyes wherever it is read. 15-year old Macey Clare investigates a fire that destroyed an apartment and barn in 1959, for a school history paper. Her family's lived in that same town forever, so she turns to them for information. But everyone she talks to is hiding secrets and telling Macey to choose another topic. This part of the book is an awesome attention-getter that makes you want to read on and solve the mystery. At some times the book can be a tad boring, but later on in the story, you recall valuable clues that were woven in those pages. Ms. Cooney did a terrific job of guiding the reader through the mystery-solving, without giving away the resolution until the end. Suspensful parts of the story keep you turning the pages. I thought that this book was different, and that's why I enjoyed reading it so much. Some of the events in this story leave you shocked and somewhat curious as to find out the cause of them. I reccommend this book to anyone who enjoys suspense, mystery, and history. In fact, I gave it to a girl in my class to read, and so far, she finds it very interesting and suspenseful. Way2go, Cooney!

Rating:
Summary: A Burning desire to keep reading
Review: I didn't want to put it down. It has so many twists and unexpected turns throughout the whole story. I loved it. Burning Up is the best fiction in the world!

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Summary: Putting Out Yesterday's Fires with Today's
Review: This is a very thought-provoking and suspenseful tale that I think even adults will enjoy. At its core is a very powerful message- Our ideals and morals are fashioned by our parents and teachers. If their values are blemished, there is little hope for the next generation. But if it happens that a spark of courage is kindled in the heart of one young person, the "fire" of youth has the power to turn the situation around completely, to insure not only that the wrongs of the last generation are discontinued, but that they are rectified with acts of virtue.

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Summary: Stirring the Ashes
Review: Macey and Austin have been neighbors in a perfect little Connecticut town for almost an entire school year. Macey is extremely close to her grandparents, and spends a lot of her time at their house. While wrapped up in deciding on a topic for a school project, she stumbles across the idea of researching the barn fire back in 1959. Living so close to the old barn and having been caught in a dangerous fire herself only days before, Macey figures the subject will appeal to her. When she begins to ask people about the facts of the fire the seem to tense up and dodge her questions as much as possible. Meanwhile, her love life with Austin has been blooming rapidly. The strong attraction the sense between each other makes the adventure in cracking the case of the fire more intriguing. Together, Macey and Austin find out that the barn was usually rented to the new teachers in town, and the occupant at the time of the fire was an African American man named Wade Silby. They also discover that the chance of an African American ever living in their pleasant, exclusively white town was a one-time occurrence. The discriminatory feelings that existed in 1959 in her town, and today still predominate are sickening. I would recommend this well-written novel to anyone who likes an adventurous book with a deeper meaning. I think Caroline B. Cooney did a wonderful job writing an exciting and intriguing story while conveying an extremely important and pertinent message. The contrast between love and hate gives this book its edge. I would suggest this shocker to anyone craving an excellent book.

Rating:
Summary: 5 Stars Burning Up
Review: 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.

Rating:
Summary: Burning Up
Review: I have read several of Caroline B. Cooney's literature all though this one did not turn out to be one of my favorites. I thought taht The Face On the Milk Carton was very good, thought it did repeat alot! I also that is how Burning Up went. It was very deep about the diffance between blacks and whites, but at the same time it repeated. I like to have new things happen all the time! The sequals to the Face on the Milk carton were not in my opinion good. Don't take this the wrong way though, every body has their own opinion.

Rating:
Summary: Burning Up!
Review: I thought the book burning up, was a very interesting book. It makes you think about who committed the arson in 1959. I realy liked this book, but i thought there should have been more to the story. I would have liked to know just as much information about Macey and Austin's realationship, as I did about the fire in 1959. I really enjoyed Macey's character, who was very head strong about things. I found it facinating how she didn't care how NO ONE would help her find information about the fire. It just seemed more rewarding when she found out who committed the crime. I can not say anything more about the book without giving something away. The advice i would give to my friends about this book would be "keep reading past the part where you think you want to quit, because that's where the book starts to get good".

Rating:
Summary: learning experience while enjoying
Review: this is a well written book. i've read a lot of the books that cooney has written, but i think that this is one of her best (along with THE FACE ON THE MILK CARTON). it made me think about the relationship with blacks and whites, also if i had ever done anything mean to someone that was black. i strongly suggest this book. It has mystery and a little romance as well.