Susan the Librarian

The publisher’s summary

In this riveting coming-of-age survival story in verse perfect for fans of Alan Gratz, a fire lookout-in-training must find her courage when a wildfire breaks out on her watch.

Twelve-year-old Opal has a secret: she’s deathly afraid of fire. Still Opal is preparing to become a fourth-generation lookout on Wolf Mountain, deep in the New Mexico wilderness. She, Mom, and Gran live at ten thousand feet in a single room at the top of a fire tower. They are responsible for spotting any hint of smoke before it becomes an uncontrollable blaze. 

Instead of training for the lonely life of a lookout, Opal wishes she could be starting seventh grade in Silver City, attending real classes with kids her own age and even going to afterschool clubs like FFA. But Wolf Mountain has other ideas. When Mom makes the long trek to town for supplies and Gran goes missing, Opal is the only one to spot a tell-tale spiral of smoke moving up the mountainside. She’ll have to be braver than she’s ever been as she heads into the woods, beyond Wolf Ridge’s old blackened burn scar, to face down a fire on her own. But when a fire is what took her father away, and Opal herself knows the sting of smoke and lick of flames, how can she be brave enough when it really counts?

My recommendation

In stunningly evocative verse, Rose unfolds a story of emotional connection with family and nature in a wild setting which will be unfamiliar to most readers at the start of the book but which will feel like home by the end. Opal’s strength as a narrator comes from her vulnerability and her honesty with readers, making her unusual lifestyle comfortable and tangible for those of us without her personal experiences. This book will resonate perfectly with middle grade audiences, and I also recommended it to my adult book club due to the depth of the verse and the engaging setting.