Booth, Teena. Falling from fire.BOOTH, Teena. Falling from fire. Random House, Dell Laurel-Leaf. 201p. c2002. 0-440-22960-X. $5.50. JS* To quote from the review in hardcover in KLIATT, July 2002: Teri, a high school freshman in a small town in northern California Northern California, sometimes referred to as NorCal, is the northern portion of the U.S. state of California. The region contains the San Francisco Bay Area, the state capital, Sacramento; as well as the substantial natural beauty of the redwood forests, the northern , thinks of herself as "a Nobody" At home, she is overshadowed by her beautiful divorced mother and older sister, both of whom live for the men in their lives; at school, she is neither a Rowdy nor a Holy Roller Holy Roller n. Offensive Used as a disparaging term for a member of any of various religious denominations in which spiritual fervor is expressed by shouts and violent body movements. Noun 1. , the two main cliques, and her crushes on boys seem to be unreciprocated. Everything changes the night of Teri's 15th birthday, when her little brother plays with the matches from her birthday cake. The house catches fire, and while the family escapes, the girls end up living in a trailer with their grandmother, while their brother goes to stay with his father and their mother pursues a relationship with the local football hero in a neighboring neigh·bor n. 1. One who lives near or next to another. 2. A person, place, or thing adjacent to or located near another. 3. A fellow human. 4. Used as a form of familiar address. v. town. Teri feels as if the family is "flying apart," but at the same time she likes the new attention she gets at school for her bravery Bravery See also Heroism. Achilles foremost Greek hero of Trojan War; brave and formidable warrior. [Gk. Hist.: NCE, 12] Adrastus courageous Indian prince; Rinaldo’s enemy. [Ital. Lit. in the fire, Doug, her heartthrob, asks her out, but she comes to a new appreciation of Wesley, the boy she really cares about, as the two of them write a play for English together, and they move beyond friendship to romance. The life changes caused by the fire help Teri to see herself and those around her in a new light. This appealing coming-of-age story rings true in its depiction of a teenager struggling to come to grips with the aftereffects aftereffects after npl → Nachwirkungen pl of a tragedy and with the strengths and weaknesses of the people around her. The characters are well rounded, from Teri's flighty flight·y adj. flight·i·er, flight·i·est 1. a. Given to capricious or unstable behavior. b. Characterized by irresponsible or silly behavior. 2. Easily excited; skittish. , needy mother to ambitious but kind Wesley. A strong first novel. (An ALA Best Book for YAs.) Paula Rohrlick, KLIATT |
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