Customer Reviews

Burning Up (Turtleback School & Library Binding Edition)

5 star:		(39)
4 star:		(21)
3 star:		(10)
2 star:		(3)
1 star:		(6)

 

 

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.

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!

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!

Macey is a normal girl, living in a small town in Connecticut with her grandparents, until she hears of a mysterious fire that burned down the first African American teacher's house. Everyone refuses to answer her questions. Teaming up with the boy next door, Austin, Macey struggles to reveal the truth about the fire of 1959.

Burning Up was an average book, in my opinion. Caroline Cooney may be one of my favorite authors, but this book was not her best. The main characters, Macey and Austin, were not very deep and seemed to be too persistent. Even after everyone in town had told Macey to drop the fire, that it happened a long time ago, that things had changed, she refused. I am very much against racism, but every other page in this book has to do with Macey or Austin comtemplating how horrid it was to burn down a black's home. We understand that! Also, the ending to this book was lame and disappointing. Maybe the ending threw me for a slight twist, but not in a good way. All in all, the book was average. Maybe something to read when there's nothing else on the shelf.

This book was a good one becuse it had danger and action and other stuff like that. The characters are witty and smart but not always thinking. The plot of the story is how the heck are they going to find out what happened in the fire of 1952. I'd tell you what happened in the end, but that wouldn't be fair for other read's now, would it? The thing I liked most about this book is that the plot of the the book is about fire and i like fire and other stuff too. This book is like those Lemony Snickett books, but is not a sad ending. I can tell you to read this book, it's a good one.

Burning up is about Macey Clare, the typical teenage girl, who stumbles on to or rather into a neighborhood mystery. After getting cought in a fire in an old church durring a community service project with her friends, Macey begins to wonder about the burned down barn next door to her grandparents house. She'd always heard that something had caught fire and the barn had burnt down around someone, but when she begins to get curiouse and asks more about the fire Macey finds that no one wants to talk about it. Why? When Macey finds that this could have been an act of racism she becomes even more curiouse about the town and townspeople she has always loved. Could someone she knows or maybe many people of the town she knows have commited this crime?
This book is an excellent summer read. I Loved reading it and wished it would last longer.

Burning Up by Caroline B. Cooney is a very enjoyable book. I could not put it down. This book addressed many issues teenagers face today. Some issues that are talked about are first crushes, unbearable parents, true friendships, and even ethical issues. After reading the book, I realized how the past really does effect the present! What are parents went through when they were younger still has an effect on the world today. I also started to appreciate what I have and the opportunities I am given. The book explored the life of inner-city kids and what they have to go through.
Macey, the main character, is on a mission. For her history project she has to research something that happened in her town?s past. So Macey decides to investigate a fire that burned down a barn in her neighbor hood over forty years ago. While she is dealing with this matter, she runs into many challenges. Not only is being a teenager tough, but it seems as if no one will tell her what really happened. Was it an accident or was it a protest? If this isn?t hard enough, dealing with her first crush, Austin, and trying to do what feels right presents even more obstacles.
The main reason I liked this book was because I could relate to what Macey was feeling. I knew how she felt in different situations because I have been there. I think any teenager would love to read this book. I definitely rate this a five star book!!

A review by Danielle

Macey Clare and Austin (the main characters) were both in a church fire; after the fire that she was in Macey started to get an obsession with fires and her town. One day at school when Macey was on the internet she found out that there was a fire on Shell Road. Which was where she lived, Macey read about the fire in 1959. She couldn't believe that there was a fire that burned down around a man though no one had ever taken the time to tell her. This fire had to do with her road and being racist. Everyone believed that Macey was getting obsessed about the whole fire. Austin began to look it up too and both pushed their grandparents away all the while.

I really liked Macey as the main character in this book; only because her teenage problems seemed so real. The main plot in this book was very interesting and made me want to keep reading it; never put it down. Despite the fact that some of the sentences were short and kind of a child's book, it was very interesting. During this book the main view switches from Macey to Austin. It gets kind of confusing, though changing the view was a good way to show both Austin's and Macey's opinions. This story probably would have been better if it was longer, and if it said what happened in the future.

Burning Up was a very good book, however I thought that it was going to be a thriller and it wasn't. The author stays on the topic and he doesn't talk about other things. I would definitely recommend this book to others who are interested in Caroline Cooney's stories. It was actually a great book and was very moving in some parts.

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!

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!