Middle Grade Monday: The Fire, the Water and Maudie McGinn by Sally J. Pla

Image: HarperCollins Publishers

The Fire, the Water and Maudie McGinn by Sally J. Pla.  336 p. Quill Tree Books/ HarperCollins Publisher, July 11, 2023. 9780063268814. (Review of arc courtesy of Blue Slip Media.)

Happy Monday! I hope you had a wonderful weekend.  It's the penultimate Monday of the school year for me and I am ready for the break. Middle Grade Monday features The Fire, the Water and Maudie McGuin by Sally J. Pla. Thirteen-year-old Maudie always looks forward to summers because she spends them with her dad in his cabin in California. She's autistic and he accepts her the way she is and doesn't belittle her the way her mom and now, her new step-father do. Almost immediately, her dad senses something is not right and asks Maudie if she's okay. Maudie is not okay, but has been sworn to secrecy by her mother. Then comes the wildfire. Maudie and her dad have to evacuate the cabin. They head down the coast to her dad's hometown. Her dad's best friend runs a trailer park and puts them up in a trailer while her dad tries to find work. Maudie spends her days at the beach getting up the courage to ask local surf legend, Etta for lessons. She wants to win the beginners surf contest at the end-of-summer bash. There's prize money and it might be enough to help her dad and maybe stay with him instead of returning to Texas.

This first-person novel unfolds quietly as Maudie copes with her traumas. Short chapters with poems interspersed throughout reflect Maudie's thoughtful insights. They also ratchet up tension as she gradually reveals the secret she carries. Readers will root for Maudie as she gains confidence, learns to surf and makes friends. Other characters are equally endearing and wonderfully supportive of Maudie. 

The Fire, the Water and Maudie McGinn releases on July 11. I adored this book. Put it on your radar. It would be a great SEL title and perfect for any school, classroom or public library. 

Fact Friday: Fire Birds: valuing natural wildfires and burned forests by Sneed Collard

Fire Birds: valuing natural wildfires and burned forests by Sneed Collard. Bucking Horse Books, January, 2015. 9780984446070. (Review from purchased copy)

Each year, thousands of acres of woodlands are lost to devastating wild fires. They seem to becoming more frequent, especially this year. Fact Friday features, Fire Birds: valuing natural wildfires and burned forests by Sneed Collard. This beautiful book chronicles how forests recover after fires and focuses on the work of biologist, Richard Hutto. Did you know that there are quite a number of species of birds that make their homes ONLY in burnt out forests? This slim volume is crammed with full-color photographs taken by the author and a compelling story. Other pluses include plenty of sidebars and charts, a glossary, bibliography and index. The design includes plenty of white space and glossy pages. Fire Birds would make a great addition to STEM collections anywhere.

Now by Morris Gleitzman

Unabridged audiobook on one MP3-CD. 3 hours, 26 minutes. Read by Mary-Anne Fahey. Bolinda Publishing Pty, Limited, May, 2012. 9781743111017. (Purchased.)

Australian eleven-year-old Zelda’s physician parents have sent her to live with her grandfather, Felix, while they are working in Africa. While Zelda adores Felix, it means switching schools. In her effort to impress, she came off as bragging and found herself on the wrong side of a group of Year Nine bullies. Verbal harassment quickly escalates to physical and before Zelda knows it, her attacker has found the locket around her neck. The one Felix does not know she has. The bully dispatches the locket in a stunning display of cruelty, leaving Zelda to deal with it as best she can, with the assistance of a boy from her class, in a scene that is not for the queasy.

Zelda knows about her grandfather’s experience during the Holocaust and about her namesake, Zelda, ten-year-old Felix’s brave six-year-old friend. Zelda tries to be brave like her but feels she constantly falls short. She seems to have inherited young Felix’s naïveté as she struggles to read social cues and behave appropriately. She thought that he would enjoy his birthday present, a book that she found from his childhood. She hadn’t anticipated the pain it would cause. She thought he would enjoy a birthday picnic in the woods and hanged the many thank you letters from patients on tree branches as decoration never anticipating that they would go up in flames when a birthday candle caught the nearby dry grasses afire. Even though she put the flames out, she still feels responsible for the bush fire that is threatening their town.

Felix is celebrating his 80^th birthday and, while he has lived a full and successful life, he has not yet buried Zelda. He feels incredible survivor’s guilt and is not necessarily honored by his son’s decision to name his daughter Zelda. In fact, Zelda notes that he does not call her by her name but mostly with the endearment, “Babushka.” She believes it is because she is not good enough to live up to the memory of her namesake.

There are many issues explored in this slim volume yet it does not feel laden. There is nary a wasted word and each scene packs a punch. Following the motif of the two previous Felix and Zelda books, each chapter begins with the title word, “Now.” The author writes a note at the end, that readers need not read the books in order. While I agree that he provided enough background for a new reader to appreciate Now, I recommend reading Once and Then for a more powerful experience.

I read this one (kind of) simultaneously with my eyes and ears. I started with my eyes. The narration was well-paced  and Ms. Fahey conveyed Zelda's naiveté subtly. Reading with my ears constantly reminded me of the Australian setting. I don't happen to read accents when I read with my eyes. I very much enjoyed the audiobook. 

Even though this book feels like the end, as we meet Felix near the end of his long and successful life, the author revisited Felix as a thirteen-year-old in a fourth volume called, After. I do hope that the publisher is negotiating with the author to bring this next volume to the U.S. soon.

You can read the first chapter of After on his website.

A note about the cover(s):

I've had the hardcover edition in my library for a year now. One of my eighth grade reluctant readers read all three books this year and just loved them. He told me that Now is his favorite. While the audiobook cover (above) features an important scene from the book, the hardcover art is more in keeping with the other two volumes in the series.