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A review by thebooknerdscorner
Fires Burning Underground by Nancy McCabe
4.0
A middle grade novella featuring a young girl as she tackles middle school, her identity, and the everchanging friendships that she has found herself thrust in the middle of.
After being homeschooled her entire life, Anny is starting her first day of middle school. Not only is she adapting to a new school system, she is also learning to navigate teen drama, discover her sexual identity, and move on from the death of someone she knew. Many things can change over the course of a year, and Anny is about to discover some things aren't meant to stay the same.
For a novella, this middle grade story certainly packs a punch. It captures the nuances of tween drama, shifting relationships, and self-identity. Anny also deals with grief, fear of missing out, and the anxiety of being different than her peers. These are all things that most children go through in their adolescence, so these aspects of this book are on point.
In my opinion, this book is super "Are You There God? It's Me Margaret." coded. Anny's family is super religious, and she also questions elements of her faith. "Fires Burning Underground" really focuses on sexual identity, which is not a huge theme in Judy Blume's book. The scenes where the girls would have sleep overs had super similar vibes to Margaret's experiences; in many ways, it felt like this book was set in the seventies. The kids are addicted to ESP (extrasensory perception), technology was nearly nonexistent, and the entire town that Anny lived in felt rather old school. I'm not saying this is necessarily a bad thing, it just may not be the most accurate picture of most kids' experiences in this day and age.
I think my favorite part of this book is the intersection between sexual identity and religion. This is a topic that I always take interest in; I am passionate about supporting LGBTQIA+ rights (i.e. human rights). Living in a rural smallish town, I see my community constantly holding onto these outdated mindsets that divides humanity over issues that shouldn't even be others' concern. It makes me so sad that Anny's parents ignored her for several weeks just because she was *questioning* her identity. She's only twelve years old, and it breaks my heart that kids in the real world have to deal with these stresses on a daily basis. Also, shout-out for introducing all types of identities to children including demisexual and pansexual.
I really appreciate that McCabe allowed the page count to remain as short as it is. She wraps it up nicely as soon as she checks all the boxes that need to be checked. I would have been alarmed if this story drug on, so I'm glad that this one is a novella that introduces middle schoolers to many topics and prompts them to do more research on their own if their interest is piqued.
Quick note, there is a character who is oddly infatuated with one of her teachers in this book. I find this to be quite weird (especially because these kids are middle schoolers), but I've also lived through similar experiences with kids in my class, so I know this happens. The teacher has no part in this, so it's not creepy or weird, but it's definitely something I have to mention.
Overall, "Fires Burning Underground" is a middle grade novella that showcases how tough middle school can be. It tackles the complexities of many types of relationships, challenges outdated religious ideas, and captures the mischievous nature of young kids so well. It's definitely not a perfect book, but people are far from perfect, aren't they?
After being homeschooled her entire life, Anny is starting her first day of middle school. Not only is she adapting to a new school system, she is also learning to navigate teen drama, discover her sexual identity, and move on from the death of someone she knew. Many things can change over the course of a year, and Anny is about to discover some things aren't meant to stay the same.
For a novella, this middle grade story certainly packs a punch. It captures the nuances of tween drama, shifting relationships, and self-identity. Anny also deals with grief, fear of missing out, and the anxiety of being different than her peers. These are all things that most children go through in their adolescence, so these aspects of this book are on point.
In my opinion, this book is super "Are You There God? It's Me Margaret." coded. Anny's family is super religious, and she also questions elements of her faith. "Fires Burning Underground" really focuses on sexual identity, which is not a huge theme in Judy Blume's book. The scenes where the girls would have sleep overs had super similar vibes to Margaret's experiences; in many ways, it felt like this book was set in the seventies. The kids are addicted to ESP (extrasensory perception), technology was nearly nonexistent, and the entire town that Anny lived in felt rather old school. I'm not saying this is necessarily a bad thing, it just may not be the most accurate picture of most kids' experiences in this day and age.
I think my favorite part of this book is the intersection between sexual identity and religion. This is a topic that I always take interest in; I am passionate about supporting LGBTQIA+ rights (i.e. human rights). Living in a rural smallish town, I see my community constantly holding onto these outdated mindsets that divides humanity over issues that shouldn't even be others' concern. It makes me so sad that Anny's parents ignored her for several weeks just because she was *questioning* her identity. She's only twelve years old, and it breaks my heart that kids in the real world have to deal with these stresses on a daily basis. Also, shout-out for introducing all types of identities to children including demisexual and pansexual.
I really appreciate that McCabe allowed the page count to remain as short as it is. She wraps it up nicely as soon as she checks all the boxes that need to be checked. I would have been alarmed if this story drug on, so I'm glad that this one is a novella that introduces middle schoolers to many topics and prompts them to do more research on their own if their interest is piqued.
Quick note, there is a character who is oddly infatuated with one of her teachers in this book. I find this to be quite weird (especially because these kids are middle schoolers), but I've also lived through similar experiences with kids in my class, so I know this happens. The teacher has no part in this, so it's not creepy or weird, but it's definitely something I have to mention.
Overall, "Fires Burning Underground" is a middle grade novella that showcases how tough middle school can be. It tackles the complexities of many types of relationships, challenges outdated religious ideas, and captures the mischievous nature of young kids so well. It's definitely not a perfect book, but people are far from perfect, aren't they?