Firegirl

When my eleven-year-old daughter (soon to be twelve) handed me this book, I read it as soon as I could. She has good taste in books.

Firegirl by Tony Abbott explores disfigurement and friendship through the eyes of wallflower narrator Tom Bender. His integrity and compassion would make him the ideal candidate for class president, but he keeps his campaign poster stowed in his locker to avoid the attention. Jessica Feeney, the new girl covertly nicknamed Firegirl because of the disfiguring burns, who rarely talks and hides her face behind what’s left of her hair, is the first to recognize these qualities in Tom. With his hesitant narrator’s voice, Tom’s account of one person realigning what’s important is nuanced and truthful.