Cashore, Kristin. Fire. Dial. September 2009. Dial. ISBN: 978-0-8037-3461-6. Gr 8 and up.
-- School Library Journal, 6/17/2009
Oh, where shall I start? When I read Cashore’s first novel in this trilogy, Graceling, I thought it was good. Fire is even better! The characters are strong, the plotline powerful, the writing out of this world. I loved how Fire struggled with her power, debating the ethics of it. A character so conflicted is rare, I think, and she was beautifully drawn.
I was a bit skeptical at first at the idea of “monsters,” and throughout the book I had trouble picturing them, but I got used to it—and they're certainly a novel concept. Fire's struggles with her power were very interesting. This is a very strong and important part of the book. I also liked how Kristin Cashore doesn't hesitate to kill off characters—so when you don't know if someone's alive, you really don't know, instead of logically expecting them to come through.
I was a bit confused as to why the monsters limited themselves to the Dells, and why there were no Gracelings there. I suppose the Gracelings could be explained by the fact that it might be genetic, but it seems as if monsters would be able to cross the mountains and bother other countries. I loved how Leck showed up and tied it all in to Katsa and Po's story! Very neat.—Lisa M., age 15
The Interesting Reader Society (IRS--"teens, not taxes!"), is a library teen advisory and reading group of teens in grades 6-12 from throughout the Poudre River Public Library District in Fort Collins, Colorado. Currently, there are about 40 members with an average of 25 teens per monthly meeting. IRS is also one of the fifteen 2009-2010 national teen reading group appointees for the Teens' Top Ten/YA Galley project of the Young Adult Library Services Association (YALSA).
