This book took me back to a simpler time with a fun contemporary fantasy adventure with intriguing characters, and an easy to follow plot with a few twists. A young girl, Sam, is one of only two students from a Grade 7 science class trip to not vanish during a bus trip. It’s a constant thought to her summer, and once she sees her best friend, Lorenzo, as flames, the search is on, and she finds it to be much more supernatural and sinister than she would have thought. I recalled a lot of middle grade adventure books from the 1990’s when I was reading and enjoyed the plot as Sam digs deeper and deeper, and there were a few surprises to keep things interesting. The pacing is good and while it doesn’t move at breakneck speed, there’s always something happening to move the story. I do like how the supernatural elements are introduced a bit slower, which is fitting considering the western Canada setting. There are some pop culture references that do become plot relevant and explained in the story, so while I’m not too much of a fan of it in books in general, it was done well here. The characters were fun as well, with Sam having a plucky personality and determined to help her classmates. Megan was also interesting as well. While the story wraps up in a satisfying way, part of me wonders if there’s going to be more books in this world and/or these characters with how the ending played out. Either way, if you’re looking for a plucky kid in a small, modern day town, discovering supernatural mystery type story, this is one to look at.

Fireboy is a quick read. As I teach English 9, I often pick up novels that are meant for early teens so that I can increase my classroom library. This book being centered around a pair of 8th grade characters seemed slightly young, but appropriate for my class that is built around students that failed English 8. I’m still undecided about buying a physical copy, as this is written in such a low-level writing style in terms of sentence structure and plot that I don’t see this being a book of interest for my demographic of students. I would say this is more of a 6th grade level book, despite the main characters being of the age that they are heading into 8th grade.