Tim
Wynne-Jones is a gifted storyteller, and this novel is no exception. The main character, Jim Hawkins, first
appeared in a short story. After his
father disappeared, Jim lost his voice; he regains it in the short story, but
Jim’s story is far from over.
In The Boy in the Burning House, Jim and
his mom are holding things together at the farm. Ruth Rose is the stepdaughter of the local
minister, Father Fisher, and she tells Jim that Fisher killed his dad. Like Burl Crow in The Maestro, Jim Hawkins has much to learn on hisjourney toward adulthood, and Ruth Rose does not always seem to be the best influence. Eventually Jim realizes there are clear steps to take: “It was a day of nevers. A day he would never forget” (182).
And
that’s it for this brief review. I’ll be
reading another novel by Wynne-Jones later this month. Some of his novels are available in the
United States. If you know any middle
school or high school students, I highly recommend Tim Wynne-Jones.
Wynne-Jones, Tim. The
Boy in the Burning House. New York: Farrar, Straus and
Giroux, 2000. Print.
