Share for friends:

The Fire (2001)

The Fire (2001)

Book Info

Rating
3.76 of 5 Votes: 5
Your rating
ISBN
0590416413 (ISBN13: 9780590416412)
Language
English
Publisher
scholastic paperbacks

About book The Fire (2001)

Losing Christina Trilogy -Fog -Snow -Fire Story Summary Fog: Christina leaves her home on Burning Fog Isle, off the Maine coast, to go to school on the mainland. She can handle the work, she can handle the kids who scorn her. But there's one thing she can't handle. The Evil. Something very dangerous is going on in the home of the principal, Mr. Shevvington, and his wife where Christina boards with the beautiful, dreamy Anya. It's driving Anya mad. What will happen to Christina? Snow: The Snow is the second book of The Fog, The Snow, and The Fire trilogy. It's a really psychological trilogy. It deals with those difficult times when you're telling the truth and no one will listen or believe you. Fire: In the final book of this thriller trilogy, the evil Shevvingtons try to make Christina (and the town) believe she is obsessed with fire. Christina fights desperately for her sanity, but can she finally conquer the evil? My Response to the Book[s]: Losing Christina. The name alone intrigues you to want to read the book. Why 'lose' Christina? Who IS Christina? In this book, the evil Mr and Mrs Shevvington was seen as good caring people in the eyes of parents and other teachers in the school. Only Christina thought that they were evil but no one was on her side, no matter how desperately she tries to gain the other's trust and support. It must be terrible, to know the truth yet no one is willing to listen to you. Much like our English Literature book 'The Enemy of the People'. Both talks about the truth that is smothered under layers of coating, and no one is willing to believe the truth even though it is evident. Only the closer friends, and those who's souls have been sucked away by Mr and Mrs Shevvington believed that Christina wasn't yarning. I pity Christina, for in all three books, she has been mistrusted, maligned and taunted by people, thinking that this island girl was insane, setting fires to burn her entire wardrobe, threatening to push Anya off the bridge, having weird tri-coloured hair. But she had been framed by the Shevvingtons, for they wanted her to lose her mind like all the others who had lived in the Candle Cove as tenants. Only Christina put up a tough fight and refused to back down like all the others. In a way, i admire her courage, and her stupidity to go against pure evil. The good will always triumph over the evil. At first, Christina didnt believe in that. But the ending showed otherwise. The evil was destroyed and those who had lost their minds and souls stayed the way they were, but they were happy. All's well ends well i guess. Great lines from 'Losing Christina': '"The sea can smack the rocks like a hand smacking the cheek. It can hiss, or gurgle or even kiss. But when it wants, it can go quiet. And then," said Anya Rothrock, "you can hear the voices of the drowned."' 'Its not the Cove blowing out the candles, she thought, its here, in this house, someone having an eternal birthday, never getting the wish right, the candles lighting back up like evil magic tricks.'

The sudden prominence of fire didn't make much sense, compared to the other titles. Why the Shevvingtons did what they did was finally put into a straight sentence (tho it had been alluded to all along), but the reason wasn't satisfactory. Also that Christina fell prey to them, even for a short bit, was disappointing, but she was only a little girl. With such flighty teenage hormones - in love the second she laid eyes on one guy and another she viewed as her brother a moment before. The ending was how it should be.

Do You like book The Fire (2001)?

Sometimes, I like to review classic books of the 90s, stuff from my earlier reading days that made a big impression on me. This one, unfortunately, I remember for all the wrong reasons. Fire's a psychological thriller and the third book in the Losing Christina series by the same author as Face on the Milk Carton. The first book, Fog is actually genuinely creepy, while Snow was one of those wrecks I just couldn't turn away from, so I just had to read Fire.I wish I hadn't. The entire series is about bullying, specifically adults tormenting kids. The Shevvingtons are the husband and wife duo who make themselves out as this nice principal/teacher couple in a Maine town, but secretly mentally abuse the kids from an outlying island who have to room with them, Christina included. Unfortunately, none of the other adults in the town, not one, believes any of Christina's abuse claims, even though another girl ends up in a mental asylum in the first book, leaving Christina mostly alone to expose her tormetors. And when the Shevvingtons are finally exposed? Lots of excuses from those responsible adults, oh, we never noticed anything, weren't they nice people, bulls-. Adults being completely useless has always been one of the oldest tropes in young adult literature, and frankly I can never be thankful enough of the modern trend moving away from that direction. And Christina's portrayal? She's so mentally fragile, it's like she's made of tissue paper, always on the verge of a breakdown. In the first book, it was necessary to the story, I didn't blame her, I understood, the Shevvingtons did some really nasty things that even creeped me out. In the second book, it started to get kind of old, but they had just claimed another victim and continued to target her, so my understanding didn't go away. But I didn't like how she kept being so weak, so powerless, here, even towards the end of the book when she's about to expose the Shevvingtons for who they really are. Part of a good psychological thriller's the victim figuring out how strong they really are in the face of abuse or afterwards, even if they bear the scars and need a good deal of recovery, but I never felt that from Christina, just wanted to shake her, don't be so indecisive, hopeless, and depressing when you're about to win! The only thing I actually liked were her few friends, who, while unreliable, supported her and came through for her when she really needed them.Maybe this series would've worked better if it wasn't so darn repetitive, Christina always seconds away from falling victim to the Shevvingtons, that left the climax in this book just so unsatisfying. I'll admit the ending was sweet, but it doesn't nearly make up for how much I was pissed during the rest of this.
—Mitch

Christina believes she has won. Anya is safe, far away, and Dolly has returned to the island to finish 6th grade. The Shevvingtons are leaving and she only has a few weeks before she will be done with them for good. But strange things start happening again - matchbooks are littered everywhere around here and candles keep appearing nearby. Everyone believes Christina is obsessed with fire, even setting her own clothes on fire. Christina then meets Val, a former student of the Shevvingtons now living in a mental hospital on their recommendation. Val escapes and Christina knows she'll need to save her too. Will Christina be able to survive this time?
—Natalie

download or read online

Read Online

Write Review

(Review will shown on site after approval)

Other books by author Caroline B. Cooney

Other books in series losing christina

Other books in category Paranormal Fantasy