Booktalking Colorado - Full Booktalk Record

Booktalking Colorado Full Record:

	Title:	Burning Up
	Author:	Cooney, Caroline
	Date Published:	2001
	Genre:	Real Life
	Grade Level:	7 - 8
	Booktalker:	Kathy Preller

Booktalk:
First let me tell you a little about Macey. She lives in Shell Beach, a very upscale town, huge houses, rich people, the school has all the latest technology. Everyone in school had to earn community service credits, and this week Macey, and her friends, Austin, Lindsay and Grace were going to paint some after-school playrooms at Good Shepherd Church. Now, Good Shepherd is in the worst neighborhood in the city. It’s more like a war zone than a neighborhood. They were met by a group of teens, and they all split off into pairs, going to different rooms, to paint. Venita and Macey were painting the room for the sixes – sunshine and crowns of gold – two cheery shades of yellow that would please the little kids. As they worked and talked, Macey learned about Venita’s school. In Lit class they only study old stuff, like Shakespeare, cause the school doesn’t have books for everyone, so the teacher photocopies things, and it’s against copyright laws to copy new stuff. Half the school toilets don’t have seats or doors, and they’re usually out of toilet paper or soap. As they were getting to know one another, and transforming the room with their happy colors, an arsonist crept into the building, tossed a match near all the paint and rags and turpentine and newspaper. The girls smelled smoke, crept to the hall – as they approached the corner, they saw a puff of smoke – as they looked around the corner, the puff turned into a huge cloud. Fanned by the wind from the open door, the flames roared down the hallway, taking the paint off the walls – “FIRE” the girls screamed! The other painters rushed out of their rooms – Austin saw Macey – she looked like a terrible angel in a crown of fire. Her hair was in flames! He whipped off his shirt and yanked it over her head, suffocating the flames and Macey – Macey fought – he pinned her till the fire was out – they kept running towards the exit – all the kids piled through the door, slamming it shut behind them, and were trapped by a bulkhead door that was chained from the outside. 8 teens trapped in a little tiny space, locked in a burning building. Macey could see the smoke from her hair, Chamique, closest to the hall door, could feel the fire’s heat at her back. The three boys pushed and banged on the outer door. Just as the air changed, feeling hotter and smokier, they heard the firemen at the outer door – when the chain came off, all 8 teens exploded outside, feeling very lucky to be alive. You can imagine that Macey, her hair only an inch long now, thought about that fire a lot. If Austin hadn’t put it out, her face would have been burned. With the fire so much in her mind, it wasn’t surprising that she started thinking about the barn that had burned near her grandparents house, years ago. She knew someone had been living in it at the time of the fire, and she decided to do her local history research paper on it. But no one would talk to her about it. It seemed like everyone was hiding something. In Macey’s mind, she knew there was some similarity between the events, and she had to find out what it was. She became obsessed with the research, and couldn’t stop herself, no matter who was hurt by the truth.