--IT IS SUMMER 1910 and across Idaho and Montana the mountains are
on fire--
THE BIG BURN
Western Writers of America Spur Award for Juvenile
Fiction
A Montana Book Award Honor Book
A One Book, One Community choice
"A must-read for adrenaline
junkies." -- VOYA
Dozens
of blazes dot the countryside, born of sparks thrown from trains, from campfires
gone out of control, from lightning strikes that ignite the towering snags of
dry forests. When these fires join, they become one vast wall of flame
that can destroy everything. Caught in its path are three
teens.
At sixteen, Jarrett is fool
enough to lose his railroad job and perhaps man enough to join the fight against
the forest fires.
Lizbeth doesn't own the land
she loves so much, but she will do anything to stay--even if she has to let her
homestead burn.
And Seth enlists in the army, hoping a uniform will
give him that rare thing, courage--or something even more rare for a black man
in turn-of-the-century America--respect.
But respect and courage can vanish in the face of
advancing flames.
Based on the story of one of the biggest wildfires
of the century, The Big Burn is a portrait of a time and a place and of an event
that altered the face of Montana and Idaho, changed the way we fight wildfires,
and dramatically transformed the people at the front lines forever.
THE BIG BURN is available in hardcover and paperback from Harcourt, Inc., and in unabridged audio from Random House Listening Library, with narration by
Tony-award winning actor Boyd Gaines.
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