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Fireproof
Not yet published
Expected 2 Feb 27Fans of Wildfire and the I Survived series will delight in this action-packed historical survival story about a girl and her younger brother braving the chaos of the Great Chicago Fire alone.Twelve-year-old Hazel and her family just want to live a peaceful life in Chicago. The Civil War has ended, and after the burning of Black churches pushes them out of their native Virginia, they're finally beginning to settle into a cabin built with their own hands in Chicago.But then the fires begin. At first the fires are distant and short-lived. But as the days pass, the wildfires of the hot summer of 1871 come closer and closer, until flames are dancing at their cabin door.Suddenly, Hazel and her younger brother are torn away from their parents, the home they worked so hard to build in flames. All that Hazel has left is her will to survive the night, protect her brother, and find her family. But will her hopes be buried in the wreckage of the blaze, or will her inner strength prove to be fireproof?
208 pages, Paperback
Expected publication February 2, 2027
About the author
Nikki Shannon Smith
38 books41 followersI was born and raised in Oakland, CA and now live in Davis, CA with my husband and two children. I love to read, write, listen to music, dance, act silly, and visit the coast. I've worked at elementary schools for over 25 years, and love spending my days with children. My books include: The Little Christmas Elf (2011), Treasure Hunt (2019), Ann Fights for Freedom: An Underground Railroad Survival Story (2019), Noelle at Sea: A Titanic Survival Story (2019), and Charlotte Spies for Justice: A Civil War Survival Story (2019). I have two new titles releasing in 2020! The first is my new series with Capstone titled The Amazing Life of Azaleah Lane, releasing January 1st. The second is Sarah Journeys West: An Oregon Trail Survival Story, releasing February 1st.
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Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews
Review of advance copy received from Edelweiss+
E ARC provided by Edelweiss Plus
Note: This seems to be available only in paperback. Follett's Titlewave does list a prebind.
In 1871, Hazel Barnett is angry that her family has moved from Virginia to Chicago, and she hopes that they will one day return to her granny and best friend Carrie. The family, who are Black, experienced troubling racism in Virginia and are hoping for a better life in the North. Hazel can’t even enjoy the fact that Abby, a neighbor and classmate, tries hard to be her friend, instead calling her a “pest”. Her younger brother, Frankie, is much kinder. Hazel’s father is a porter with the Chicago Board of Trade, and is working to make their house comfortable. Even though it’s October, the weather has been very hot, and fires are a frequent occurrence in the area, since sidewalks and buildings are made of wood. There are some scares when areas across the river from the Barnetts catch fire, but it never makes it across the water. The family is on high alert, however, and when a neighbor wakes them in the middle of the night with news of a nearby blaze, Hazel, Frankie and their parents leave in their nightclothes and don’t even stop to grab Hazel’s journal. They decide to go North, along with a huge crush of others, and think that making it to the business district, with its “fireproof” buildings might help, and think also abou making it to the lake. Hazel and Frankie lose their parents in a crowd, and Frankie has his own ideas about what he wants to do. Hazel wants to follow her parents’ directions in hopes that they will end up at the same place, but she also is separated from Frankie and falls, injuring her leg badly. When she is calling for her brother, she hears someone answering back, but it ends up being Abby, who has also been separated from her parents. Abby helps Hazel bandage her leg, and the two stick together. It’s a difficult situation, and at one point the girls come to blows, with Abby telling Hazel that her attitude is horrible, and that while Abby herself suffers from homesickness as well, she at least doesn’t try to take it out on others. Miraculously, the two find Frankie in the care of a released Black prisoner, Isaac, who was unfairly accused of stealing. He helps the children get back to the South Side, and the group narrowly escapes a run in with angry white men, but are saved by the fathers of several families who have just arrived from North Carolina. Back in their ruined neighborhood, the children seek help from the Hudlins, whose home survived, and wait to be reunited with their parents.
Strengths: There are a lot of good historical details underpinning this adventure novel: the reasons for the family’s move, the details about the buildings in the business district, and the set up of Chicago’s rivers and neighborhoods. There is some emotional weight with Hazel’s homesickness and mistreatment of Abby, as well as her fear of losing her parents and brothers. I loved that Abby was a more resilient character and eventually told off Hazel for being so negative! Isaac was an interesting character, especially since he had come from the south on the Underground Railroad and was willing to help the children.
Weaknesses: There could have been some historical notes on how the fire started and the impact of the blaze, but most readers will pick this up for the adventure. I wish Hazel had been a little more sympathetic as a character; but at least she didn’t make bad choices the way Cora did in Nielsen’s Magnitude.
What I really think: This is a good choice for readers who enjoyed other “horrible historical” books like Tarshis, Ball, and Mitchell’s I Survived the Great Chicago Fire, Hopkinson’s nonfiction Deadlist Fires Then and Now or fictional Into the Firestorm: San Francisco 1906, or Alikhan’s Emmi in the City: A Great Chicago Fire (Girls Survive) https://msyinglingreads.blogspot.com/...
https://msyinglingreads.blogspot.com/...
https://msyinglingreads.blogspot.com/...
https://msyinglingreads.blogspot.com/...
Note: This seems to be available only in paperback. Follett's Titlewave does list a prebind.
In 1871, Hazel Barnett is angry that her family has moved from Virginia to Chicago, and she hopes that they will one day return to her granny and best friend Carrie. The family, who are Black, experienced troubling racism in Virginia and are hoping for a better life in the North. Hazel can’t even enjoy the fact that Abby, a neighbor and classmate, tries hard to be her friend, instead calling her a “pest”. Her younger brother, Frankie, is much kinder. Hazel’s father is a porter with the Chicago Board of Trade, and is working to make their house comfortable. Even though it’s October, the weather has been very hot, and fires are a frequent occurrence in the area, since sidewalks and buildings are made of wood. There are some scares when areas across the river from the Barnetts catch fire, but it never makes it across the water. The family is on high alert, however, and when a neighbor wakes them in the middle of the night with news of a nearby blaze, Hazel, Frankie and their parents leave in their nightclothes and don’t even stop to grab Hazel’s journal. They decide to go North, along with a huge crush of others, and think that making it to the business district, with its “fireproof” buildings might help, and think also abou making it to the lake. Hazel and Frankie lose their parents in a crowd, and Frankie has his own ideas about what he wants to do. Hazel wants to follow her parents’ directions in hopes that they will end up at the same place, but she also is separated from Frankie and falls, injuring her leg badly. When she is calling for her brother, she hears someone answering back, but it ends up being Abby, who has also been separated from her parents. Abby helps Hazel bandage her leg, and the two stick together. It’s a difficult situation, and at one point the girls come to blows, with Abby telling Hazel that her attitude is horrible, and that while Abby herself suffers from homesickness as well, she at least doesn’t try to take it out on others. Miraculously, the two find Frankie in the care of a released Black prisoner, Isaac, who was unfairly accused of stealing. He helps the children get back to the South Side, and the group narrowly escapes a run in with angry white men, but are saved by the fathers of several families who have just arrived from North Carolina. Back in their ruined neighborhood, the children seek help from the Hudlins, whose home survived, and wait to be reunited with their parents.
Strengths: There are a lot of good historical details underpinning this adventure novel: the reasons for the family’s move, the details about the buildings in the business district, and the set up of Chicago’s rivers and neighborhoods. There is some emotional weight with Hazel’s homesickness and mistreatment of Abby, as well as her fear of losing her parents and brothers. I loved that Abby was a more resilient character and eventually told off Hazel for being so negative! Isaac was an interesting character, especially since he had come from the south on the Underground Railroad and was willing to help the children.
Weaknesses: There could have been some historical notes on how the fire started and the impact of the blaze, but most readers will pick this up for the adventure. I wish Hazel had been a little more sympathetic as a character; but at least she didn’t make bad choices the way Cora did in Nielsen’s Magnitude.
What I really think: This is a good choice for readers who enjoyed other “horrible historical” books like Tarshis, Ball, and Mitchell’s I Survived the Great Chicago Fire, Hopkinson’s nonfiction Deadlist Fires Then and Now or fictional Into the Firestorm: San Francisco 1906, or Alikhan’s Emmi in the City: A Great Chicago Fire (Girls Survive) https://msyinglingreads.blogspot.com/...
https://msyinglingreads.blogspot.com/...
https://msyinglingreads.blogspot.com/...
https://msyinglingreads.blogspot.com/...
June 23, 2026
Great examination of the Great Chicago Fire (very I Survived style), but brings in elements and questions of race. Elevated middle grade historical fiction, and another great read from Nikki Shannon Smith
Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews