Burn

by Suzanne Marie Phillips

"Are our schools safe?" It's hard to turn on the news without hearing this question, and the answer is typically "no." This novel explores what happens when bullying escalates to violence, and it challenges our definition of victimization.

With thought-provoking prose, Suzanne Phillips explores the psyche of Cameron, a bullied freshman who ultimately does the he kills another student. As she did with Chloe Doe , Suzanne has found a way to make this seemingly dark story ultimately redemptive. But she also dares readers to look at the behavior that provokes violence as having the potential to be as dangerous as the violence itself.

It's Suzanne's hope that Burn will inspire readers to take a precautionary stance against bullying rather than waiting to react to it.

Genres: Young Adult, Fiction, Realistic Fiction, Teen, Abuse, Mental Health, Mental Illness

288 pages, Hardcover

First published November 1, 2008

About the author

Suzanne Marie Phillips is the author of 3 critically-acclaimed novels for young adults, as well as the adult thriller, I Will Come for You.

Reviews

[Emily Cassady · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book was very compelling.
The main character is 14 and he is constantly being bullied. One day, he breaks...this is the story of that event.
The tense changes were weird, but great story overall!

[Kristy · Rating 3 out of 5]

My number one problem with this is the main character is not likeable enough.... I know we are not supposed to love him, but I pretty much borderline hate him. Maybe if we knew (a lot) more about his past and what was going on in his head it would have been more enjoyable. Also, I'm getting tired of these books trying to put the "Bad Guy" as the victim! I know, in some cases it's true... but we all have crap to deal with. It does not excuse behavior such as burning down a forest, killing someone in the bathroom, contemplating killing people in various ways, etc...

I really expected more out of this, considering it's on so many literary lists for Young Adult. If I was a librian, i wouldn't recommend this to my students (And, i'm definitely going to tell my mom who works in a High School library, this might not be the best. Don't take it off the shelf, but I wouldn't try to sell it either!)

Lighter note: Throughout reading this I couldn't help but picture
this guy

And No, they have nothing to do with each other! But the title and then the huge punching hand just screams Kelso!!

Talk about a Burn about a burn!!! God I miss that show!!!

In honor of Halloween: "You stole my candy, you son of a Beeech!"
(Fez)

[P.M. · Rating 3 out of 5]

Cameron Grady is a 14 year old freshman who is bullied by the Red Coats (the jocks). When he is cornered in the locker room and assaulted and pictures of the assault are circulated through the school, he snaps. The snapping consists of burning a section of the nearby forest and killing the only classmate below him in the school hierarchy. Cameron was a difficult character with whom to empathize. After we see him being bullied, we see him bully his younger brother. He has also survived abuse from his father. The psychologist diagnoses him with a disorder which distances him from his actions. The story strongly depicts the cyclical nature of domestic violence. Cameron reacts with violence because that is what he has learned from his father. This was a very disturbing story.

[Suzanne · Rating 3 out of 5]

I didn't like this one quite well enough to give it four stars, but I think it will definitely resonate with some teen readers, particularly boys who can relate to being bullied by peers at school.

Fast moving with lots of dialogue and the horror of the inhumanity that can all too often be high school. Cameron is small, not a jock, and catches the negative attention of Rich Patterson, captain of the cruelty team. I would like to think that there is much less of this kind of physical and emotional abuse at my high school of more than 3,000 kids, but maybe I am being naive. Wishful thinking of the blind?

I know that sixth grade was quite hellish for my own son, but he had very little physical ill treatment by others. Throwing of staples and bits of paper coupled with ugly names and teasing were plenty bad enough for his stomach to hurt for the better part of 180 days of school. What would I have done if things had gotten so bad for him? Do parents and teachers have to be so clueless about what's really happening in such situations?

Cameron ends up committing two serious crimes in reaction to sexual assault by Patterson and a crony in the locker room documented and shared with the whole school by photos. I'm not sure if the legal ramifications are entirely realistic, but they seem reasonable to me. Is this a cautionary tale for the bullies or the bullied--or for the rest of us who can't quite imagine just how victim can so easily turn to perpetrator, how common sense flies out the window when people feel cornered and without options.

The writing is perhaps a bit pedestrian compared to some of our other Peach candidates, but it will suffice for the target readers. Overall this seems like a hit with students who liked Shattering Glass, What Happened to Cass McBride, and maybe Right Behind You, too.

[Zach H · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book is about Cameron Grady, a high school freshman. Right when he started high school, he is wrongly pegged as a homosexual and tormented by a group of vicious bullies. Slowly, Cameron's mental state spirals downward along with his grades. His mother, who has escaped an abusive marriage, is unable to comprehend the depth of her son's problem in time to intervene.
Cameron's anger burns within him, to the point where he cant stand it. Then, after suffering a vicious and humiliating assault, he turns his anger on another student, killing him. Cameron did not avenge himself though, he had just killed an innocent student. The book goes on describing Cameron's rough life.
When I first started reading this book, I thought that the tone of the book was much lighter. I even compared myself to Cameron in the begining. A tall, long haired high school student. As the book went on, I knew that I was wrong about the tone. "Cameron could deal with lonely, but the kids he went to school with, the kids who ran the school, were brutal." (8) Now, I really underestimated that statement. I thought that it just meant that once and awhile the bullies would took Cameron's lunch money, or do something like that. No, I couldn't have been more wrong. When the author said that the kids were brutal, she meant it! That is when I noticed how dark this book really was.
I thought that it was really interesting how the author made the bullies so brutal. Maybe I found it really brutal because I haven't witnessed any bulling in real life, but this was intense stuff! Even though this isn't a real story, I believe that this book could be based on some real life experiences. After all, The author is an English teacher.
Overall, I really enjoyed the book. I don't think that I have ever read something so dark.

[bjneary · Rating 5 out of 5]

Ouch, this book was so tough to read because you could really see what Cameron was going through and how the bullying really changed him. I can't really say I liked Cameron at the beginning of the book, especially with how mean he was to his brother, Robbie. But I understand why the author did this with her main character who was being bullied mercilessly, day in and day out. Cameron was a normal kid until he hit high school and a bully and his thugs decide to single out Cameron and 1 or 2 others to torture. Cameron loses all of his friends because they are afraid to associate with him. There was a point where Cameron works with a big kid he calls SciFi. They end up becoming friends for a short period of time, when Cameron is being bullied because he was complimented by the PE teacher, SciFi sticks up for him and pushes Cameron's tormentor into lockers. Now both Cameron and SciFi are going to suffer. Cameron begins to lose it after he learns that SciFi was ambushed, beat up and had his teeth knocked out. Cameron snaps and implodes and begins to become harmful. This was an insightful book about what bullying can do to individuals, their families, and how there are so many adults who really let children down when the bullying happens (and afterward) and now with the internet and cell phones, it is so much more damaging, pervasive and sick. A recommended read.

[Hirsch · Rating 4 out of 5]

An important read for every high school student, and parent. Although I didn't like the way the ending simplified the crime. The complexity of the situation, and the emotional strain that bullying takes on an individual imprints heavy on the reader throughout the book, yet the end results are left flat.
I felt my self sympathizing with the character; however I fear that young readers will also sympathize along with the actions the character takes for repercussion. This book should be read along with a parent, or perhaps along with the guidance of a counselor. The moral of the story could possibly go either way, and I think that is because of the contrast in the way the character develops throughout the book and the simplification of the character and the situation in the ending. There are rich descriptions of emotions and actions throughout the book until the end where the consequences of the situation are over simplified. Overall the book is not forgettable, and portrays an important view on the product of negative group think and bullying.

[Anne · Rating 5 out of 5]

Wow, I really liked this book, but reading it was disturbing. It is just so hard to believe that kids are actually bullied like this in school. How can teachers and administrators be so oblivious to what is going on? I work in a private school and I know that kids can be mean, but I don't think anything this bad ever happens. (Maybe I'm just part of the clueless faculty!)

I thought that this book was really well written and Phillips did a great job getting into the head of a 14 year old boy. She expertly tied all of the events of Cameron's life together and made it very believable that he didn't want to tell his Mom or his brother what was going on. Usually in books like this I am frustrated and annoyed that the victim refuses to try to get help, but Phillips built a great case for Cameron's secrecy.

This is a fast read, and one that I think teens will really like. Although the subject matter is distressing, there really isn't anything objectionable that would keep it out of a school library.

[Misha Atai · Rating 5 out of 5]

The author writes "Let him help you, Cameron, his mom says. You need help" (Phillips 93)
I like this story because the author had a mysterious tone. I could not put this book down because it takes this cliche story of a boy being bullied in high school but the actions the main character Cameron does due to the bullying will make you sit at the edge of your seat. An example of this mysterious and negative tone the author sets is "He ignites it and holds it in between his fingertips. The first blush of heat is like a sweet song playing in his blood" (Phillips 99)

I would recommend this book to some kind of authority figure that deals with high school kids such as teachers,principals,parents,counselors and etc. Because this book will truly make them understand why we can't always say something and the effects bullying really has.

[Jesus V · Rating 5 out of 5]

My Book is amazing , I really like the story because it talks about a high school guy that gets bullied by some older guys. He has no friends and the only one he had doesn’t want to be his friend anymore. The reason he doesn’t want to be his friend is because one day some guys write on the restrooms wall that this two friends were in love and they were going out. So that’s the reason why he doesn’t want to be his friend anymore and now his trying to find a way to get rid of those mean guys and get some new friends.

[Riyanna Williams · Rating 5 out of 5]

I did a book report over this book, and I have to say, this book was amazing. It showed how bullying is not just picking on someone, or cyberbulling. It can be something more dangerous and violent, where someone like Cameron chooses to act out of rage, and do something he regrets at the end. This just shows, that people should stand up for themselves, and get help even if they feel that know one is going to listen, because there's someone out there that will.

[Bethany · Rating 3 out of 5]

Cameron Grady is a freshman in high school, and every day is a struggle for him. He is constantly being tormented by Rich Patterson and his friends, emotionally and physically. Cameron's first reaction is to fight and take control of the situation, but that can only lead to more trouble....

[Chris · Rating 4 out of 5]

decent book so far it keeps the reader interested and engaged in the novel makes ya feel like y'all are a part of it

[Emma · Rating 4 out of 5]

Burn is a bold novel that will leave you wanting to read more, or it least that’s how it left me, in this book I was fascinated and didn’t want it to end.
Cameron Grady is a normal highschool freshman, except for the fact that he is Rich Patterson’s personal target, and a big one at that. As he goes through the year, he is constantly mistreated which can drive someone mad if done enough. And Cameron Grady, is mad.
In 2012, Suzanne Phillips was awarded the “Popular Paperbacks for Young Adults” award granted by the American Library Association for Burn. This award was categorized under the theme “Sticks and Stones” and was an honor to win.
When you read the book Burn, you will come to notice that a few characters stick out. Cameron Grady is the main character. Some people, I think, can relate to Cameron more than others. He is an outsider, with not many friends but enough thoughts to keep his mind racing always. Coming from a previously abusive home, he has been through a lot which I find makes him more interesting to read about. Cameron isn’t alone in terms of being a target, however, there is a boy named Pinon, a kid even smaller than Cameron who is everywhere and sees everything. When noticed, Pinon is Rich Patterson’s favorite punching bag. The way I see it, you are either rooting for Pinon the whole way, or view him as a pest, like Cameron sees him. Now let’s talk about Rich Patterson, world class bully and overall threat to the school. No one is safe through Rich’s eyes. In Burn, we never really get a chance to see through Rich’s eyes, which I feel would make the story that much more riveting, if we could see what Rich sees. Everyone in Burn has their own past, their own things to hide, and their own personalities which just make the story tie in together really nicely and make it suspenseful and interesting to read.
All in all, I would give this book ⅘ stars. I loved the intense scenes and the plot, but I do wish we could’ve seen things from other points of view such as Rich’s. Overall, I was hooked, and enjoyed listening to the mind of a murderer.

[Shawnda M. · Rating 3 out of 5]

I wasn't sure how to feel about this book I was really torn. While Suzanne Phillips created a great story that discusses extremely tough issues, and I want to feel great compassion for Cameron, but I'm not sure he deserves my compassion. How can a character be both the hero and the villain? He literally becomes a murderer. That was my struggle.

Cameron the bullied teen deals with both physical and sexual abuse, and post-traumatic stress. I thought she did a great job of describing the post traumatic stress disorder. It was so hard to read how this child felt inside, and know that no one else could hear or see how he was truly feeling. He really needed some help, and someone to fix this horrible situation he was in. I wanted to scream and cry because you could see just how helpless he felt and why he started to "turn" into this other person. At the same time I knew he was going to take someone's life that was why I just couldn't get past my internal emotional moral struggle to truly be able to truly empathize with him.

BURN is a well-written story that may be difficult to read at times, but it has a clear message. Teenagers face hardships on a daily basis at home, at school, and in their everyday lives. These problems can range from not so traumatic to serious abuse and trauma. They moral is they all want someone they can confide in-someone that will listen and really help them! The problem in this story is Cameron finds that person, but it's already too late for him.

[ash · Rating 3 out of 5]

There's a lot of similarities between Cameron and Eric Harris and Dylan Klebold (the perpetrators of the Columbine shooting). I guess there would be similarities between Cameron and most teen mass killers, but it seems like Phillips modeled Cameron after them mostly because of the amount of anger and hate he possessed. The awful thing is, if you're someone who's been bullied, you feel for these kids... UNTIL they start killing people; ESPECIALLY innocent people.

I think Phillips handled this topic pretty well, except maybe the sentence. I don't know about back in 2008 (I was only 10), but here in 2019, no one would get off that easily. Not to say that prison is easy, or that any of this is easy. There are no easy answers.

[Jamie · Rating 3 out of 5]

Written in 2008, this book feels dated, not because I don't think bullying happens anymore, but more because of the type of bullying it is. I asked a teen in my family if people are bullied and called F-- anymore and they said no one would ever use that word. That made me feel good.

But bullying is clearly still happening and toxic masculinity is still causing school shootings and in this case, the sympathy is so on the side of the "bullied" when now the sympathy has swung back again. Not that being bullied isn't a cause of sympathy, but it's hard to fathom a book taking sympathy with the bullied like this coming out now.

One thing that hasn't changed is that adults have no idea what's going on.

[Mardiya Amadou · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book emphasizes on the effects of bullying specifically on a freshman boy who has dealt with past trauma in his family life. I would like to rank this book a 3.5 and not a 4 or 5 because the character seemed to be a little too sinister and unlikeable for a while. Other than that it was really good at emphasizing the internal struggles of a bullied highschool student, searching for a way out of the continuous cycle of torment and suffering.

[Bird'S Opinion · Rating 2 out of 5]

I found myself hating the main character. He's supposed to be the victim, but he just comes off as selfish and jerk-like. The entire read I would be thinking, "He is so annoying." "He plays the victim". The book itself wasn't bad, but its hard to enjoy a book when the main character is like this one.

[Jan · Rating 3 out of 5]

This a very intense book about the realities of school bullying at the upper grade levels. Set in a high school, but could apply to middle school as well. A dorky kid is bullied by the jocks of the school and commits the ultimate crime.

[Britt Buckenroth · Rating 2 out of 5]

I had high hopes for this one. Sadly, the writing just wasn’t great and the story leaves much to be desired.

I like the male protagonist, flawed as he is. His struggle with bullying as he transitions to high school seems very plausible.

Some violence.

[Kaity · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a fantastic read. The author really allows you to get into Cameron's mind and feel what he is feeling throughout the book. The ending was not actually how I expected it to go either, so that was a pleasant surprise.

[Niore Lavier · Rating 5 out of 5]

Mind Blowing.

[Candice Sloan · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book was a very short read, but was very good. I recommend reading it. It is written simply but shows the effect of life long trauma on what is essentially a good person.

[Melody Eastman · Rating 5 out of 5]

I wanna re read this so badly

[Elly Webb]

crazy book. highly recommend if you can take the hard reads

[Anna Plank · Rating 4 out of 5]

In the novel Burn by Suzanne Phillips, Cameron Grady, a fourteen-year-old boy in ninth grade starts of High School in Madison High worse than he ever had expected. Cameron has a mother that is too overprotective, a smaller brother in seventh grade called Robbie, a father that doesn’t live with him anymore because he always treated the two children poorly, and he also has a somewhat stepfather named Randy that is a cop. In the first week of High School, everything went off normal until Cameron’s P.E. teacher has mistaken him for a girl. Of course, the boys on the football team started bullying and teasing him since then, especially Rich Patterson and what seems like his assistant, Murphy. To get thoughts off Cameron’s mind, he always jogged into his favorite forest and played with matches until they burned down to his fingers. Cameron had a lot of passion for fire and running, and those were his favorite things to do since he gets bullied and doesn’t do his homework anymore. Cameron is Patterson’s favorite target besides Pinon, another guy that Cameron did not like. Cameron has to deal with his head getting stuck down the toilet every day or getting a punch in his stomach, and one day Patterson absolutely went a little too far and took pictures of Cameron in the boys' locker room that he didn’t want him to take of him and posted them on the internet. As a result, Cameron had to run into the forest again and play with matches, and the problem with matches and fire is that when he plays with them, he doesn’t think about anything and so that day he accidently burned down the forest. Worst of all, Cameron even killed Pinon in the boys' locker room with his locker lock because of being bullied, and therefore got arrested and took to jail. Overall, bullying impacts a person greatly, like Cameron Grady in the story Burn.

In this story there are various characters that I like; however, I would change the ending of the story a little. Cameron and Robbie are my favorite characters because Cameron never gives up fighting against being bullied, and Robbie is a very caring person. I didn’t like Rich Patterson and his friend Murphy because they were the bullies that affected Cameron to kill a person. Next, the ending of the story isn’t my favorite, because after all Cameron goes to jail because he accidently killed a kid, and he’s only fourteen. I would have preferred the ending if Cameron wouldn’t have gone to jail, and instead, everyone would have understood why he commit the crime. Lastly, I really liked the book because it teaches one a valuable lesson, and I’m looking forward to reading more of Suzanne Philipp’s books.

This novel is satisfying, because it makes one feel like they are the one that is getting bullied and punched in the stomach. My favorite part of the story is when Cameron gathered all his strengths to fight back when Rich Patterson bullied him, and he really didn’t care anymore what people thought about him, particularly Patterson and Murphy. My least favorite part is the ending because Cameron went to jail for murdering Pinon, and it would have been better if the people would have understood what happened to him at school the whole year long. I would recommend this book to anyone who cares and wants to know how horrible it actually feels to get bullied because if more people care, it’s going to happen less. Also, the book is just really enjoyable, and it filled with suspense. In general, this book is pretty amusing and recommended to anyone that enjoys teen novels.

[Jacqui Adams · Rating 3 out of 5]

Characters: Cameron, Robbie, Sci Fi, Rich

Plot: Bullied Teen finally has enough and snaps, killing someone at school

Likes: The teenager and symptoms of into PTSD were very realistic and it felt like this book could have been published today.

Dislikes: The murder was unsatisfying as another bullied kid was killed instead of the bullies that would have made the reader feel more sympathetic to the narrator.

[yaeri · Rating 4 out of 5]

It makes me more wary of bullying. In other words, how can the victims of bullying cope with everyday challenges? It's so painful to realise that they've become a completely different person as a result of it.

[Amccall · Rating 4 out of 5]

"Burn" by Suzanne Phillips is an interesting read. The main character is a fourteen year old boy in ninth grade who is bullied. For high school freshman, Cameron Grady everyday is a horrid day. He seems to be in a bad place at a bad time all the time.
Cameron had grown his hair out during the summer. At sports orientation Cameron's coach saw him from behind and tried to direct him to the girls locker room. The next day captain of the football team, Rich Patterson, and his group of friends, "The red Coats" saw Cameron and started teasing him and calling him Cameron Diaz. Cameron had done absolutely nothing to rhe Red Coats.
It all started when Cameron started high school, he used to be a straight A student and is now slacking and does not care about anything. As The red Coats bullied Cameron he turned to activities that negatively effected him and got him into trouble.
Cameron is use to The Red Coats beating him up and teasing him, but he had experienced one of the worst incidents in the locker room before gym. Cameron did not go to gym that day, instead ran the lake perimeter. He liked running, it got some anger out of him and made him a calmer person.
After what the Red Coats did to Cameron they were arrested and put it jail. Cameron had no desire to go to school at first, but finally goes back after a few weeks.
The first day back, his mom drives him and walks him in, Cameron scans the crowd for a back of a Red Coat so he can get revenge. He had come prepared and was ready to defend himself. With no one in site he heads for his classes. Each teacher seemed to be a little nicer and treat him differently. In gym his teacher moved his locker into his office and told him to change there. Cameron could no longer take the teachers treating him different because of what had happened. All this anger was inside of him and he did something he would regret forever. Hiding the evidence, he thought how this would change his whole life.
"Burn" by Suzanne Phillips is an outstanding fictional book. I recommend Burn by Suzanne Philips for people who like real issues and suspense.