Burning Up by Caroline B. Cooney (pg. 50- 230)

In my next excert from the book "Burning Up" by Caroline B. Cooney, Macy (the protagonist) is recieving a call from Reverend Warren a few months after the fire that Macy was involved in. She had sent the church packs of Crayola Crayons because she remembered how much they meant to her as a kid, and how much they would mean to all of the poor children in the gettho town that are not even safe at the church.

When the phone rang, she hoped it was Austin.But it was Reverend
Warren."Macy," he said. His voice was very full, as if she were an entire
congregation and needed strengthening.She was so pleased to hear from him."The
children in afternoon church care are enjoying the boxes of crayons you sent
them, Macy."She'd spent her untouched birthday money on new crayons, worrying
whether to buy the boxes with eight crayons or the boxes with twenty-four. She
could afford more boxes of 8, but then that left out the really good colors.
Finally she bought some of each. "

I liked how much the story of the 9 year old boy who was stabbed to death at that Sunday school (see previous blog entry) impacted her life, not only at the moment when she saw her burnt hair, but also later on in life when she could have forgotten about that incident. I also liked how she described Reverend Warrens voice as being "full" as if he were speaking to a whole congregation.Once again, Caroline B. Cooney sets the reader in a situation where the reader realizes how little some problems really are when they are compaired to other peoples lives.

Burning Up by Caroline B. Cooney

I have just finished the book "Burning Up" by Caroline B. Cooney and I thought it was great! Caroline B.Cooney is by far my favorite author, and every book of hers has a new adventure, romance, mystery and comedy.
In my excert from the book , eight teenagers had just been volunteering to fix up a old church in a bad neighborhood. When an arson set the church on fire, the eight teens were trapped in the church while it was burning down. They were trying to escape throught the back bulkhead doors, but they were chained shut from the out side. The protagonist , Macey, has just had her long brown hair burnt off durring the fire, but she was saved by her crush, Austin. I couldn't imagine what that must feel like! I used to have hair down to my butt before I cut it, and to imagine it being on fire then not there. .Whoa!

"'. . .If we're sure that everyone is just shaken up and not hurt, I'm going to
send you on home' [Reverend Warren] said to Grace, 'You are right. Chaining the
bulkhead doors was stupid.But somebody broke in a few months ago when we had the
children here, and he stabbed a nine-year-old. The property committee was more
scared of who could break in than they were of fire.' Macey
forgot her hair. What was hair? A
nine-year-old stabbed in a Sunday school room.An arsonist who had hit two other
churches and a temple. Hell itself breathes out Contagion to this
world. Venita walked Macey a few feet away from the
others.'Don't cry,' she said.'Your hair will grow back.' Venita tilted her head
and gave Macey a mischievous grin.'And one nice
thing.' 'Oh, sure,' said Macey. 'Texas
is real proud of saving you,' said Venita. 'He's your man,
whether him and you want it or not.'

I like this excert because she realizes that her hair is nothing compaired to a 9 year old being stabbed to death in Sunday school.I also like how they quote Shakespeare's Hamelet. I think Caroline B. Cooney wants the reader to put themselves in Macey's shoes and see how small some problems in our lifes are.

Cooney,Caroline. Burning Up.New York:Bantam Doubleday Dell Publishing Group Inc., 1999