Book Review of Burn Baby Burn

 

BIBLIOGRAPHY

Medina, Meg. 2016. BURN BABY BURN. Somerville, MA: Candlewick Press. ISBN 9780763674670.


PLOT SUMMARY

Nora Lopez and her best friend are about to graduate from high school. They plan to make the summer after they graduate the best one of their lives, but issues in Nora’s life, as well as city-wide arsons, electrical blackouts, and a spate of killings make this anything but a happy time in their lives.  

 

CRITICAL ANALYSIS

1977 New York City was an intense, stressful year for its residents; and Meg Medina captures the anxiety perfectly in her young adult novel, BURN BABY BURN. The protagonist is Nora Lopez. She is about to turn 18 and graduate from high school with her best friend Kathleen MacInerney. The author captures the events occurring in the city, arsons, killings, and electrical blackouts, in all their terrible glory. Nora’s younger brother, Hector, is a juvenile delinquent, responsible for some of those aforementioned arsons. Combined with his drug use and dealing, and his abusive relationship with Nora and their mother, Hector is a reflection of many of today’s youth. Nora has to deal with her problems at home while working out her plans for after graduating from high school. The events of 1977 may be a precursor to today’s society, but it is also a predictor of it. Author Meg Medina shows us that our interpersonal relationships are much the same as they were decades ago. Anyone who has a loved one breaking the law, or causing trouble in the home life, will appreciate the emotional churnings that Nora goes through in this novel about family dynamics at work in a troubling world setting.     

 

AWARDS AND REVIEW EXCERPTS

2017 AMELIA BLOOMER Booklist of the Best Feminist Books for Young Readers –

2017 Los Angeles Book Prize, Finalist

2017 YALSA Top Ten Fiction for Young Adults

BOOKLIST starred review: “Powerfully moving, this stellar piece of historical fiction emphasizes the timeless concerns of family loyalty and personal strength while highlighting important issues that still resonate today.”

KIRKUS starred review: “An important story of one of New York City’s most dangerous times.”

SCHOOL LIBRARY JOURNAL starred review: “Medina uses Nora’s story to seamlessly connect readers to an unforgettable period in history, the setting leaving readers thirsting for more information about the summer of 1977.”

 
CONNECTIONS

* Topics related to this include urban studies, feminism, police-community relationships, mental health, juvenile offenders, housing insecurity, and other contemporary issues.  

* If you like BURN BABY BURN, you may also enjoy:

Acevedo, Elizabeth. 2020. THE POET X. ISBN 9780062662811.

Meyers, Walter Dean. 2013. DARIUS & TWIG. ISBN 9780061728259. 

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