Tillmon County Fire
Publisher
Eerdmans Books for Young Readers
Publication Year
2009
ISBN
9780802853455
Pages
175 pages
Genre
realism
Format
novel
Item Type
Fiction
Annotation
In tiny Tillmon County, where it seems like nothing ever happens, a mysterious fire rocks the lives of the teenagers who live there. Who set the fire that night, and more importantly, who owns the reasons behind it? As the story unfolds, the lines between truth and fiction, motive and happenstance, guilt and innocence blur. This novel-in-stories is told sequentially in the voices of its disparate cast of characters: a frustrated adoptee, a gay teenager, a big-city kid who is new in town and wishes he were back in Manhattan, a pregnant store clerk, and a boy with autism who is more at the center of events than he imagines.
Grade Level
6-8; 9-12
Lexile Measure
1060L
Diversity Topics
Family Relationships; LGBTQ (Gender and Sexuality); Disability and Health; Adoption; Family violence; Gay/Lesbian; Developmental disability; adopted teenager; adoptive parents; adoptive family; abusive father; gay; gay teenager; autism; autistic teenager
Main Character
male teenagers; female teenagers
Race/Ethnicities
Asian (Chinese) / White
Family Formation
multiple
LGBTQ+
gay male
Awards
Rainbow List, 2010 Fiction
Keywords
religion; Christianity; hardware store; twins; fire; motive; pregnancy; arson
Diversity Impact
indirect
STARS Citation
Ehrenberg, Pamela, "Tillmon County Fire" (2009). Diverse Families. 1835.
https://stars.library.ucf.edu/diversefamilies/1835