Simeon's Fire

by Clinton, Cathryn

• ISBN13: 9780763627072
• ISBN10: 0763627070
• Format: Hardcover
• Copyright: 2005-10-11
• Publisher: Candlewick

Summary

As a rash of suspicious barn fires target his Amish community, a young boy wrestles with a frightening secret in this simply told, deeply affecting novel from the author of A STONE IN MY HAND and THE CALLING. On the Amish farm where he lives and works with his family, ten-year-old Simeon Zook hears and feels things other people miss things like the quiet sounds of birds and animals or even the subtle sense that something is not quite right. It is just that kind of unease that draws him out to the barn one night, the night his passionate concern for the family's animals collides with the glare of a stranger's flashlight, a sudden crackling blaze, and two harsh, threatening voices that scare him into silence, well after the barn has burned to the ground. Surely Simeon's family will be safer if he tells no one what he saw and heard? But then another fire breaks out in the neighbor's barn, where the Zooks' horses and cows are temporarily housed. . . . With compassion and insight into a child's inner struggles and the nuances of Amish traditions, Cathryn Clinton tells a powerful coming-of-age story of family, loyalty, and faith in the face of fear and prejudice and the enduring strength of one boy's dreams.

Author Biography

Cathryn Clinton is the author of the critically acclaimed and award-winning A STONE IN MY HAND, as well as THE CALLING, her first novel, which was named a Publisher's Weekly "Flying Start." Of SIMEON'S FIRE, she says, "Has fear kept you from figuring out the right thing to do, much less doing it? I've struggled with this, and like Simeon, I've found, to my surprise, that new truths can come through familiar voices. If we can still ourselves to listen to our hearts and our communities, we will find the way to love."

Excerpts

"But why would someone do that?" Jonas asked. "Set a fire?"

"For all sorts of reasons. Some people set fires to get insurance money, but I realize that isn't the case with you Amish. Sometimes it's firebugs."

"Firebugs?" Jonas asked.

"People who love to set fires." The man paused and cleared his throat. "But as these fires have been on Amish farms, we have to consider that it could be someone who doesn't like the Amish."

Simeon was looking at Grossmudder, and he saw the man's words knock the air from her. Simeon saw her face flatten and her mouth drop open. Sylvan was open-mouthed, too. They looked like fish, Simeon thought, hooked and left on the ground by the pond. Should I say something? Simeon thought.

Simeon turned and looked at his father and saw the yellowy shine on his face. Daat was looking even more like Uncle Daniel. Simeon saw the quiver in his mother's left hand and her stooped shoulders, and the bulging pulse in the right vein of Jonah's cheek. His fear was drained down through his feet. His legs slackened, and he felt a weight in his ribs. His chest ached, fierce with a heavy love.

No, he thought quickly. He could never let anything happen to them. There was no doubt in his mind that the fire setters would harm them. None at all. He knew they would come and burn their house. And he couldn't let them do that to his family. What if they burned one of them this time?

The man's words on the night of the fire swirled in Simeon's mind and he wanted to shut them out, but instead he pushed them deeper inside, down into his aching chest. Surely it was the best way for them all. He was keeping them safe, wasn't he?

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SIMEON’S FIRE by Cathyrn Clinton. Copyright (c) 2005 by Cathyrn Clinton. Published by Candlewick Press, Inc., Cambridge, MA.

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Excerpted from Simeon's Fire by Cathryn Clinton
All rights reserved by the original copyright owners. Excerpts are provided for display purposes only and may not be reproduced, reprinted or distributed without the written permission of the publisher.