Assessment:
Plot: Nicky Wright is a 12-year-old fifth grader who isn’t very good at anything and whose father is far more absent than present in his life. That changes when a school assignment results in Nicky going to work with his dad, a firefighter and Nicky is introduced to the intricacies of the firehouse and the dangers of his dad’s job when he goes into a burning building to rescue a baby and almost dies. Trotta is a retired NYFD firefighter who spent months on the rescue and recovery effort after 9/11.
Prose/Style: The prose is more for adults than for kids and reflects the author’s interests and concerns with a purely grown-up insight into the life of a preteen. But kids who are interested in fires, firefighting, and the training necessary to do the job will find here a wealth of authentic experience and information. The text is accessible to middle schoolers in terms of reading level.
Originality: Nicky’s Fire is as much about firefighting as it is about Nicky and his dad forging a relationship. Trotta talks about the job from an expert’s point of view and offers the reader an inside look at the detailed workings of the firehouse and the techniques and strategies involved in fighting an urban fire. Trotta’s passion for the art and craft of firefighting is obvious throughout the book.
Character Development/Execution: Nicky is a typical 12-year-old with all of the insecurities of that difficult age and the added challenge of having a father who has to work all the time. The day at the fire station gives Nicky a chance to connect with his father (and vice versa). It’s the “don’t tell your mother” moments that let the reader know Steve and Nicky’s reticence with each other is on the mend.
Date Submitted: August 22, 2021
Steve Canipe (Educator) has just reviewed Nicky's Fire.
Rating: 5 out of 5 stars
Full Text:
Nicky’s Fire is a book written for younger readers but I found it very poignant as a father. Nicky’s dad is a firefighter who is working a second job to help his family survive and thrive. What is not so apparent at first is that these two jobs take him away from being there for Nicky, including being his baseball tutor. This situation comes to head when Nicky’s class gets assigned a project to do a project about their parent’s careers. Different students have their parents come as a “show-and-tell” prop in addition to the written and oral student report. After some trepidation, Nicky asks his dad if he can go to work with him and observe, first-hand, what he does. After some back and forth, Nicky does get to go to the firehouse and discover a totally different side of his very staid father when he is with his firefighter brothers. The other firefighters adopt Nicky into the “brotherhood” and that elevates them and also his dad in Nicky’s mind. A broader definition of family is developing in the reader’s mind as these folks interact for the common good.
The firehouse totally accepts Nicky and helps him broaden his prospective of his dad’s work life. The interactions of father and son are heart-warming and mirror what many a similar interaction has experienced. A fire training academy, a dangerous fire the engine company fights, and a real-life fire experience with Nicky rounds out some of the interactions. Similar interactions between other children and their dads are peripheral to the main story, but serve to show that Nicky’s experiences are not unique.
Ultimately the dad has a different kind of father-son talk and each of them develops a new perspective that the reader feels in a visceral way. Soon money is not the only thing that is important but also relationships, parental love, family responsibility, and other feel-good interactions are explored.
The book is a great read for kids and parents but maybe particularly for dads and sons. Would be great to read together and have this discussion between the two parties. There might be some angst and parts of story will be hard for both parent (dad) and child (son). While this is focused mainly on male-bonding, it is a broader story that has applicability for various parental/child groupings. Definitely a thumbs up for reading.
Links:
Additional Questions:
Will you adopt this title for a course, curriculum, or classroom? No
Will you recommend that your students read or purchase this title? Yes
Thank you,
The NetGalley Team
Nicky’s Fire not only teaches the reader about the excitement and camaraderie of a fire department, but it delivers an engaging story of the importance of family and friendship.” –Sublime Book Review
