Christmas. Heâs sitting in the third row, next to Mom and James. Dad is in the front row, of course. Where else would the mayor sit? He says I helped him win the election.
Terry is in jail. Dr. Ford and I talk about him sometimes. I know that if I donât get the fire starting under control, I could end up there too.
Even after everything Terry did or tried to do to me, I still hope he gets help while heâs in prison. Dr. Ford thinks itâs a good sign that I feel that way. He says it shows that Iâm developing empathy, which is another way of saying that Iâve got a heart.
No matter how old I get to be, I know Iâll always be amazed by fire. Dr. Ford says thatâs okay too.
âFire is elemental,â he said in our session last week. âPerhaps thatâs why it captures the human imagination.â
That reminded me of something Dad used to say when I was a little kid, watching him start a fire in our fireplace-âFire creates, but it destroys too.â
This summer, a lot of stuff got destroyed, but other stuffâgood stuff, hopeful stuffâgot created.
Acknowledgments
A big thank you to all the young people Iâve met during school visits who have shared their stories about playing with fire.
Special thanks to Dr. Kenneth R. Fineman, a California psychologist who treats young firestarters, and who made time to answer my questions.
Many thanks also to my friends at the Kahnawake Fire Brigade. Firefighter John Rice gave me a great tour of the station and introduced me to the world of firefighting. Assistant Fire Chief Bryan Deer and firefighter Cheryl Montour patiently answered further questions.
Thanks to the wonderful team at Orca Book Publishers, especially Melanie Jeffs for her fine editorâs eye and ear.
Thanks, too, to my friend Viva Singer, for letting me talk out another story. So did my husband Michael Shenker and my daughter Alicia Melamed. I love you both too much.
Monique Polak has written numerous novels for youth. Many of them are, like Pyro , set in the Montreal area, where she lives and teaches English and Humanities at Marianopolis College. Monique also works as a freelance journalist.
o rca currents
For more information on all the books
in the Orca Currents series, please visit
www.orcabook.com
Terry is in jail. Dr. Ford and I talk about him sometimes. I know that if I donât get the fire starting under control, I could end up there too.
Even after everything Terry did or tried to do to me, I still hope he gets help while heâs in prison. Dr. Ford thinks itâs a good sign that I feel that way. He says it shows that Iâm developing empathy, which is another way of saying that Iâve got a heart.
No matter how old I get to be, I know Iâll always be amazed by fire. Dr. Ford says thatâs okay too.
âFire is elemental,â he said in our session last week. âPerhaps thatâs why it captures the human imagination.â
That reminded me of something Dad used to say when I was a little kid, watching him start a fire in our fireplace-âFire creates, but it destroys too.â
This summer, a lot of stuff got destroyed, but other stuffâgood stuff, hopeful stuffâgot created.
Acknowledgments
A big thank you to all the young people Iâve met during school visits who have shared their stories about playing with fire.
Special thanks to Dr. Kenneth R. Fineman, a California psychologist who treats young firestarters, and who made time to answer my questions.
Many thanks also to my friends at the Kahnawake Fire Brigade. Firefighter John Rice gave me a great tour of the station and introduced me to the world of firefighting. Assistant Fire Chief Bryan Deer and firefighter Cheryl Montour patiently answered further questions.
Thanks to the wonderful team at Orca Book Publishers, especially Melanie Jeffs for her fine editorâs eye and ear.
Thanks, too, to my friend Viva Singer, for letting me talk out another story. So did my husband Michael Shenker and my daughter Alicia Melamed. I love you both too much.
Monique Polak has written numerous novels for youth. Many of them are, like Pyro , set in the Montreal area, where she lives and teaches English and Humanities at Marianopolis College. Monique also works as a freelance journalist.
o rca currents
For more information on all the books
in the Orca Currents series, please visit
www.orcabook.com
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