Things that burn

High school student Harper wishes that she still lived in Los Angeles where there are more opportunities for acting, which is her passion. She is inspired by actress and humanitarian Audrey Hepburn and has just made a new friend, Dakota, who is nonbinary and cued as Black and who speaks out about climate change. Harper is trying to get used to the California town that she and her father have moved to with Ara, Harper's new stepmother; Harper's mom has moved to Atlanta. Harper and her dad are White, while Ara is from Morocco--and very pregnant. Harper has always been close with her dad, but she misses her mom and is ambivalent about becoming an older sister. When wildfires blaze, her firefighter dad must leave them to go do his job. Harper and Ara are thrown together uncomfortably as they wait to find out whether and where the fire will spread; fortunately, they escape when it threatens to engulf their home. The situation stresses everyone out, but luckily, Dakota and their capable mom are at the emergency shelter and step in to assist Harper and Ara at a critical time. This novel for reluctant readers in first-person free verse strongly and realistically portrays a young woman who experiences family problems and larger dangers. Emotional turmoil and environmental threats are skillfully handled in this accessible novel in verse. (Verse novel. 12-18) Copyright (c) Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.