Fire on the Wind

by Linda Crew

Grades 7 up


Estora, known as Storie, is 13 and living in a logging camp in the Oregon forest with her family when the great fire of 1933 breaks out. Crew creates a sweeping panoramic view of the fire's terrifying impact on the Northwest while telling a suspenseful and satisfying tale of young love and family survival.

Genres: Historical Fiction, Teen, Young Adult

208 pages, Mass Market Paperback

First published January 1, 1995

About the author

My early books were for young readers, and perhaps my best-known is my first, Children of the River. Set against the backdrop of the Cambodian refugee crisis of 1979, it’s still used in schools and English-as-a-second-language classes across the country twenty-seven years since publication. My two most recent—Brides of Eden: a True Story Imagined and A Heart for Any Fate: Westward to Oregon 1845—were published as cross-over titles, and I suspect have been read by more adults than teenagers.

With my new book, I have had to take a completely different turn. When I inadvertently became addicted to both Oxycodone and Xanax after undergoing total knee replacement surgery, there was suddenly no material more compelling to me than my own survival and healing. And when I realized the extent to which the problem of addiction to prescription drugs was affecting people all across the nation, I knew I needed to speak up and be at least one of the people telling this story. If the sharing of my pharmaceutically-induced trainwreck can comfort somebody else or, even better, help save them from heading down this horrible path in the first place, it will help me feel that perhaps some good can come of my past four years.

Reviews

[QNPoohBear · Rating 4 out of 5]

Thirteen-year-old Estora (Storie) is proud to be a logger's daughter in 1933, during the difficult times of the Great Depression. She loves everything about the woods that are her Oregon home, especially the animals and the peaceful vales. Her biggest problem is that her father doesn't seem to understand that she's growing up or he understands something she doesn't about growing up, Storie isn't sure which, but she knows she wants to go to High School to study literature and she likes sharing poetry with the handsome Irishman Flynn Casey, both things her father doesn't approve of. Storie also worries about her little brother, who dreams of being a logger and keeping him from getting into man-sized trouble. When a forest fire breaks out miles away from her home, Storie and the other kids aren't too worried, until the fire spreads and their fathers go off to fight the fire. Soon the fire is a raging inferno and threatens everything Storie loves. Storie must grow up quickly and be brave enough to stand whatever happens. The story concludes in 1994, with Storie sharing the events of that fateful summer with her grandchildren and teaching them about the reforestation project. Linda Crew's writing style is a little terse but her stories are full of excellent detail. I could easily picture the logging camp, the forest and the horrible fire. I could identify with Storie's love of animals and literature and her worries about the future. The final chapter is especially good because it tells what happens to the characters while still maintaining plot and characterization. The subject of the Tillamook Burn of 1933 is not something I have read about before so I found this novel compelling reading.

[Danielle · Rating 3 out of 5]

This story is based around a real fire in Oregon in August 1933. It's a day-by-day account of the progression of the fire from one logging camp to another, told from the point of view of fourteen-year-old Storie.

While the account of the oppressive heat and the daily chores dragged a little, I really appreciate Storie, and her questioning of her father's ideas. Her father thinks she's done enough schooling and it's time to earn some money. She wants to maybe go to college someday. What about doing such a dangerous job cutting down big, old, beautiful trees when you say you love the forest?

Then there's a young logger with new ideas like planting a new tree for every one they cut down...

What I especially love about this story is that the final chapter jumps ahead to 1994, and we do get to find out what happens to Storie after all her questioning and wondering.

[Erin]

Another placeholder book. I read a book in the early '90s about a young teen who lived in a trailer (or camper) with her dad and younger sibling. Her dad was a forest ranger (or logger? or park counsellor? or?). And there was a boy (named Aaron? Jesse? I'm convinced the boy in every book from the early '90s was named Jesse) who saw the main character in her bra. Or maybe a bikini? And I think there was a forest fire. And this is the closest book I can find, but I'm not convinced it's actually the one. I wished I had kept the reading logs they made us write in school. =\

[Isabel · Rating 4 out of 5]

I picked up this book again after a few years and it was a nice refreshing read

[Caitlin · Rating 4 out of 5]

Fire on the Wind is a love song to the woods of Oregon and a tribute to the Great Tillamook Burn. Every child in Oregon grew up hearing about the burn and seeing remnants of it as they drove to the beach on a weekend holiday. This book tells the story of the burn through the eyes of a thirteen year old girl who lives at a logger camp.

Estora is sweet and oh so confused as she's trying to navigate her way into the world of grownups. The only role model she had at the logger's camp has run away with a logger, never to be seen again. The women of the camp whisper, telling her she's grown up into a beautiful young woman, and she can see the same admiration in the eyes of the young loggers.

When the burn reaches the camp, everything Estora has every loved if taken away from her. But the question is, will she and her family escape the fire?

Honestly, I love this little book. It reminds me so much of the towering trees that line the Sunset corridor in Oregon. The setting of the book is absolutely gorgeous and my grandparents would tell me about the burn. I have family members who were part of the replanting - school children driving out to the former forests to plant trees and restore the beauty of their state.

The book is charming but the epilogue is a little preachy.

[Jen · Rating 4 out of 5]

I enjoyed this young adult historical fiction. It is set in 1933, and I learned a little about family life in a logging community. The main character, 13-year old Estoria (Storie), is transitioning out of the childhood stage of life, and questions the "padded" answers she has always been given. She also is given more responsibilities, and it is fun to read about how she accomplishes tasks and jobs she has never had to do before--even when situations are hard or dangerous. It is through her eyes that I love and admire her mother--and am inspired to be a better mother myself. Her mother has the perfect blend of strength and love, and encourages Stormie to mature and accept this new stage in her life. The dynamics between the parents is beautiful-- an old fashion relationship where the mother and father are both equal--yet each partner has distinct, important responsibilities.

[Brook Keller · Rating 3 out of 5]

The book is really interesting in many ways. The date is set in 1933 in Oregon, it is about a thirteen year old girl named Estora, or Storie, who lives in a camp filled with loggers. You get to read about what happens when you live in a logging camp. The way they talk is actually what they would sound back then. In many ways i thought this book was neat.

[Christy · Rating 4 out of 5]

Estora, known as Storie, is 13 and living in a logging camp in the Oregon forest with her family when the great fire of 1933 breaks out. Crew creates a sweeping panoramic view of the fire's terrifying impact on the Northwest while telling a suspenseful and satisfying tale of young love and family survival.

[Ariel · Rating 3 out of 5]

The protagonist of this book was two years older than my great-grandmother, growing up in the same area involved in the same logging industry, so I was delighted to have this peak into the Oregon of her childhood now that she is gone and can't tell me her own stories.

[Krista the Krazy Kataloguer · Rating 5 out of 5]

Children survive a forest fire in 1953 Oregon.

[Becky · Rating 3 out of 5]

A sweet story about a young girl in an Oregon logging camp the summer of 1953. A fire breaks out and threatens ttheir home and their livelihood.

[Leslie Conner · Rating 4 out of 5]

A terrifically gripping story about the Tillamook burn. Great characters, interesting details and historical references. Great read for intermediate students

[G R · Rating 5 out of 5]

A very good book