The Boy in the Burning House - by Tim Wynne-Jones (Paperback)

About the Book

The Boy in the Burning House is the 2002 winner of the Edgar Award for Best Young Adult Mystery.

Book Synopsis

An Edgar Award Winner

Two years after his father's mysterious disappearance, Jim Hawkins is coping -- barely. Underneath, he's frozen in uncertainty and grief. What did happen to his father? Is he dead or just gone? Then Jim meets Ruth Rose. Moody, provocative, she's the bad-girl stepdaughter of Father Fisher, Jim's father's childhood friend and the town pastor, and she shocks Jim out of his stupor when she tells him her stepfather is a murderer. "Don't you want to know who he murdered?" she asks. Jim doesn't. Ruth Rose is clearly crazy -- a sixteen-year-old misfit. Yet something about her fierce conviction pierces Jim's shell. He begins to burn with a desire for the truth, until it becomes clear that it may be more unsettling than he can bear. What is the real meaning of the strange prayers Father Fisher intones behind the door of his private sanctuary? Why does Ruth Rose suddenly disappear? And what really happened thirty years ago when a boy died in a burning house?

The Boy in the Burning House is the winner of the 2002 Edgar Award for Best Young Adult Mystery.

Review Quotes

"Wynne-Jones builds an action-packed thriller around the mysterious disappearance of a Canadian farmer . . . His son, Jim, starts to suspect foul play . . . after a teenage acquaintance, "crazy" Ruth Rose, makes some startling accusations . . . Will keep the pages turning." --Publishers Weekly

"Wynne-Jones weaves a strong, sensitively observed cast, plus themes of inner conflict, unlikely friendships, and the enduring power of hate, into a powerful tale." --Kirkus Reviews

"A gripping, fast-moving plot that offers the pure adrenaline rush of a thriller." --Starred, The Horn Book

About the Author

Tim Wynne-Jones's critically acclaimed fiction includes Some of the Kinder Planets, winner of the Boston Globe-Horn Book Award for fiction. He lives in Perth, Ontario.