THEY'RE ALL NAMED WILDFIRE

by Nancy Springer ‧ RELEASE DATE: April 1, 1989

When Shanterey Lucas' family moves into the duplex adjoining the Wetzel family's home, Jenny Wetzel is taken aback to discover that they're blacks--the first to move into this rural town near Harrisburg, Pennsylvania. At first, Jenny joins her white friends in heckling the Lucases; but her innate sense of justice--plus a genuine friendship that springs up between her and Shanterey (among other things, they both love horses and collect miniatures of them)--soon leads her to stand up against the other kids and most of the community for the sake of their friendship. Still, an old neighbor's virulent prejudice leads to an ugly confrontation; and though both girls have grown through their friendship, the Lucases finally give up the struggle and move back to Harrisburg. Though the story is openly didactic and the characters who represent prejudice simplistically drawn, Springer--as she did in Not on a White Horse (1988)--tells a dramatic story with an important theme and carefully rendered, three-dimensional main characters; Jenny's dawning realization that her own attitudes are based on misconceptions, as well as the girls' growing regard for one another, is especially well presented.

Pub Date: April 1, 1989

ISBN: N/A

Page Count: 112

Publisher: Atheneum

Review Posted Online: N/A

Kirkus Reviews Issue: March 15, 1989

Categories: CHILDREN'S