Simeon's Fire

As a rash of suspicious barn fires target his Amish community, a young boy wrestles with a frightening secret in this simply told, deeply affecting novel from the author of A STONE IN MY HAND and THE CALLING.On the Amish farm where he lives and works with his family, ten-year-old Simeon Zook hears and feels things other people miss — things like the quiet sounds of birds and animals or even the subtle sense that something is not quite right. It is just that kind of unease that draws him out to the barn one night, the night his passionate concern for the family's animals collides with the glare of a stranger's flashlight, a sudden crackling blaze, and two harsh, threatening voices that scare him into silence, well after the barn has burned to the ground. Surely Simeon's family will be safer if he tells no one what he saw and heard? But then another fire breaks out — in the neighbor's barn, where the Zooks' horses and cows are temporarily housed. . . .With compassion and insight into a child's inner struggles and the nuances of Amish traditions, Cathryn Clinton tells a powerful coming-of-age story of family, loyalty, and faith in the face of fear and prejudice — and the enduring strength of one boy's dreams. Read more