FEEDING THE FIRE
SUMMARY
Feeding
the Fire tells of Jessie, a troubled girl facing the confusion and loneliness of
adolescence while her mother still grieves for her son, Evan, killed four years
ago in a tragic car crash. Jason Hicks, the local bully, begins picking on
Jessie, blaming Evan for the disappearance of his sister, Stephanie, missing
since the night Evan died. Jessie befriends a mysterious loner who introduces
her to fire-setting, a skill she begins to imagine using against Jason Hicks.
But Jessie’s new deviant lifestyle comes at a terrible price, a fact evident
to her mother who must rise through her lingering grief to help. When an old
friend, Zach Taylor, the firefighter who brought Evan into the ER the night he
died, offers his assistance, Dana is forced to face her deepest demons: failure
and guilt.
What
unfolds during the climax is the piecing together of lost fragments, painful
moments, lives lived apart and feelings left unexpressed. What each character
will learn about Evan, and Stephanie Hicks, will put their ideas of family
through one final test, one which will forge new paths of forgiveness and hope.
It is this rebuilding that will open up their hearts to each other, forming an
unshakable bond that will give them new strength, and possibly, a chance at
peace.