When Ruth Rose surprises Jim while he's taking down a beaver dam on his farm one day he thinks she's playing some sort of elaborate game on him. She has been spying on Jim and his mother for long enough to know both of their schedules. Freaky. Even freakier, Ruth-Rose insists that Jim's father, Hub, who's been missing for a year, is dead. And not just dead, murdered --- by Ruth Rose's step-father, Father Fisher, to be exact.

Jim doesn't want to believe Ruth Rose, but when the crazy-bad girl tells him about a fire that links Father and Hub, he begins to think that maybe Ruth Rose isn't completely insane in this case and that there may be a connection between the long-ago fire and his father's disappearance.

THE BOY IN THE BURNING HOUSE is a fast paced, thrilling ride that begins
quietly and builds intensity as the pages fly by. At its center, is Jim Hawkins, a completely average young guy who finds he can no longer place his faith in his knowledge of the world. And with only Ruth Rose to help him piece together all the mysteries, Jim feels as if he's gotten into something he can't control. He knows he must find the truth or he won't have a future.

Tim Wynne-Jones sets his tale in the most unlikely of places --- a quiet, isolated town in rural Ontario --- and plops the reader into boiling emotions and the swift moving currents of events both past and present. The result is a wild plot filled with suspense. The reader will be panting for breath as Jim gets caught up in a series of events he cannot fathom or control until the story ends!

--- Reviewed by Cassia Van Arsdale

Summary:
Two years after his father mysteriously disappeared, Jim Hawkins' life is leading toward uncertainty and grief. He then meats this moody, punky stepdaughter of Father Fisher. She was known as Ruth Rose. She shocks him by telling him that his stepfather is a murderer. Jim of course was in denial, but Ruth Rose asks him this question, and that was all to arouse Jim's suspicion. In spite of his fear, he wants Rose to tell him the truth. As Jim gets closer to the truth everyday, danger is also closing in. Jim then must decide if this is worth it. Should he risk his life and find out what happened to his father or should he keep a sacred memory?

Why I liked this book:
I'm not very used to reading books about killing. I never would have thought it would be crime. It has been a long time for me when I have read a crime book, and it just sounded good to me. The books I'm used to are all science fiction, and it really has good suspense like "Don't you want to know who he murdered?" or when somebody sprayed these words "Father killed Hub" in anger red. It's just like an entire new taste to me when I was reading that crazy scaring book.

My favorite part of the book:
It was really at the end when Jim was captured, and had to escape out a mysterious, maze-like cave. I had predicted that Jim would get out of course, and would be like those good ending books. One thing that aroused my attention though was the action in the air. It had so many turns I was confused, but I really liked it even though I had to read it twice. This book took the breath out of me!