The Fire, The Water, and Maudie McGinn
The Fire, The Water, and Maudie McGinn by Sally J. Pla is an absolutely captivating story. I could not put the book down for one second. Pla did a beautiful job of crafting a first person narrative of Maudie that draws the reader into her world and her struggle to figure out not only what she is capable of, but to uncover if the lies she is told are true. The narrative itself is a mixture of prose and verse with at times short chapters that keep the narrative moving and the reader wanting to quickly move to the next scene to see how the story will unfold. I simply could not stop reading until the end.
Maudie is thirteen years old and is autistic. At the opening of the novel, she has just finished seventh grade and lives in Texas with her mother and step-dad. During the summer, she travels to California to stay with her father for the summer – all part of the divorce agreement. Throughout the story, you learn that Maudie’s parents were teens when Maudie was born and while they did get married and attempted to make it work, it ultimately was doomed from the start as a young child and no support system. Pla’s first person narration allows readers to experience some of the fears and struggles of those who are autistic and struggle with sensory overload.
The larger, overarching conflict in the story is that Maudie is keeping a secret, well two secrets, but the biggest one isn’t revealed until the end to her father. It is piece by piece that this secret is revealed to the reader —Ron, Maudie’s step-dad, is verbally and physically abusive to Maudie. This is a note of caution for parents depending on the experiences of your own children and any emotional or mental response that it may trigger for your reader. Unfortunately, Maudie’s mother is also verbally abusive – in my opinion. Maudie is stuck in a tornado of shame, embarrassment, and fear due to the treatment she receives from Ron and her mother.
Summer is changing everything for Maudie. A fire that burns down her father’s cabin forces them to return to her father’s hometown and to spend the summer in a rundown RV near the beach. Maudie’s father must earn a living, so while he is off working Maudie has been learning to surf with the desire to surprise her father and to show that she is capable of doing something. When Maudie’s mother and step-dad show up a day early to take her back to Texas, Maudie makes a decision to stand-up for herself. This summer she has come to realize that all the things her mother and step-dad say to her are not true and that she is capable of more.
The trauma experienced by Maudie by her mother and step-dad is not to be understated. While there is nothing super graphic in the violence and there are no actual curse words – just references to swearing – the words and physical abuse portrayed can be intense which is part of what makes the story so compelling. It is important for stories like this to be portrayed in literature for readers so that students who have classmates who are autistic or neurodivergent – can have a glimpse into that world and develop a sense of compassion and empathy. Additionally, these people are also often the recipients of abuse and neglect and awareness is needed.
Noteworthy Quotes:
“It’s hard to become a capable person when your mom is always reminding the world that you’re not” (5).
There is a scene in which Maudie’s is describing her mom’s Youtube channel and how she only chooses pictures of Maudie crying when she was little to display. She discusses her therapy sessions with a therapist who was awful to her and her mom’s response “Then Mom would say, did Mrs. Jills have any idea what it was like to be a single mom to a kid like me, working two jobs to make end meet and pay for all this extra therapy and doctor BS?” (61).
“And I’m here with Dad, my favorite person in the world. [...] And I’m safe from Ron and Mom” (72).
“A good many things in this world are actually not that scary,” she says, “if you let yourself get a good clean look” (114).
Maudie’s dad is actually a great father figure in the book. It is clear that he cares deeply for Maudie and from the very beginning of the novel he is clearly trying to get her to reveal what is bothering her. He helps her through a panic attack (her mother would yell at her to stop when this happened). “[...] you got right through it, right out the other side. You always will, you know. The panic always subsides. Eventually” (130). Later in the novel, he also talks with Maudie to show that has worth no matter what cruel things Ron and her mom said and did to her (318).
Maudie’s friend Paddi shares some advice her mom always gives her, “Mom says you can’t get so upset about all the troubles in the world that you give up doing what’s right! She says we have to speak up! Keep up the good fight! (154-155).
There is a reference to meditation and mindfulness classes – Paddie has ADHD and discusses what she does (202).
“Their anger is their problem, inside them. They are what’s wrong. Not you” (211).
“I want to teach myself that the good words are important to remember. I’ve only ever focused on the shame words before” (241).
“Up till now, I figured it was all my fault when Mom and Ron got angry with me. I lived in dread, shame words circling my head. But you know what? I’m not so sure anymore that those shame words are right” (275).
“Locking feelings away inside, the way Mom taught me? That doesn’t work. I know that now” (323).
The novel ends with Ron and her mom in therapy. Maudie is not permanently living with her father in California. There are even resources at the end of the novel with additional information about autism and reporting abuse. Overall, I would recommend this novel but with a note of caution that your older tween and teen readers would be able to handle the content of the novel much better.
