PICTURE BOOK BIOGRAPHY REVIEW: Ablaze: The Story of America's First Female Smokejumper by Jessica Lawson & Sarah Gonzales
ABOUT THE BOOK
With her family, she spent summers sailing the Salton Sea and backpacking the Sierra Nevada Mountains. As she grew older, her love of nature only grew. So when the heat rose each fire season and the blazes burned near and far, she noticed. Deanne knew she had to do her part in fighting the fires. She spent years on woodland crews, clearing brush and branches that could make the fire spread, and on hotshot crews where she fought faster fires and took bigger risks, spending weeks in one-hundred-degree heat working twenty-four-hour shifts. But what Deanne really wanted was to be a smokejumper, to jump from planes and parachute into dangerous wildfires that no truck could ever reach. To be the first line of defense. The only problem? There had never been a female smokejumper before.
REVIEW
ABLAZE introduces young readers to Deanne Shulman, the woman who became America's first female smokejumper. Growing up Deanne loved to spend time in the outdoors with her family. Climbing trees, hiking, camping, she did it all. As she got older she noticed the wildfires that wreaked havoc on nature as well as people's homes. While she knew some fires could be healthy, some fires raged out of control and caused misery for humans and animals alike. As an adult she joined the United States Forest Service to help fight these fires. With more experience she eventually became part of the the hotshot crews that took more risks and fought bigger fires. Eventually she decided she wanted to become a smokejumper, the most dangerous firefighting job of all. Yet she was denied the right to take the final test because of her size. She fought back and eventually, at age 28, she was allowed to take the tests and became the first female smokejumper in American history. Not only does Deanne's passion shine through in the text and the glowing red illustrations, but so to does her determination in standing up to discrimination. The author's note at the end briefly highlights Deanne's career as a firefighter as well as what she does now. A glossary of terms gives readers background information about working as a firefighter. The watercolor, Gouache, colored pencil, and pastel illustrations highlight the risks of firefighting as well as Deanne's passion for her work. They practically jump off the page. Not only is this book informative but also inspiring. Highly recommended for both personal reading and classroom use.
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