This is a story rife with fire. In Shell Beach, where teenaged Macey Clare divides her life between her busy parents and her sweet-natured grandparents, neighbors gather around driftwood bonfires. Arson in the inner-city church where Macey volunteers leaves her asking why life should be so hard for some people. Then there’s the mysterious fire of 1959 that burned down a barn across the street from Macey's grandparents' house. When Macey and her new love Austin begin to explore the barn's history for a school project, their families and neighbors become strangely evasive. But the pieces begin to fit together when Macey and Austin discover that long ago the barn had been turned into an apartment, the inhabitant of which was the first—and last—black high school teacher in Shell Beach. Why was the building burned down? And, more importantly, whose hand lit the match?

Teaching Guide available