A wonderful addition to the very popular format of novels in verse! By turns exciting and cozy, this is a great read about overcoming obstacles, persistance, and the power of kindness. It also has amazing facts about the history of land management and fire prevention that are included seamlessly. Highly recommended and will be purchasing multiple copies for our middle school library!

This novel in verse. Is a quick read. It is a great book for discussing figuring out who you want to be and how to make it happen. Great survival adventure story

I couldn’t stop reading this one! Wildfires have been a topic of interest lately. This book was about healing, family dynamics, and survival. I enjoyed learning more about being a fire watcher in the author’s note, too. I felt a lot of emotions while reading this book.

Very relatable story about a young girl learning to be a fire watcher while hiding a deep-rooted fear of fire. I enjoyed the quiet story until halfway through when something very minor snowballs into a cataclysmic event that kept me turning pages quickly. Beautifully written and thoroughly engaging novel in verse.

Opal has always lived as a fire lookout with her mother and grandmother. On her 12th birthday, she's faced with some impossible-feeling contradictions. She loves her home, but she longs to live closer to school and friends. She's proud to start her lookout training, but she's terrified of fire itself. When a series of unfortunate events leave Opal alone in the lookout tower, she learns that sometimes her choices can't be either/or; they will be both/and.
There's nothing better than a novel in verse to get pages turning. This book about fire, survival, family, and the unique struggle of being 12 felt perfectly suited for the format. Readers who love Gary Paulsen's Hatchet (shouted out in the book) will be a great audience here - it's quick but contemplative, and the stakes feel high. The author's note at the end also provides useful context about fire management, climate change, and past and present roles of fire lookouts.
After the devastating LA fires of 2025, I think this will be a powerful summer read for elementary kids. It's a great purchase for public and school libraries to supplement summer reading - I'd especially recommend this for kids on the younger end of middle grade books (3rd-5th grade).

I missed that this was an in verse book, I can not stand in verse books but read it anyways because I requested the book

I personally did not like this book, it is impossible for me to understand or get into a book that is in verse the writing style is just not for me personally.

However I know that kids absolutely looooove in verse books and I think that this will be really popular with them so I do recommend picking up a copy especially for kids that enjoy in verse books.

Thank you NetGalley PENGUIN GROUP Penguin Young Readers Group | Nancy Paulsen Books for the arc

Review 8/10🌲 This verse middle grade novel shares the story of Opal, a 12 year old girl who lives in a fire watch tower with her mother and grandmother. One day while Opal’s mother is away in town her Grandma goes missing. Opal must brave the wilderness and face her fear of fire to protect her family and home.

I really liked this one! Even though it’s now a rare job I’ve always been interested in books about remote living as a fire watcher. I also love books in verse so this one interested me right away. Opals home was unique to read about and the story was very fast paced. I appreciated how the author included mention of indigenous land and forest tending practices multiple times. Overall it was a great quick read that I think any forest lover would enjoy.

Thanks to NetGalley and Nancy Pulsen Books for a copy of this story!

Another wonderful middle grade novel in verse. I don't always love adventure-themed books, but I really enjoyed The Burning Season. Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for the eARC.

Unpopular bookish opinion: I don't care for most novels in verse.

I've always been a lover of poetry, but verse novels didn't feel like poetry to me, so for a long time I didn't even see the point.

Then Caroline Starr Rose won me over.

Her book, May B., was a verse novel with a really good reason for being told that way.

The main character struggles to read, and her story is small but dramatic and poignant, with a wide emotional arc. All those reasons made its format make sense, and the writing was beautiful. I loved it.

I felt the same way about Rose's second verse novel, Blue Birds, about the friendship between a Roanoke girl, Kimi, and English settler, Alis. Because the girls don't speak one another's languages, the sparse verse made total sense to me and allowed me to fall into the story without being distracted by the format.

So of course when I found out Caroline Starr Rose had a new verse novel coming out, you know I jumped right on the chance to read it! The Burning Season is possibly my favorite of her verse novels, with a realistic and relatable main character in a setting and situation very different from my life.

Like Rose's previous novels in verse, The Burning Season makes perfect sense in this format. The verses are an excellent medium to tell a fairly "small" story, of a girl training to become a Wildfire spotter despite her deep fear of fire. The swings from quiet introspection and normal life hopes to the high drama of raging fires and missing family members are perfectly mirrored by the shape and structure of each poem.

Additionally, the sense of place in this novel is as much a part of the story as the plot. The poems bring the Gila Wilderness to life with a subtlety and clarity that perhaps only a poem can provide.

So if you're not a big fan of novels in verse…you're not alone. But give this one a try.

This book was beautifully written in verse. The relationship between the grandmother, mother and daughter was relatable. I feel students will love following the life of living in a fire tower. The book does a great job of showing how to address your fears which everyone can relate to. Highly recommend for middle grade libraries.

Ever since learning how it took her father, and having to be airlifted out of danger twelve-year-old Opal has been terrified of fire. Which is tough for someone who lives with her mom and grandmother in a wildfire watch tower. Opal would love to live in town and go to a normal school. But she needs to convince her mom she's mature enough to live away from the tower. When her mother leaves for a supply trip and doesn't come back, Opal is sure something's happened. Beautiful use of a verse novel image system throughout, and Opal is such a relatable main character. With how many kids have had to face fires this year, I feel some will find particular kinship and courage with Opal as she faces her fears.

What a great novel-in-verse about bravery and facing your fears. Opal lives with Gran and her mom in the lookout fire tower on Wolf Mountain. Gran is training Opal show she can take over mom’s place as the lookout someday, but Opal hasn’t told them is she is afraid of fire. Something happens to make Gran leave to look for Opal while mom has gone to town. When Opal finds Gran who is hurt, Opal leaves and sees smoke. She realizes she needs to build a barrier so the fire won’t reach Gran. What happens next?
Thank you to publisher and Nancy Paulsen books for the eARC of this book. All opinions are my own.

This was a really sweet story about overcoming your fears and stepping up when you need to get stuff done. I loved opal she was so courageous and it just made me want to try something that scared me in the past just to be brave like her.

This daring adventure story, both an homage and a successor of Gary Paulsen, is perfect for middle grade readers. The novel in verse format is put to get use (especially when showing off the stairs), and the novel provides great background on fire lookouts while still being an engaging and original story. Readers will root for Opal the entire way, and they will love to peek into her life. I can't wait to recommend this one to my students.

Thank you to NetGalley and Nancy Paulsen Books for an eARC in exchange for my honest review.

I was immediately drawn to the cover, so pretty! This is a cute young adult coming of age story. The main character, Opal, overcomes fears to save her family while fighting for her own independence. This is a quick read, and perfect for anyone under 13!

I am not the correct audience for this book at 28, but still appreciated Opal finding herself, and trying to decide her own fate. The writing style wasn’t for me, but I understand why it was written the way it was.

First of all: the cover? Beautiful.
The Burning Season by Caroline Starr Rose introduces readers to Opal, a 12-year-old girl who lives at a fire tower with her mother and grandmother. Opal is about to start training to become a fourth-generation lookout, someone responsible for giving our warnings of any fires before they spread into something uncontrollable and dangerous. The only problem? Ever since she faced her first big wildfire years earlier, Opal has been terrified of anything to do with fire watching.


This is a great book to introduce kids to the concept of identity - Opal's future has almost entirely been written out for her since she was born, and now she struggles with wanting to change the destiny her parents have already decided on for her. As a novel in verse, it is also a fairly quick read for most students and will hold their attention well. And at least in my school, my students absolutely love and devour any kind of survival story. Opal's story is left open near the end, and I'd be curious to follow her journey in a sequel, or to learn more about her ancestors in a prequel.
Thanks to NetGalley and Nancy Paulsen Books for the advanced copy to review!

Just finished this one.
I'm gonna be honest I don't like the writing style and I really don't understand why the YA authors feel the need to write this way.
To me, it makes it harder to to connect with the characters and I feel like I'm intruding in someone's privacy
However, it did have a nice storyline and I did learn a lot about fire watching. I had no idea what went into spotting forest fires. I only wish someone would have spotted those California fires sooner. I feel that they could've been stopped before they got out of hand.
I did like the way the grandmother taught Opal and that she had lots of patience with her. After all, ot is a family business.
I did enjoy in getting to know Opal. I thought she was a very brave young lady.
I did like that it was told from Opal's POV.
I wasn't going to finish but now I'm glad I did. I wasn't going to finish because of the writing style as I said earlier.
So 4 stars for the learning of how to spot forest fires sooner and for keeping my interest.
This story definitely has some action to it and I wanted to see if they succeeded.
This particular story had some charm and some charismatic characters.
I will recommend this book.
My thanks for a copy of this book. I was NOT required to write a positive review. All opinions expressed are mine.