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    Burn Baby Burn
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    Burn Baby Burn
    Unavailable
    Burn Baby Burn
    Audiobook7 hours

    Burn Baby Burn

    Written by Meg Medina

    Narrated by Marisol Ramirez

    4/5

    ()

    Currently unavailable

    Currently unavailable

    About this audiobook

    While violence runs rampant throughout New York, a teenage girl faces danger within her own home in Meg Medina's riveting coming-of-age novel.

    Nora Lopez is seventeen during the infamous New York summer of 1977, when the city is besieged by arson, a massive blackout, and a serial killer named Son of Sam who shoots young women on the streets. Nora's family life isn't going so well either: her bullying brother, Hector, is growing more threatening by the day, her mother is helpless and falling behind on the rent, and her father calls only on holidays. All Nora wants is to turn eighteen and be on her own. And while there is a cute new guy who started working with her at the deli, is dating even worth the risk when the killer likes picking off couples who stay out too late? Award-winning author Meg Medina transports us to a time when New York seemed balanced on a knife-edge, with tempers and temperatures running high, to share the story of a young woman who discovers that the greatest dangers are often closer than we like to admit-and the hardest to accept.

    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherBrilliance Audio
    Release dateMar 8, 2016
    ISBN9781511371896
    Unavailable
    Burn Baby Burn

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    Reviews for Burn Baby Burn

    4/5

    97 ratings14 reviews

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    • 3/5
      Always intrigued by a fiction book that integrates a true crime, I was interested in this book from the start, and it did not disappoint. Medina has authored a well-written book that managed to both break my heart (some parts were very difficult to read, but also brought to light a very important issue) and uplift me.Told through the eyes of a young woman named Nora, readers are brought straight into her difficult world, lightened only by her friends and a young man who enters her life. Also impacting her story is the real-life shootings committed by the Son of Sam, who caused fear among all young women in New York at the time this book is set in. This is a smart, well-written, emotional book that I would recommend.
    • 4/5
      A fast paced read from start to finish, there is a great pay out in the end.
    • 4/5
      Set against the backdrop of the Son of Sam's killing, feminism, and the economic disaster and crime wave New York City was experiencing in the late 1970s, Burn Baby Burn tells the story of a young woman struggling with family issues on her way to becoming adult. The story starts slow, but you are soon pulled in to the struggle of Nora's attempt to balance her tragic hidden home life, while remaining loyal to her friends. Overall it is well done, though a few times I felt the time/scene changes were a bit abrupt but not to the extant that it made it hard to follow. For readers to wanting to take a step back to the late 70s, I can not recommend this book enough.
    • 5/5
      Meg Medina's "Burn Baby Burn" is the story of Nora Lopez, a 17-year-old young woman who is finishing her senior year of high school. Her highest priority is to graduate and find a means of escaping her profoundly troubled family. Set in 1977 New York City, Nora finds herself confronted with multiple challenges: a serial killer on the loose; a surprise romance; her brother's escalating violent behavior; and a crippling heat wave. This backdrop is based on historical events.There are so many great things about this book it's hard to know where to begin. Medina's writing is immersive. If you grew up during the 70's like I did, the book is like a 300-page flashback. For those not around in the 70's, they will feel like they've travelled back in time. The characters feel very real and multi-dimensional. What Medina does best, is create an atmosphere of fear. Between the dual threats of a killer on the loose and, more immediately, her brother, there is a very palpable underlying tension that ratchets up continually. This is certainly clever writing, but it's also a commentary on what it feels like to live in a time a danger and uncertainty. This is particularly relevant in today's world, where it seems terror lurks everywhere; where even going to church or to see a movie can be an act of defiant courage.The other thing I appreciated from Medina is the theme one's family of origin isn't always a reliable place to be safe and protected. While that would be any society's ideal, it often is not the reality. Nora is challenged by her desire to be loyal to her family, but also keeping herself safe.I can't recommend this book highly enough.
    • 4/5
      Narrated by Marisol Ramirez. Nora's story is set against the backdrop of the mid-1970s in Queens, New York, a perilous time of city budget cuts, blackouts and the Son of Sam killer on the loose. Nora is a senior in high school with a part-time job at a bodega, has an Irish best friend named Kathleen, and lives with her Cuban single mother and troubled younger brother Hector. Nora is doubtful about pursuing college or deciding where her future lies despite the encouragement of her teachers. She faces greater priorities: managing Hector's angry behavior and dealing with her passive mother. Ramirez is rock solid at portraying Nora and the story's New York vibe; listeners will identify with Nora's predicaments in many ways.
    • 5/5
      This book is well written and engaging, although a little dark. It takes us back to the 70s when the Son of Sam serial killer is stalking young couples, buildings are burning, and a massive blackout rocks New York City. We see this time through the eyes of a Cuban-American teenager who is dealing with many issues at home.
    • 3/5
      I was hoping for something different with this book. I was looking for a lighter glance back at the seventies, but instead this book dealt with a lot of serious subjects. Perhaps I will need to read it again at a different time and I will have a completely different opinion of it. I did find the characters to be realistic and I learned valuable insight into the culture of the character as well as life in the city in the late 1970's. Although I did not enjoy the book, I will recommend it to others who enjoy period fiction.
    • 3/5
      Nora is a high school senior who lives in Queens with her Cuban mother and younger thug brother. Her brother is heading for a life of crime and Nora fears his infatuation with fire. Their father lives in New York with his new family and has very little to do with them. The story takes place in the 1970s when the city was gripped in fear because of a serial murderer called Son of Sam. Young people had to be very careful of where they went at night and with who. Nora works in a grocery store and is joined by a very handsome young man named Pablo. Since it is hard for Nora and her mother to accept the train wreck that is in their house, she can't share with her friend, Kathleen, or Pablo.Things come to a head during the famous power outage of 1977. (I was there and remember it well.) Nora sees her brother break into a pharmacy and loot it and then set it on fire on his way out. Guilt plagues Nora as she learns the owner suffered a heart attack and will probably not try to set up another business. Will she turn her brother in?The language of this YA book sounded like it was written by a teen. The fact that there were several typos in the book didn't elevate the writing either. Teens will like this book, however, and be heartened by Nora's strength and courage.
    • 3/5
      Nora Lopez lives with her brother and mother in a small apartment. Her parents divorced years ago, and support from her father is non-existent. About to graduate high school, she knows she needs to leave home to get away from her violent brother. In the summer of 1977, New York City was in chaos. The serial killer, Son of Sam, was stalking young couples, buildings were being burnt and the murder rate was at an all time high. The city, almost bankrupt, couldn't deal with the issues. The a major blackout brought the chaos in public and in Nora's home life to a crises.
    • 4/5
      Burn Baby Burn by Meg Medina is a 2016 Candlewick Press publication. This book has been on and off my TBR list for a long time. The main reason I waffled on it was the YA label attached to it, but I kept coming back to it because of the era of time the story is set in, and the serial killer theme running in the background. The story is set in New York in 1977. That summer was insane- boiling hot with blackouts and the infamous 'Son of Sam' serial killer terrorizing the city. It is against this backdrop that seventeen-year-old Nora Lopez navigates her last year of high school, living with a highly dysfunctional family. With her parents now divorced, Nora’s mother, a Cuban immigrant, makes all males into authority figures, even her own son, Hector, who has turned to drug dealing and theft, turning violent towards his own family. Nora’s father is too busy with his new family to check in and needs to be reminded to send child support. Meanwhile, Nora spends time with her best friend, begins dating a nice guy, holds down a part-time job and applies to get into college, all while looking out for Hector, and scrounging for her meals, as her mother faces cutbacks at work. As Hector increasingly spirals out of control, Nora struggles to survive in the gritty, dog eat dog environment of a city in the grips of violence and terror. While I lived far from New York in 1977, this book reminded me of the news segments I watched which followed the tension of those times. Son of Sam was a truly terrifying killer and had the entire city on edge. But that’s not all that was going on back then and the author did a great job of recreating that atmosphere. I also got a kick out the brand names and music mentioned in the story. Anyone else remember Sassoon jeans? The story is not really about Son of Sam- for the record. It’s a story of a teenage girl on the cusp of adulthood, who must work to keep herself from falling into a vicious cycle. She must stand up for herself, against those who would rather keep her from succeeding, and fight to make it out of a toxic environment to have a better life for herself. I’m glad I ultimately decided to give the book a chance. While it is a YA novel to the extent that teenage Nora is the main character, it is really a book I feel is just as much, if not more so, for adults. The author still takes pains to keep the book in the right lane without sacrificing the dark and gritty tones. Overall, this was a good book, with well-drawn characterizations and a positive, inspirational ending.3.5 rounded up
    • 3/5
      Burn Baby Burn was not what I expected and almost let me down in a sense. It had all the factors building tension making you gasp leading to what could have been an amazing climax and then the story ended, she left her home and family and the book ended. I was appalled that after all her struggles and hardships and even triumphs to leave. Saying goodbye to her mother and leaving. Id also like to address the plot on the back of the book. What the back of the book focused on was hardly touched on through most of the story. She mentions this killer quite often and goes nowhere with it. A random man that we know nothing about gets arrested randomly in the book and that was that. It was a letdown to say the least. This book had amazing potential but didn’t quite follow through.
    • 4/5
      New York is a terrifying place in the summer of 1977  with incidents of arson, a massive blackout, and a serial killer known as Son of Sam shooting young women. As if this is not enough, seventeen-year-old Nora Lopez also has to deal with her out of control brother, her mom who may loose her job at any moment, and a landlord who continues to hassle them about the rent. With all this going on, its seems almost too much to have to deal with falling for the hot guy who started working at the grocery store, as well.The heat and anxiety of living in 1977 New York comes through clearly in Burn Baby Burn. I could practically feel the heat baking through the cement and the growing tension surrounding the ongoing murders created a constant underlying anxiety, which must have been present for so many people at the time.But for all the dangers out on the streets, the biggest dangers in Burn Baby Burn are the ones that are closest to home. Nora's situation at home is clearly abusive, but it can take a lot of break out of the secrecy and suffering and shame that such a situation creates. Medina does an excellent job balancing the frustrations and fears of being a teenager in a hostile world, while also imbuing the story with a sense of young joy and hope. Nora has a lot to deal with, but all of her problems are real relatable problems and there is little to no angst for angst sake. She's a believable character, one I could easily relate to and sympathize with. Nora's relationships wither her family and friends are well handled, each with their own layers of complexity.
    • 5/5
      This book looks at New York City in 1977 through the eyes of teenager Nora as she struggles to finish high school while living with her single, Spanish-speaking mother and abusive younger brother Hector. Her father is absent, living with his new family elsewhere. However, she does have resources and support from her caring staff at school, her boss at the deli, neighbors in her building, her new boyfriend and most importantly, from her childhood best friend and her family. While all of New York deals with impending financial collapse, racial tensions, women’s rights, Son of Sam’s murder spree and the infamous blackout that caused so much destruction, Nora has to navigate not only all of this, but deal with her brother’s criminal behavior while trying to find a future for herself. This is a wonderful look at the stresses of that time while also examining juvenile domestic violence.
    • 4/5
      Very good listen, really enjoyed this recommendation from the librarian at school.