After the family trailer burns down, Ember and her family live at a campground. Ember struggles with the loss, especially of her beloved dog Widdershins. She's also struggling with understanding why her best friend Anson set the fire, and whether she should pursue her Wiccan revenge spell. ( )

A good book is one that makes you feel for the characters. A good book makes you think differently about people. A good book makes you want to do something - take action based on what you've read.

This is one of those good books. Ember and family lose their trailer home to a fire one summer and end up homeless, living first in a church basement accepting begrudging charitable donations, and moving to a campground. It seems the fire was a warning - the family is Wiccan, an ancient earth religion, which celebrates the elements of earth, wind, fire and water and the power that these have. Ember gets her older brother to take her every Wednesday to the ruins of the trailer, to see what remains, and to untie the knots on a rope in a spell she's casting on the boy she thinks caused the blaze. She grieves for the loss of her dog, amplifying the misery of her current life situation. She takes solace in the lake, and the hope that maybe Widdershins can be found (sorry about the spelling - listened the audiobook).

This story helps readers understand the Wiccan religion, and what it means to be homeless. Are Tarot card readings evil? Why doesn't the father or mother just find a job to help the family's predicament? And why do homeless and/or poor people seem to be fat - shouldn't they be emaciated and starving? This will be a great addition to my library's multicultural collection. ( )

After their trailer home and all their belongings are burned, twelve-year-old Ember and her Wiccan family move to a lakeside campground where Ember's anguish over losing her dog, as well as her friendship with the boy she fears started the fire, stops her from making new friends and moving on. ( )