Ember Fury by Cathy Brett

8/10

Cathy Brett has excelled herself with this novel concerning energetic, pyromaniac school girl Ember Fury, a pyromaniac who sets a house on fire only to get dragged into a car by Finn, her boyfriend the only problem is she drives and ends up speeding into a ditch after narrowly running a rabbit off the highway. Finn falls out with her when the police cars arrive and they end up cuffing the both of them. When they get to the station though they recognize her as a celebrity and phone her dad with the bad news that Ember is a delinquent whose enthusiasm for fire has gone too far.

Ember, known as Em for short is a problem kid raised by her dad, and originally Amira, but those days are over when he gets a new girl Chanty Lane who is only ten years older than her, a Hollywood actress.

He lives with her in San Francisco while Ember goes to school in the UK occasionally getting into lots of trouble with 'shark' Finn, the hot waiter and her other friends Mikko and Daze.

Ember is an unusual girl who has the ability to cause chaos and fires when she's angry with her dad or anything or anyone else. The only things keeping her sated are her friends, comics, graffiti, London and drawing, but her temper can flare any time making her a powerhouse of fury just waiting to happen.

Ember's parents aren't the normal everyday kind who have a normal life, job and do the things in life that other kids expect. Being celebrities makes Ember unhappy in some ways as she seems to wish for a normal life other kids she knows seem to get. She never sees her dad for starters, she gets to see the ones who look after her in his stead, the ones who actually care to his needs as he's not one to be burdened with being her dad in the parental sense.

One of the running jokes in the story is of him taking parenting lessons would have helped him greatly when she was much younger, but the mother thinks it would have helped more if he'd just been around when he was needed the most by the both of them.

Ember has lots of stress about her real mother's illness and the fact she could not be allowed to see her in hospital. She thought they were making excuses but they said otherwise as adults do. Upset and angry at them, she set fire to the boarding school she had been made to attend. Her memories of school aren't as good as other kids even though she is seen as very privileged. When she holidays with her mum and dad she has the feeling it will all go terribly wrong as she doesn't get on with her new mum Charity and it peeves her when she is in the car all the way to their Malibu home.

This novel takes the reader through the everyday life of a celebrity daughter with all the perks, hang-ups and comedy considered normal for her. Ember Fury is a hot-headed loose-cannon who will stop at nothing to have a good time and get the boy she's been dreaming about.

Amber is an attention-seeking teen who wants to make her mark on the world herself and hopes to be noticed by many. It's not surprising that she is this way as she has to survive in her own way due to her parents being so famous. She wants to stand out in the only way she knows - being rebellious and burning things when she's not interested in smokin' guys.

The book is illustrated by Cathy Brett who worked as a Fashion Illustrator and spotter of global trends, a self-proclaimed jet-setter she has worked as a consultant to the big high street fashion names and when she's not doing this she is lecturing when she isn't scribbling away on another novel. The reader will be able to see her design credentials in the drawings, the art feels raw and fits into the personality of the teen star persona the character has.

This volume will be perfect for teens who can't get enough of reading about other rebels lives and troubles and this one taps into the ultra modern day girl who text constantly and lives on face book viewing it as a way of life.