THE FIRE, THE WATER, AND MAUDIE MCGINN by Sally J. Pla

 

Maudie is looking forward to spending the summer with her dad, but she is only at his mountain cabin in Molinas, California, for a day when a wildfire forces them to evacuate. Reports of the fire reveal that everything her father has worked so hard for is probably destroyed. This is definitely not the summer Maudie was expecting.

She and her dad head south to the town where he grew up. A friend lets them move into a crappy little trailer at his campground, and Maudie's dad begins to look for work. Maudie spends her days getting to know their fellow campground residents and she wanders the beach watching the surfers. Things are challenging since Maudie is autistic. She isn't comfortable expressing herself or knowing exactly how to behave, but everyone is patient with her, so she begins to open up. 

The surfers fascinate Maudie. She meets a woman named Etta who offers to give her surfing lessons. Now she has a plan to enter a beginner level surfing contest and hopes to win the big prize and surprise her father.

Besides the fire, another cloud hangs over the summer for Maudie. Before she left her Texas home for her summer visit, her mother made her promise not to tell her dad a secret about her step-father. This secret has Maudie wishing she could just stay with her dad permanently. Now that she has fallen in love with surfing and even made a few friends, Maudie is worried about what going back to Texas at the end of the summer will mean.

Author Sally J. Pla takes readers on an adventure that involves danger, diversity, and learning how to speak up. I highly recommend for readers middle grade and up.