Wildfire Ridge
In this tense and thrilling middle-grade adventure novel, thirteen-year-old Ouzel must escape a dangerous natural disaster. Ouzel lives for video games, but when his family’s ranch is threatened by a wildfire, he is thrown into a real-life game of survival. Utilizing skills learned from both farm life and gaming, he fights to save his home, his friends, and himself.
“This book is cool! I like Ouzel. He reminds me of my friends. I also like how the book doesn’t say that gaming is bad. The wildfire part was awesome. I didn’t want to stop reading until I knew what happened.”
- Phillip, age 11
Can you win against a wildfire?
On a sleepy ranch in Northern California, thirteen-year-old Ouzel games night and day as he climbs up the leaderboard. He dreams of becoming a professional gamer, but his Mom wants him to focus on getting his grades up.
One afternoon, Ouzel is home alone at the ranch, which means uninterrupted game time with no Mom interference. He grabs a couple of wins but then notices it’s dark outside – from smoke. He looks out the window to see a wildfire charging towards his backyard. Ouzel is now in a high-stakes survival game against a raging wildfire. Will he be able to win?
“I really liked this book. I think Ouzel and Martha were really brave and smart. I’m not going to tell you what happened because this book is exciting, and you need to read it and feel scared for yourself.”
- Tabitha, age 9
Wildfire Ridge is the first installment in the Elemental Odyssey Series
Coming Next: Sinkhole
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the author
MARY LEE SOOP
Mary Lee is a National Board-Certified Teacher in Middle Grades reading and writing. As a teacher, she developed a knack for telling stories that kids love to read by learning from her students. She listened to their fears and reveled in their triumphs big and small. It wasn’t until she retired from teaching that she realized she had amassed a cast of characters perfect for helping students beyond her classrooms deal with life’s biggest challenges.
Mary Lee’s debut series takes readers on an odyssey through everyday struggles and unforeseen disasters, showing young readers that there is a hero in all of us.
Mary Lee lives in Huntsville, Alabama with her husband and two Shetland Sheepdogs. She has three adult children she encourages to hold on to their childlike wonder.
the illustrator
EMILY ULLRICH
Emily Ullrich is an artist and illustrator. She was born and raised in Austin, Texas, and has been drawing as long as she can remember. Emily followed her love of art through college, graduating with a BA in Visual Arts in 2015. She has pursued art in many forms, from mural painting to pottery painting, and fantasy artwork to scientific illustration. Emily loves to create art through a narrative lens, and believes the best pieces always tell a story. She is drawn to stories that her younger self would have wanted to hear, and has cherished the experience of portraying Ouzel’s journey through flames and personal growth.
Emily currently resides in Culver City, California, where she loves to go on nature walks, play video games, and cook with herbs picked from the local community garden.
