Every Time She Shouted Fire

In 1950, eight-year-old Matty watches her family's building burn, along with other gawkers and her only friend, 51-year-old Nicholas Miracle, who has something wrong with him—or so everyone says. For Matty, he's the big brother she never had.They both love sci-fi matinee movies and the accompanying cartoons. Matty "e;works"e; bussing tables at the Miracle Bakery—her pay includes a bag of pastries to take home to her parents—while Nicholas paints in a corner. Quite accomplished, he once sold a ribald painting of Teddy Roosevelt to F. Scott Fitzgerald.They love chasing fire engines, often ending up at downtown St. Paul apartment buildings. Teenage Matty is smitten with a young firefighter and, by seventeen, is dating the 21-year-old local hero. But there's something wrong with him—though Matty refuses to believe it.But Nicholas knows.