Brave Like That by Lindsey Stoddard

Cyrus, as a tiny newborn baby, is found on the doorstep of the town fire station. One of the town heroes works as a firefighter. He is a tough no nonsense guy, but Brooks Olson is the only one who can comfort the crying baby. It seems he is destined to become a dad to young Cyrus. 

"(He) said he wasn't one for holding babies and he'd pass. He held up his thick, calloused hands, shook his head and pursed his lips to say no thanks. But they handed me to him anyway ... and somewhere on his navy-blue firehouse T-shirt I found a place to be quiet and I slept there the whole ride as they tore through intersections all the way to the hospital."

The fire station staff become an extended family for Cyrus. And he also gains an adopted grandmother. She is one of the most important people in his life but sadly she has had a stroke and can no longer communicate with words. Somehow though, Cyrus can interpret her 'na na na's'

Dad was a football star in his youth and so the expectation is that Cyrus will love to play and of course make the A Team. But Cyrus is secretly afraid of this game. He also has another secret. Reading is a huge struggle. Cyrus has become very good at faking - making it look like he really needs to go to the bathroom as a way to avoid complex tasks in class and also now to avoid the football team tryouts.

"I can sound out almost any word, even really long ones, and read perfectly for a hundred chapters, but when I have to string them together and tell you what I read, that's when my brain goes blank and I can't remember any of the words or how they fit together."

One special day each year that is celebrated at the fire station is the day Cyrus arrived on their doorstep. This has become his official birthday. On evening of his eleventh birthday a stay pup whimpers at the door.

"When we hear him whimper and whine at the firehouse front door, all the guys stop what they are doing. ... And I know what they're all thinking because I know the guys. They're thinking about August twenty-seventh eleven years ago. When I showed up at the firehouse doorstep as a screaming, crying baby."

Cyrus falls deeply in love with Parker, but dad says no. 

"Parker yawns and whimpers and I hug him closer. My fingers fit the groves of his ribs the same way my dad taught me to slide my fingers between the laces of a football. But my fingers feel more right where they belong holding Parker than they do around the leather of a ball."

Cyrus has so many burdens. He needs to tell his dad he does not want to play football. He needs to confess that reading his hard. He is worried his dad will be disappointed that he is not brave and that he does not want to be a fire fighter and now he needs to find a way to be with Parker but dad has dropped him at the animal shelter. 

"I smile, and I don't say that no one actually knows what's in my blood, ... And I don't say that I didn't wish to be a fireman. I wished for Parker ... and that Dad would soften the creases in his forehead and give up his no-pet-no-way policy."

At age eleven Cyrus is now at a new school with a new set of teachers including a fabulous English teacher who, like Colby Sharp, reads a terrific picture book to his class every day.  

"You think you're all too old for picture books, but let me tell you something. You're not. No one is."

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Each Kindness

Cyrus is also given the classic book Wonder as a gift for his birthday but he knows he won't be able to read it. Because of Winn Dixie is also mentioned as a book his teacher read in Grade Four. The class read Oliver Button is not a Sissy and this could feel quite didactic because the new kid in the class Eduardo is very similar to Oliver Button but Lindsey Stoddard treats this with such a light touch it never feels like she is trying to teach her readers a lesson.

Publisher blurb: Cyrus Olson’s dad is a hero—Northfield’s former football star and now one of their finest firefighters. Everyone expects Cyrus to follow in his dad’s record-breaking footsteps, and he wishes they were right—except he’s never been brave like that. But this year, with the help of a stray dog, a few new friends, a little bit of rhythm, and a lot of nerve, he may just discover that actually…he is.

Yesterday I had a list of chores to complete but reading this book was one of those wonderful experience where everything else must be put aside so you can just sit and read and read. Such a rich and engrossing reading experience. I was so desperate to help Cyrus and so relieved by that all important happy ending. I especially loved all the minor characters - the English teacher Mr Hewitt; the new kid Eduardo and his twin brother; Sam the new firefighter; and the girls of 7H who volunteer at the dog rescue centre. 

I know nothing about American Football but that is not important. Listen to this video with Colby Sharp:

"A lot of kids need to know they are not alone ... " Colby Sharp

Other reviews - School Library Journal; Madison's Library; Kirkus; and Reading Middle Grade.

The title of this book forms a repeated refrain:

"I don't tell him that I'm not brave like that. Brave like sliding-down-a-pole-and-landing-on-my-feet brave."

"And I'm not brave like that. Brave like break-my-bones-for-the-love-of-the-game kind of brave."

There are also some wonderful music references in this book - you might want to make a play list if you read this book with your class or family. Grandma has a fabulous record collection. Ray Charles What'd I Say; Nina Simone Wild is the Wind; Somewhere over the rainbow; and Marvin Gaye What's Going on are four examples. And in a classroom, I would also make a list of the wise words of the new firefighter - a girl named Sam. 

Here are some companion books:

Talking to Alaska

One Dog and his Boy

Too small to Fail

When friendship followed me home

I enjoyed another book by Lindsey Stoddard:

Right as Rain