Kindling

by Darren Groth

Ten year old Kieran Monk doesn’t like questions, is afraid to look people in the eye, and his best friend is a plastic Mr Incredible bobblehead that never leaves his hand.

Nate Monk is Kieran’s father. He’s a single parent of a ‘differently wired’ child, a talented musician who once stood on the cusp of success, and a man resigned to a pragmatic life of responsibility over opportunity.

Both share the scarred aftermath of the Infernal Day. On a perfect Autumn April noon five and a half years before, wife and mother Felicity died saving her only child from a raging house fire. Although Kieran’s inadvertent hand was complicit in the tragedy, Nate refused to apportion blame. The tragic circumstances of the blaze, however, constituted a secret that a fearful father dared not share with his ‘different’ son.

But today, as the burning forests of nearby Pendarra Hill fill the sky with smoke and the TV screen with concern, Kieran will discover the devastating truth. And driven by a desire to make amends for the ‘stupid little kid’ of half a decade before, he will disappear into the night.

Now, Nate must search; not only the suburban streets and shops and backyards, but also the depths of his courage and spirit. He must come to terms with the past in order to defy a second tragedy and rekindle hope for a future dampened by doubt. He must be dauntless to do what needs to be done. He must be unflinching to go where his boy has gone:

To the fire.

Genres: Fiction, Young Adult

248 pages, Paperback

First published July 1, 2010

About the author

Darren Groth is a Vancouver author and citizen of Canada, having moved from his native Australia in 2007. His novels include 'Kindling', 'Boy in the Blue Hammock' and the acclaimed YA works, 'Are You Seeing Me?' and 'Munro vs. the Coyote'. His new memoir, 'Marooned: A Memoir of Fandom, Fatherhood and the Far Side of the World', will be out May 20, 2026.

Darren has been a winner in the South Australian Literary Awards and a finalist in numerous other prestigious prizes including the Governor General's Literary Awards (Canada), the OLA White Pine Award (Canada). the CBCA Book of the Year (Australia), and the Prime Minister's Literary Awards (Australia).

For fun, he watches 'American Ninja Warrior' with his beautiful Canadian wife and eats Fatburger with his wondrous twins.

Reviews

[Dillwynia Peter · Rating 4 out of 5]

For someone like me, who has such minimal experience & interactions with folks experiencing full spectrum autism, I found this a great book to get a new perspective. Groth has an autistic child & used his personal experiences to make this story realistic & painful. I think Kieran is handled well & I enjoyed his perspective throughout. The narrative is a simple one with much flashbacks from the frantic father to fill in the history that has lead to the events that form the primary part of the plot.

Unfortunately, I hate books filled with musical references. You can tell me the characters hum the chorus to "Falling in Love" by The Twats or that special lyric in " Up Your Way" by Sons of Sodom and it is truly meaningless to me. Conversely, I would bore you stiff with that cool melodic progression that is used by Brahm's in his German Requiem and by Vaughn Williams in Sea Symphony: but really, the reading audience suddenly becomes very select when a writer employs such devices. So, to continue the novel, I ignored most of the music references or treated them like they were written in ancient Greek & where something I couldn't fully understand.

I also found the middle of the book flat. I will blame my personal life during that period, rather than the author's flat writing. For me, after page 150, the book picked up & I quickly consumed the narrative trying to determine the ending - nothing too untoward, but beautifully executed.

[Paul · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a truly remarkable book. There will undoubtedly be comparisons to The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-time but that does not make this book any less brilliant or important asMark Haddon's. It offers the same structure of an autistic boy and father without the presence of a mother figure.
The relationship of father and son is beautifully drawn and each narrative (the book alternates between both) offers a wonderful insight it to the life of those who are affected by this "different" obstacle.

[Bev Shirley · Rating 4 out of 5]

I liked this book because it presents Autism as a different way of seeing the world, rather than a problem to be managed and endured!

[Caitlin · Rating 4 out of 5]

While I read this in a single sitting, this book will stay with me for some time.

I have to admit to picking this up almost by accident and flicked to the first page for a skim-read, then promptly sat down and read the whole thing.

This is the story of a father and son locked in a world determined by the son's autism and the tragedy of the mother's death.

There are a lot of parallels to be drawn between this and "The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time". Groth even discusses using this book as inspiration in the author interview published in the back - as well as discussing his own experiences as the parent of a child on the autism spectrum.

However while Haddon's book is suitable for young adult reading, I'm not sure whether this book would work as well with a young adult reader. The story is told in the alternating voices of Nate (the father) and Kieran (the son) - however even in the Kieran parts the reader ultimately understands much more of the situation than the boy (which is what made Haddon's book so intriguing.)

It's interesting that the Groth family moved from Australia to Canada due to the poor services available here - now made even less certain in the last six months with the change of government. Usually I don't bring the "extra curricular" information about an author into my reading and enjoyment of a book, but some of the dialogue - especially between Nate and his friends - reflected this frustration, and to a point I felt the comments about the unsatisfactory way children with autism are treated (on a social and institutional level) were very nakedly Groth, but might not have been smoothly integrated into Nate's character enough.

Groth admitted to having some trouble writing the Nate character (for obvious reasons) and for this I wonder if the character was fully formed - especially in the sense of providing the background to the family dynamic at the time of the accident and his own part in this.

However, this is a very well constructed book, and I highly recommend it, especially to parents.

[The Bookshop Umina]

We had a great group in this morning to discuss Kindling. It was very well received and started a great discussion - ranging from autism to education and parenting guilt. The members were very impressed that the author was interested in our reading of the book and that he had offered to answer any questions! Only 1 person out of the 13 felt that there were real flaws - everyone else thoroughly the novel :)

We scored it 8.5/8/5/7.5/8/8/8/8/6/8/8/8.5

[Lisa · Rating 4 out of 5]

I laughed and I cried. This is a beautiful and engaging story of the young 10 year old Kieran and his Dad, Nate. I loved the father and son relationship not only between Kieran and Nate but also Nate with his own father. The fathers always loved and supported their sons even if they didn't have the understanding of what was happening in their sons' lives.

[Michelle · Rating 4 out of 5]

Thought provoking. The two main characters of Nate and Kieran are thoroughly explored - their strengths and weaknesses, their fears and insecurities. There are clearly things left unsaid from the get go. Groth shows his understanding and sympathy of autism and by extension his own son through the portrayal of Kieran. Themes and meaning runs deep in this little charmer.

[Alison · Rating 5 out of 5]

Really emotional story told from two different viewpoints; one by Nate the father, the second by Kieren his son. Reading this helped me to gain more of an understanding of what it is to be autistic, and what it is to be a parent of a child with autism.

#3 for #readingbingo (a book with a one-word title)

[Mish · Rating 5 out of 5]

Simply beautiful & heartbreaking at the same time. The writer really captured the emotions of the main characters so well. I loved it.

[Sandel · Rating 5 out of 5]

Loved it!! Suspense, drama, tragedy, triumph, love! A brilliant and moving story about overcoming the worst hardships in life and the strength, forgiveness and undying love and support of family.

[Townsville Library · Rating 5 out of 5]

Read this book in Townsville

[Neko · Rating 2 out of 5]

I found this novel to be slow going and somewhat boring. The storyline is a single parent learning to deal with his 10 year old autistic son and there is a "deep secret" being kept from the child. Some people have said this story is touching and I can see why they'd think that way but I'm not a huge fan of the writing style.

[Lou · Rating 4 out of 5]

Found in a community book
Box at Avoca Cinema. Read in less than 24 hours.

[Chelsea Dulieu · Rating 4 out of 5]

The timing of me picking up this book was bizarre. I have all my unread books lined up kindlingat random on my bookshelf. Once I have finished one, I simply pluck the next one in line off the shelf. I happened to pick up this story – plagued with fire – in a week when we were in the midst of experiencing sever bushfires ourselves. The smells in the air and the thick smokey heat definitely set the scene of the novel.

Kindling was a breath of fresh air and I devoured it over two quick sittings. Our story has three main characters – 10 year old autistic Kieran, his dad Nate and the third is the ever lurking fire that seems to be an on-going presence in their lives.

This is a truly heartfelt story, filled with emotions on many levels. Spanning across just one full day this novel is told from two very opposite perspectives.

While Keirans side of the story is one of bravery and ‘making amends’, his dads is full of heartbreak and fear. After hearing a shocking admission by his father while he was hiding out of sight at a barbecue, Keiran decides to make things right and become a hero by helping put out the nearby bushfires. He has quite a journey to overcome during his mission and has to concentrate really hard not to have a – in his words – meltdown as his normal routine is pushed to the side.

On the opposite side of things Nate is tearing through town frantically searching for his son before he does something to put himself in danger. Whilst positing his own dad on lookout as well, Nate covers ever route through the town that he can think of and at the same time experiences tear-jerking flashbacks of his late wife in the car beside him.

Groth does an amazing job writing Keiran from his own personal experience and it makes his parts of the story feel very raw and authentic. If you are after a unique story that will draw you in and keep you hanging on for ‘just one more chapter’ then this is the one for you.

Have you read it? Let me know your thoughts..

[Lauren · Rating 2 out of 5]

This is split, half narrated by 10 year old autistic Kieran, half by his dad. I liked the sections from Kieran's perspective, they seem far more real and believable, heart-felt. I thought his dad's voice sounded too over the top and heavy handed, it is pain staking in its detail and just feels too cliched.

[Teresa · Rating 3 out of 5]

A real page turner!

[Anastasia Tuckness]

yalsa quick pick