Firecrackers by A.W. Baldwin is a lively middle-grade adventure mystery built around the kind of summer where four fourteen-year-old boys have too much freedom, plenty of imagination, and access to far more fireworks than anyone should probably trust them with. Nash and his friends Bug, Leroy, and Stevie spend their days staging pirate battles, building traps around their tree fort, launching homemade contraptions, and generally treating their Colorado neighborhood like their own private adventure park. Then Nash hears a woman wailing behind the old Harris House and spots what looks like a ghost. His curiosity pulls the boys into a mystery involving Alice, an elderly woman living there, two intimidating men they nickname Blackbeard and Son of Blackbeard, surveillance cameras, strange stones, and a secret that turns their pretend adventures into something very real.

What makes this middle grade mystery especially fun is Nash’s voice. He tells the story with the absolute confidence of a kid who knows his latest terrible idea is probably brilliant, at least until something catches fire. His running pirate commentary, Bug’s spectacularly bad jokes, Leroy’s hustling instincts, and Stevie’s enthusiasm for building things give the friendship its own rhythm. The boys feel like a genuine crew because they tease each other, get scared together, argue over what to do, and still show up when somebody needs help. Baldwin also understands how a fourteen-year-old imagination can transform an ordinary setting. A creepy house becomes a haunted fortress, a suspicious man becomes Blackbeard, and a homemade PVC cannon becomes legitimate pirate artillery. That blend of reality and imagination gives this humorous middle grade adventure much of its personality.

The mystery grows steadily as the boys realize Alice really is frightened and the danger surrounding her isn’t imaginary. Their investigation sends them sneaking around the Harris House, following clues, tracking vehicles, discovering disguised criminals, and eventually uncovering a cache of stolen diamonds and a connection to someone they thought they could trust. The story has an old-school kids adventure quality, with bikes, woods, forts, homemade inventions, and friends solving problems largely on their own. At times the repeated experiments, pranks, and close calls make the book feel deliberately episodic, but that structure also captures the loose rhythm of a long childhood summer. As the stakes rise, seemingly separate pieces such as the fireworks, pirate cannon, mysterious stones, and the boys’ obsession with adventure begin feeding directly into the main crime story.

Under all the explosions and pirate talk, Firecrackers is also a coming-of-age adventure about courage, loyalty, and learning that grown-ups can be complicated people. Nash’s developing friendship with Alice gives the ending unexpected warmth, especially after so much of the book has been fueled by suspicion and comic chaos. The final chapters bring the mystery to a satisfying conclusion while letting the boys remain exactly who they’ve been all along: curious, reckless, inventive, loyal, and ready to turn the next ordinary afternoon into a story worth telling. Readers looking for a funny middle-grade mystery, friendship adventure, or action-packed coming-of-age story will find plenty here, particularly if they like secret treasure, homemade forts, neighborhood legends, dangerous villains, and the occasional firecracker going off where it absolutely shouldn’t.

Pages: 139