Starred review from November 15, 2024
Eleven-year-old Hurricane has endured too many losses in her young life. Quiet and frequently unable to speak, she's desperately unhappy at school. Her father died in the Great War. Her mother died of tuberculosis. Her 19-year-old sister, Bronte, is her loving guardian, speaking for her when needed. Hurricane loves running with her dog near her cliffside home on the Maine coast and writing her thoughts in her journal. But Bronte has just been diagnosed with tuberculosis and must go to a sanitorium. Great-aunt Claire swoops in and carries Hurricane off to the city, minus her dog. Aunt Claire is rigid, making pronouncements and judgments about those she considers lesser. But there's also chauffeur Mr. Keats, who can do almost anything, including splendid cooking and baking. He is able to soften Aunt Claire's nature and encourages the despondent Hurricane in every way. Her brilliant and kind new friend, Theo, and a needy feral cat bring about changes in all of them; Aunt Claire rethinks her attitudes and remembers joy, while Hurricane discovers her aunt's generosity and innate kindness. Hurricane employs stunningly beautiful, highly descriptive language to narrate her own tale with a depth of feeling and growing awareness of her attributes and true strength of character while including delightful references to Depression-era Hoovers and Frigidaires, as well as the mysterious honeycake. Everything comes together in a lovely, hopeful new beginning, honeycake included. Main characters read white. Powerful, emotional, and wondrous. (author's note)(Historical fiction. 9-12)
COPYRIGHT(2024) Kirkus Reviews, ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.
October 14, 2024
Change is difficult for the protagonist of this endearing tale by Fusco (Tending to Grace), set in 1930. Following her mother’s death and her older sister Bronte falling ill, 11-year-old Hurricane and her Irish setter Brody-Bear are uprooted from Hurricane’s beloved seaside home where she grew up with her mama and late Army lieutenant father to live with her widowed great-aunt Claire. As a quiet girl who loves to write, life in the city is very different. But not everything is negative. She soon meets kindly Mr. Keats, a war veteran who does all manner of work for Aunt Claire and
who helps Hurricane befriend the scraggly silver stray cat in the basement. Hurricane also encounters Theo, a young fish seller roaming the streets with his dog. This swiftly paced novel is filled with strong life lessons about embracing change, using writing as a coping mechanism, and learning how to find one’s voice. Short chapters and frank text entreat to young readers and challenges them to forge their own paths. The main characters read as white. Ages 8–12. Agent: Elizabeth Harding, Curtis Brown.
March 1, 2025
In this novel set during the Great Depression, protagonist Hurricane, like the eye of the storm that raged during her birth, has a quiet center. She is shy, hesitant, and often unable to speak up among classmates and strangers. With her father killed in WWI and her mother dead from tuberculosis, Hurricane lives in the family's remote coastal home with her beloved dog and her older sister, Bronte. But when Bronte also contracts tuberculosis and must go to a sanitarium, life changes. Hurricane's great-aunt Claire swoops in from the city and takes the girl to live with her and her kind, multi-talented chauffeur/cook/housekeeper, Mr. Keats. Having married into money, Aunt Claire adopted many highfalutin ways to appease her now-deceased husband and now wants to force Hurricane into the mold of "proper" young lady -- an image far removed from the girl's freer spirit. When Mr. Keats discovers a stray cat, he and Hurricane slowly coax it into trusting them, a clear metaphor for the protagonist's gradual acceptance of her new home, an acceptance not coincidently accompanied by the realization that she can speak for herself. Fusco takes her time developing the Depression-era setting and the backgrounds of each character, giving this heartwarming novel depth and authenticity. Betty Carter
(Copyright 2025 by The Horn Book, Incorporated, Boston. All rights reserved.)
January 16, 2025
Grades 3-6 Introverted beach dweller Hurricane ships off to live with her stuffy and citified great-aunt Claire after the 11-year-old's caretaker sister, Bronte, contracts tuberculosis. Not even "a honeycake, [their] favorite remedy for times of tribulation," can ease Hurricane's worry, since TB already took their mom. The move has its challenges, but Aunt Claire's Great War soldier-turned-chauffeur, Mr. Keats, with his soft nods and prolific baked goods, is a tremendous comfort, as are a new fish-seller friend, Theo, and quiet moments Hurricane spends reflecting in her Words of Encouragement Journal. This florid Depression-era tale draws inspiration from the late relatives of the author, a Schneider Family Book Award winner. Though the book is quite long, short chapters with encapsulated anecdotes reward the committed reader; "Perseverantia vincit," as Aunt Claire says. "Perseverance conquers." Hurricane's scrappiness, love of animals, and ultimate honoring of her innate attributes make for a resilient and relatable young heroine. Hurricane's journey of self-acceptance particularly resonates: "I realize it's a revolution to think one way about yourself, and then change and think another." A gentle and heartwarming historical read.
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