Hurricane Kiss

Hurricane Kiss is flying off the shelf and has a list of “holds” awaiting its return. The steamy black and white cover may be the initial draw, but the story itself keeps the teens reading through to the end.

The story involves a teenaged girl, Jillian, and her neighbors, who are confined in the car for a long road trip as they try to get away from an incoming hurricane. One of the neighbors is River, the former starting quarterback of Jillian’s high school. There is a backstory for River: while once headed to fame for his football prowess, he disappeared, serving time in a juvenile detention center. Now that he’s out, he’s quiet with a chip on his shoulder.

As the effort to flee to storm gridlocks in traffic, River takes action to find shelter, and he and Jillian find themselves inside their empty high school. Their time alone, where they wait for the storm to pass, allows them to look back at the past, and reconcile how to move forward.

The storyline is exciting and nerve wracking, with themes of teen angst, romance, and survival.

Examining Hurricanes

This book is about hurricanes. It caught my eye to see what could happen how many people die each year. This book was about hurricanes. The author gives how many lives are lost and the costs for each hurricane. I was frustrated when I read that barrier broke because of design faults. If we want to stop the number of people dying from hurricanes, they (barriers) should be made correctly. If you like to learn good information, I recommend this book especially to people who want to learn about hurricanes. 

-J.D.

A Hundred Hours of Night

This adventure centers on a 15 year old Dutch girl, Emilia, who steals her father’s credit card and flies to New York City to escape the scandal he has caused as her school. Her father, the headmaster, fell in love with a student and was caught sending inappropriate text messages to the girl. Emilia had planned everything perfectly before she ran away, from booking the flight, to renting an apartment on Craig’s List, to printing maps and directions. But there were things she did not foresee: the apartment posting was a scam. And things she could not foresee: Hurricane Sandy was heading straight for NYC.

Emilia fortunately is taken in for the night by the occupants of the bogusly-listed apartment, and she makes friends with the Seth, the son, and Abby, the daughter of the tenant (who herself is out of town), and their friend Jim. Together they ride out Hurricane Sandy that not only rattles the windows, but shakes the building itself, and knocks out the power for 100 hours (hence the title). The four teens and tweens are without social media, unable to reach their parents, and are forced to find ways to survive this natural disaster.

While the plot is unrealistic, and all amazingly ends well, A Hundred Hours of Night is still an enjoyable read that will appeal mostly to 5th – 10th graders who enjoy action and survival stories.