Tag Archive | disaster

Dad? Dad? I am Right Where You Left Me! by Calla Devlin (book review)

Nov21

book cover of Right Where You Left Me, by Calla Devlin, published by Atheneum BFYR | recommended on BooksYALove.comMissing after earthquake,
Dad’s been kidnapped!
CIA says don’t interfere…

No way that photographer Charlotte and Mom will sit on their hands and wait for Dad to be freed, some far-off day!

What a crazy time to fall in love, to sidestep friends’ advice to ignore Josh, to have senior year deadlines looming while waiting and waiting to hear about her journalist father!

Read the first pages here (free, courtesy of the publisher), then ask for this Sept. 2017 release at your local library or independent bookstore – remember, Small Business Saturday is Nov. 25th!

When is it time to take matters into your own hands?
**kmm

Book info: Right Where You Left Me / Calla Devlin. Atheneum Books for Young Readers, 2017.  [author site]  [publisher site]  Review copy and cover image courtesy of the publisher.

My book talk: When Charlotte’s reporter dad goes missing in Ukraine after an earthquake, she’s ready to jump on the next plane and search for him – until the CIA says he’s been kidnapped by rebels, and any interference by the San Francisco teen or her Russian-born mom will doom him.

Dad’s disappearance shatters her senior year planning college together with best friend Emma and her contentment as school newspaper photographer (on staff with long-time crush Josh!), and Charlotte fears that Mom may retreat into depression that even baking and baking won’t prevent.

Why can’t the ransom be paid to free Dad?
Will Mom ever fully recover from losing Charlotte’s big sister to crib death?
Is Emma right that dating Josh would harm Charlotte’s future?

Love and loss continue to intertwine in Charlotte’s life, as she pushes past her own cautious nature to discover which expectations are worth leaving behind – for her happiness and her family’s future.

Strange Fire! technology is forbidden here – by Tommy Wallach (book review)

Nov13

book cover of Strange Fire, by Tommy Wallach published by Simon Schuster BFYR | recommended on BooksYALove.comTechnology destroyed the world,
never repeat the sins of the past!
But ignoring knowledge that could save lives??

Remnants of humankind survived the asteroid hitting Earth, rebuilt their world over thousands of years without the evils of technology, yet some people are seeking out and using forbidden knowledge!

After their parents are killed, older brother Clive vows that the heretic attackers must die.
Studying at the seat of all wisdom, younger brother Clover sees that technology is not purely evil.
The precarious power balance between church and military is shifting, but both want technology-users wiped out!

Look for Strange Fire at your local library or independent bookstore, and also check for Wallach’s earlier book, We All Looked Up , about a community waiting for the asteroid heading for Earth…very soon.

How do we balance technology overload with being truly alive?
**kmm

Book info: Strange Fire (The Anchor & Sophia, book 1) / Tommy Wallach. Simon & Schuster Books for Young Readers, 2017.  [author site]  [publisher site]  Review copy and cover image courtesy of the publisher.

My book talk: Their family attacked by heretical rebels, teen brothers Clive and Clover must decide how – or whether – to fight back in their technology-averse society.

After sky-filling lightning devastated the world, its few survivors vowed to erase technology and never repeat the past’s mistakes, for their safety and their future.

Preaching this Descendancy gospel has been the Hamill family’s life work – and may destroy them when they discover a remote settlement purposely experimenting with forbidden science.

Clive knows technology is blasphemy and that long-adored Gemma will help soldiers from the Anchor find the rebels.

Clover wants to learn everything and begins to question the Descendancy’s stranglehold on knowledge.

When technology is blasphemy, can new ideas ever be accepted?
Is it right to keep the people of the Descendancy in ignorance?
What is truth? What is right? Who gets to decide?

This first book in The Anchor and Sophia series pits the power of the status quo against the struggle of knowledge to be free.

Hurricane Boy, separated from family after Katrina! by Laura Roach Dragon (book review)

Nov10

book cover of Hurricane Boy by Laura Roach Dragon, published by Pelican Publishing | recommended on BooksYALove.comGrandma scoffs at weather warnings,
Hurricane Katrina proves her unwise!
Rescue! Safety? Separated!!

This fictional account of one family’s struggles to survive Katrina’s fury, then be reunited after their rescue has been heralded as true-to-life and as frightening as reality by people in the Ninth Ward who were also there during the devastating hurricane.

Recent Hurricanes Harvey, Irma, and Maria spread similar destruction and disruption – be ready for more hurricanes hitting unusual locations.

But have we really learned from these disasters?
**kmm

Book info: Hurricane Boy / Laura Roach Dragon. Pelican Publishing, 2014. [author site]  [publisher site]  Review copy and cover image courtesy of the publisher.

My book talk: When their Ninth Ward home is swept away by Hurricane Katrina, Hollis and his younger siblings are separated from big brother Jonas and grandma Gee during the evacuation – will they be able to find each other and get back to New Orleans?

Good thing that Gee had an axe in the attic so they could escape through the roof when the levee broke and flooded the house.

Lucky that rescuers could read ‘insulin’ painted on the roof and save her after the long first days with no drinking water.

Most unfortunate that Jonas had swum over to help others when Hollis, Leta, and Augie are finally taken to safety – far, far from home!

As Augie refuses unfamiliar food at the shelter, Hollis deals with people trying to take advantage of the three siblings and other kids separated from their parents, all the while wondering why his dad abandoned the family as mom died of cancer and whether he even survived the hurricane.

Asteroid approaching?! Learning to Swear in America, by Katie Kennedy (book review)

May17

book cover of Learning to Swear in America by Katie Kennedy published by Bloomsbury | recommended on BooksYALove.comJust ‘on loan’ from Moscow University,
till JPL can divert the asteroid…
is ‘forever’ a reasonable loan length?

Russian physics prodigy Yuri is intent on winning the Nobel Prize, but working with NASA to prevent an asteroid from wiping out the Pacific Rim will keep him busy in California for a few weeks – not his last weeks on earth, he hopes! And then he meets Dovie…

Find this funny and fierce July 2016 hardback release at your local library or pre-order the July 2017 paperback from your favorite independent bookstore (no affiliate links here – indie booksellers deserve all our business).

If the end of our world was approaching, what would you do?
**kmm

Book info: Learning to Swear in America / Katie Kennedy. Bloomsbury USA Childrens,’s Books 2016. [author site]  [publisher site]  Review copy and cover image courtesy of the publisher.

My book talk: Yuri will just return to Russia to continue his antimatter research after helping NASA prevent an asteroid from obliterating the US West Coast, but when the 17 year old physics prodigy discovers that they might not let him leave California…

Eighteen days to impact – Yuri meets the asteroid team he will work with…and a lovely mysterious girl.

Yes, he will take Dovie to her prom (such a strange American high school custom) and visit her odd hippie family (more strange customs) and find a way to stop the asteroid (if only his team would listen to him).

No, the young PhD won’t let anyone at Moscow University steal his research toward the Nobel Prize or be forced to stay in California against his will!

Counting down the days to impact – the math, the physics, the public doesn’t know true danger… as Yuri falls in love.

Memory of Things, by Gae Polisner (book review) – amnesia, remembering, 9/11

Oct18

book cover of The Memory of Things by Gae Polisner published by St Martins Griffin | recommended on BooksYALove.comAshes, smoke, run!
Tension, wings, jumping?
Rescued! Memory? gone…

Kyle can’t unsee the Twin Towers falling on 9/11, can’t unrescue the ash-covered girl with costume wings and no memory, can’t unwish that she would stay with him as he cares for paralyzed Uncle Matt while Mom is stuck in LA with his little sister and Dad is at Ground Zero with his police squad and other rescue workers.

You can find this September 2016 release at your local library or independent bookstore to meet Kyle and Uncle Matt and the jagged-hair girl with wings.

What things have the most weight in your own memories?
**kmm

Book info: The Memory of Things / Gae Polisner. St. Martin’s Griffin, 2016.  [author site]  [publisher site]   Review copy and cover image courtesy of the publisher.

My book talk: Rushing across the Brooklyn Bridge on 9/11, Kyle spots a girl wearing wings, covered with ashes, poised to jump?

Safely home, the 16-year-old finds that the girl can’t remember her name, he can’t get his dad in downtown New York City on the phone, his mom and sister can’t get home from LA, and paralyzed Uncle Matt’s caregiver can’t get to his family’s apartment.

What can Kyle do but help Uncle Matt, keep trying to contact Dad, and wonder if the girl will get her memory back?

He longs for Uncle Matt to recover faster from the wreck that ended his police career (all Donohue men are cops, says his granddad, but Kyle loves music so), for his family to be together, for the girl to stay…

A love story in the wake of disaster, a family story that endures, a possibility of happy endings. (One of 6,000 books recommended on www.abookandahug.com)

Stories of seagoing survival to read with your ears!

Jun11

Time to download this week’s free audiobooks from SYNC so you can read with your ears!

Remember that although these complete audiobooks are only available from Thursday through Wednesday, you have free use of them as long as you keep them on your computer or electronic device

Click on the title to download each audiobook by Wednesday – free and easy.

CD cover of The Living by Matt de la Pena | Read by Henry Leyva Published by Brilliance Audio The Living
by Matt de la Pena
Read by Henry Leyva
Published by Brilliance Audio

After an earthquake wrecks the cruise ship he’s working on, Shy must survive and keep a rich teen girl alive, too.

 

 
The Perfect Storm: CD cover of The Perfect Storm by Sebastian Junger | Read by Richard Davidson Published by Recorded Books, Inc.A True Story of Men Against the Sea
by Sebastian Junger
Read by Richard Davidson
Published by Recorded Books, Inc.

The crew of a small fishing boat battles against the storm of the century.

Two amazing survival stories – have you read either of these in print?
**kmm

T is Torn Away, by Jennifer Brown (book review) – tornado tears apart her family & life

Apr23

book cover of Torn Away by Jennifer Brown published by Little Brown Books for Young ReadersThe tornado smashed her house,
killed her mom and half-sister,
whirled away what she knew as truth…

As tornado season revs up in the Midwest and South, please be sure that your family has disaster plan in place for the likely perils in your area, including the part that Jersey’s family forgot – where to meet up when the all-clear sounds.

You’ll find this sad-but-hopeful 2014 book at your local library or independent bookstore with Jennifer Brown’s other strong books about teens in difficult situations.

Got a disaster story to share?
**kmm

Book info: Torn Away / Jennifer Brown. Little Brown Books for Young Readers, 2014.  [author site]  [publisher site] Review copy and cover image courtesy of the publisher.

My book talk: As she is shuffled from her estranged dad’s house to the grandparents she never knew, Jersey regrets her harsh words to Mom and little sister on the day that a tornado swept them away.

Jersey did go into the basement when the warning sirens began, but couldn’t imagine that the tornado would really touch down in her Missouri neighborhood – or crush the dance studio with Mom and five-year-old Marin in it.

Her stepdad is devastated by their deaths and can’t cope with anything, so Jersey must go live with her alcoholic dad who abandoned them and his new family. So far away from her friends, unable to come home for any of the funerals…

Stashing tiny notes about what her mom and half-sister liked best in the old purse Marin loved, trying not to make problems for dad’s extended family who’d very grudgingly taken her in, things go from bad to terrible for the high school junior, and Jersey is forced to meet Mom’s parents who disowned her when she married.

How can she catch her fading memories of Marin and Mom?
Why don’t any of the relatives’ stories line up with what Mom told her?
Will anything ever feel right again?

Have a handkerchief handy – Jersey’s story of loss is so real and so true.  (One of 6,000 books recommended on www.abookandahug.com)

K is killing rain in H2O, by Virginia Birgin (book review) – one drop of rain, one more death

Apr13
book cover of H2O by Virginia Birgin published by Sourcebooks Fire | recommended on BooksYALove.com

Every cloud carries death, rain that kills millions –
now in the drinking water, no cure in sight…
but somehow she will find her father!

“If you are reading this, you are very, very lucky to be alive…but you already know that, right?” (p. 7) says Ruby, in a near-future where an asteroid – blasted to bits before hitting Earth – brings a deadly plague that rains down, seeking the iron of our blood.

Listen to the prologue of the UK audiobook here free, as Ruby begins the story of the end of humanity, raindrop by raindrop, and her race to find Dad in far-off London.

Published as The Rain  in UK, there is a sequel to H2O; hope it gets to the US soon!

Ruby was kissing Caspar in the hot tub when the rain began – where would you want to be when the world started to end?
**kmm

Book info: H2O / Virginia Birgin. Sourcebooks Fire, 2014.  [author site]  [publisher site]  [book trailer] Review copy and cover image courtesy of the publisher.

My book talk: As deadly rain sweeps across the world, Ruby fights thirst, well-meaning survivors, and the army so that she can get to London and her father.

Blowing up the asteroid saved earth, but doomed mankind to die by the blood-eating virus it carried, now sweeping down as rain, every drop lethal, no cure.

Trying to find anything safe to drink, staying away from rain and groundwater and tapwater, the teen and her stepdad survive longer than most.

Despite the odds, Ruby must get to her father, so she finds a car with keys and heads toward London with a nerdy classmate, a frightened-silent child, and a single driving lesson – watching the sky every minute for the clouds bringing more death.

Is there any place to hide from the rain?
How much further?
Dad, are you there?

The Rain (UK title) doesn’t care where it falls, but will Ruby survive to see The Storm sequel? (One of 6,000 books recommended on www.abookandahug.com)