It's YA (which I didn't realize when I started reading it), but I think it might be a little trite, even in that context. ( )

I had read "Isaac's Storm" by Erik Larson quite a while ago and was impressed by his ability to bring this historic event to life. I am even more impressed by Hale's writing which brings the people to life in a very accessible way for younger readers. Which is not to say that only the young will enjoy or get anything out of it--I have.
Fourteen-year old Seth is unhappy with his family's move to Galveston, unhappy having to babysit his 4-yr old sister, and rebellious about his father's expectations for his future. He has learned carpentry from his father and wishes to continue that, but his father has bought into the myth that a higher education is the way of the future.
Hale powerfully brings out Seth's inner-knowing, his growing awareness of the gift of connecting with his work. First, she shows Seth observing a master carpenter: "There was something almost mystifying in the way he rested saw and nail against lumber--just for a second--like he was listening, like the wood had whispered something to him I couldn't quite hear." (p.49) Then she shows him reflecting on the experience, understanding it's meaning: "I'd felt it wake something inside me...A quiet something that'd always been waiting in my hands...it shot right through me, lighting me up like the electrical current that lit the city, bridging each of us to our work and to one another...thanks to Zach, I recognized it...this undercurrent that had been sleeping in me..." (p.51-2). And several times through the book she has him dream of this feeling, and it sustains him through the coming trials, e.g. "I remembered my dream, that easy, instinctive flow, and as natural as breathing...Josiah and I quickly fell into that invisible rhythm again, and I rode the current, no longer mindful of the worries..."(p.195)
This is set against the backdrop of the fear in the flood: of slate tiles slicing through people's necks, people being sucked under the water and disappearing; the horror of the aftermath: people trapped under twisted piles of metal and lumber and no way to get them out, bloated bodies half-buried in sand or washing ashore, layers of mud coating every surface, loss of one's belongings/home/family/friends; and the spirit to rebuild, to help each other, to grieve and move on--the same spirit, it seems, as motivated Galveston to rebuild 40 blocks burned down in the Great Conflagration of 1885 (p.11).
I do wonder about the wisdom of rebuilding in a disaster-prone area, but the book doesn't address this human hubris. The Afterword does detail the major constructions undertaken to prevent the re-occurrence of another flood. ( )

I read this book with my 8th grade classes and while I'd say it was a solid example of historical fiction, most of the book is repetitive and does not sustain the students' interests. The story is about the Galveston Storm in the early 1900's that swept away most of the town. The actual scene with the storm takes place relatively early on in the novel and the entire second half describes the rebuilding process. However, the part that captured the students' attention was the actual storm, so when there are over 100 pages of just rebuilding, that gets very redundant after a while and makes for a slow read.

If you are looking for an example of historical fiction that anyone could read, this would be a great one. However, it is not one that I plan on teaching again. ( )

3.5 stars, but I'm rounding up. Hale doesn't fully capture the historical tone--her history is factually accurate, but it doesn't feel genuine somehow. She does, however, capture the sadness of a boy walking around the shell of Galveston in the immediate aftermath of the 1900 hurricane. I haven't read anything better on the topic (nothing realistic, anyway; Sean Stewart's Galveston was amazing in the magic realism genre), but that doesn't automatically make it a great book. I'd pass it to kids doing the historical fiction assignment, but it's not a must-have beyond that. ( )

Excellent story. I felt like I was experiencing everything the family went through during and after the hurricane of 1900! ( )