Into the Hurricane

Gr 7 Up—There's nothing typical about how teenagers Eli and Maxine unexpectedly meet, on top of a lighthouse on Shackles Island in coastal Louisiana hours before category five Hurricane Celeste hits. Eli is contemplating suicide at the same spot from which his older sister, also named Celeste, jumped to her death a few years earlier. Max is there to spread the ashes of her recently deceased father. While their reasons for being at the lighthouse are personal and they each resent the other's intrusion, Eli and Max must learn not only to tolerate each other but also to cooperate in order to get to safety as the storm approaches. After realizing that the only bridge off the island has been shut down, they embark on a desperate effort to get to higher ground that involves an ATV, an alligator, a possible ghost, and an unhinged local family bent on holding Eli and Max hostage—all while battling the relentless storm and their own emotional baggage. Connelly's detailed descriptions of the island's unique landscape and the ferocity of the hurricane help set the scene, while the plot's brisk pacing (the whole novel transpires in less than 24 hours) conveys the urgency of the characters' dire situation. Although alternating first- and third-person narration feels disjointed, it allows readers to fully appreciate the protagonists—both of whom are flawed but sincere and self-aware—and their motivations.