Cronin, Doreen Cyclone, 336 pages. Atheneum Books for Young
Readers (Simon & Schuster), 2017. $17. Language: PG-13 (20 swear, multiple
acronyms for ‘f’); Mature Content; PG; Violence: G.
Nora begs her slightly older, and more glamorous cousin,
Riley to go on the Cyclone roller coaster.
Actually, Nora blackmails her cousin to go with her because the Cyclone
as a wooden roller coaster that sways and rocks, and terrifies Riley. When something awful happens, Nora has to
come to terms with what kind of person she is.
From here, the coaster becomes a metaphor for the Cyclone aftermath, and
the ups and downs of hospital life and outcomes that may or may not be
wanted. Nora and Riley are close cousins
that may be undone since both have issues they don’t want to address.
Pros:
The author uses footnotes to clarify the confusion of hospital acronyms,
and anyone who has been in a hospital can relate to this book. Family dynamics are not easily resolved and
tied up in a bow, so it was believable.
Cons: Sometimes it felt too much
like a hospital waiting room, and I wanted it to move faster, but perhaps that
is the point of the book. As Cronin’s
first foray into young adult literature, it is a more somber reading experience
than I would have thought from the author of Click, Clack, Moo: Cows That Type.
EL, MS - ADVISABLE.
Michelle in the Middle
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