Hurricane Child

By Kacen Callender

Lambda Literary Award Winner: “Lush descriptions bring the Caribbean environment to vivid life . . . An excellent and nuanced coming-of-age tale.” —School Library Journal

A Kirkus Reviews Best Book of the Year and Winner of the Stonewall Book Award

Being born during a hurricane is considered unlucky where twelve-year-old Caroline Murphy lives, and she has had her share of bad luck lately. She’s hated and bullied by everyone in her small school on St. Thomas of the US Virgin Islands. A spirit only she can see won’t stop following her. And—worst of all—Caroline’s mother left home one day and never came back.

But when a new student named Kalinda arrives, Caroline’s luck begins to turn around. Kalinda, a solemn girl from Barbados with a special smile for everyone, becomes Caroline’s first and only friend—and the person for whom Caroline has begun to develop a crush. Now, Caroline must find the strength to confront her feelings for Kalinda, brave the spirit stalking her through the islands, and face the reason her mother abandoned her. Together, Caroline and Kalinda must set out in a hurricane to find Caroline’s missing mother—before Caroline loses her forever.

“Absorbing descriptions of the island . . . a folkloric tale about overcoming old narratives and creating new ones.” —Publishers Weekly

“Callender draws readers in and makes them identify with Caroline’s angst and sorrow and joy and pain [and] has readers rooting for Caroline the whole way.” —Kirkus Reviews (starred review)

• Language: English
• Publisher: Open Road Integrated Media
• Release date: Mar 27, 2018
• ISBN: 9781338129328

Kacen Callender

Kacen Callender is originally from Saint Thomas in the US Virgin Islands. Kacen has a BA from Sarah Lawrence College and an MFA from the New School’s writing for children program. They are also the author of the young adult novel This Is Kind of an Epic Love Story and the middle grade novel Hurricane Child, winner of the Stonewall Book Award and Lambda Literary Award. They can be found online at www.kacencallender.com.

Reviews for Hurricane Child

[Edvh · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

Tough to read at times, beautifully written in its imagery and use of language, true to the challenges of growing up amongst peers as a child and teenager if it's hard to fit in socially.

[salsabrarian · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Caroline is a hurricane child, born during a hurricane which is considered bad luck. She is shunned by the kids at school and frequently gets into trouble with her teacher. She has early, fond memories of her mother who left the family and sent back postcards from her travels. But the postcards have long stopped. Caroline wishes to be reunited with her mother but doesn't know how to find her; she wonders if the woman in black she always sees has something to do with her mother. Kalinda Francis shows up as the new girl in school and Caroline falls in love with her. Together the two go in search of Caroline's mother. The prose is elegant and grounded and the island setting is vivid. Caroline herself comes off as an old soul.

[reader1009-863136 · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

diverse children's middlegrade fiction (missing absent mother, black tween in the Caribbean Islands with a crush on another girl, contact with spirit world or other unearthly beings)
I loved how complex the characters and their situations were. I felt the jumbledness of the different issues and the complexity of everything happening reflected how confusing the time could be for a queer child growing up without a mother and without friends.
The cover is also beautiful though I wish the child were as blue-black dark as she is described in the text. As much as I love seeing POC prominently featured on book covers, this lightening of the skin is still a form of white-washing.

[sweetiegherkin · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Twelve-year-old Caroline Murphy is a lonely child -- her mother skipped out on the family a while ago, her father is emotionally distant, her teacher doesn't hide her disdain for Caroline, and the other children bully her. But things start to change when a new girl, Kalinda, arrives at school and is interested in helping Caroline reconnect with her mother.This book had a ton of positive reviews from critical sources and it sounded very promising. While I did like it on the whole, some of it didn't quite live up to the hype. Let's start with the positives:- Diversity and representation were present in all kinds of ways. Caroline is Black (specifically noted that she is a darker tone than many of her classmates) and clearly queer. The setting (U.S. Virgin Islands) is also not one seen much in children's literature and it felt like the author did a good job of integrating the culture without stating 'and this is how it's done in the Caribbean' (i.e., she doesn't hit the reader over the head with it, but instead lets it flow naturally into the writing). There is also the separated parents situation for both Caroline and Kalinda, although in different ways for each girl.- The writing was compelling and kept me engaged.- The audiobook narrator was excellent and it really felt like I was listening in on Caroline's thoughts during this slice of her life.On the flip side, it seemed like the book was trying to conquer a whole lot and didn't necessarily live up to it all. For instance, the whole subplot about spirits and ghosts never felt like it was truly explained. I guess this was just adding on atmospheric and cultural vibes, but it didn't do much for me personally. Also Bernadette initially seemed to appear out of nowhere and was a rather underdeveloped character. The final explanation about Caroline's mother and why she left her child with zero contact also felt a little weak, especially after all the different scenarios that Caroline ran through in her mind.I'd be slightly hesitant to recommend this book to some sensitive or especially susceptible readers as Caroline does describe some violence in her interactions with the other school children, and also the fact that Caroline and Kalinda run away from home while there is a storm watch, spending the night in a condo they broke into and have a physical altercation with a security guard there. This book initially seemed to lean almost too heavily in the romance plotline -- I'm happy the LGBTQIA representation is there but this is the third middle-grade book I've read recently about 12-year-olds talking about love, marriage, soulmates, etc. as though lasting relationships founded at such a young age are the norm. However, this book did later step back from that a little with Caroline later in the book realizing she's too young for such a long-lasting relationship.Again, on the whole I enjoyed this book, but it did feel like a lot was jam-packed into a relatively short book so some of it was better developed than other parts.

[lydia1879 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

the first 60 pages of this were really hard to get through. caroline is going THROUGH it. this has some serious, big emotional depth especially for a middle grade novel.

caroline spent the whole novel like 'adults never take me seriously. they don't know shit' which i love. she's such a great character. she has such a fury about her, such a righteous anger. so well-formed.

the second half of this novel really picked up and had a great pace. i loved caroline as a main character. i stan.

[electrascaife · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Caroline lives with her father in the U.S. Virgin Islands, gets bullied at school for being different, desperately wants answers for why her mother left and where she went, wonders about the spirits that follow her around but that no one else seems to be able to see, and falls in love with Kalinda, the first friend she's ever had. It's an interesting story, but it feels like there's too much going on at once and that the book can't decide which of the things it's really about. I'm always happy about more LGTBQ+ stories for kids, but that element of the book seemed tagged on and seamy (i.e. not at all seamlessly interwoven). And the ghosts/spirits part felt that way, too, really, although I do wonder if that perception is due to my not being very well versed in the proper cultural references. If so, then yeah, I own up to needing to do more homework to get how the spirits work into things. However, since this is a book intended for a young audience, it would have been a great opportunity to introduce them to such a thing (or at least add some references at the end for further reading). So, great potential here, but I think it needed a bit more polish.

[edgoldberg · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

It's been 1 year and 3 months since Caroline's mother disappeared from their Water Island home. Her mother used to send post cards from far off lands but that stopped. The only thing Caroline wants to do is find her mother, because she misses her, and find out why she left.Caroline is a loner, an outtcast at the Catholic School she attends on St. Thomas. When a new girl, Kalinda, enters her class, Caroline is surprised that Kalinda would shun the 'in' group and become her friend...her only friend. Together they experience the ins and outs of being 12 with the associated feelings that accompany that age as well as begin the search for Caroline's mother.Hurricane Child is a heartwarming book for all ages.