Hurricane Season

by Nicole Melleby

For Fig’s dad, hurricane season brings the music.For Fig, hurricane season brings the possibility of disaster. Fig, a sixth grader, loves her dad and the home they share in a beachside town. She does not love the long months of hurricane season. Her father, a once-renowned piano player, sometimes goes looking for the music in the middle of a storm. Hurricane months bring unpredictable good and bad days. More than anything, Fig wants to see the world through her father’s eyes, so she takes an art class to experience life as an artist does. Then Fig’s dad shows up at school, confused and looking for her. Not only does the class not bring Fig closer to understanding him, it brings social services to their door. As the walls start to fall around her, Fig is sure it’s up to her alone to solve her father’s problems and protect her family’s privacy. But with the help of her best friend, a cute girl at the library, and a surprisingly kind new neighbor, Fig learns she isn’t as alone as she once thought . . . and begins to compose her own definition of family. Nicole Melleby’s Hurricane Season is a radiant and tender novel about taking risks and facing danger, about friendship and art, and about growing up and coming out. And more than anything else, it is a story about love—both its limits and its incredible healing power.

• ISBN10: 1643750321
• ISBN13: 9781643750323
• Publish Date: 17 March 2020 (first published 7 May 2019)
• Publish Status: Active
• Publish Country: US
• Imprint: Algonquin Young Readers
• Format: Paperback (UK Trade)
• Pages: 288
• Language: English

Reviews

[Sam@WLABB]

It had been Fig and her dad against the world since she was born, but when one of her father's episodes captured the attention of Fig's art teacher, it became Fig and dad against the Child Protection & Permanency department. As the months counted down during this figurative and literal hurricane season, Fig could not help but wonder if she would be able to save her family.

My emotions! My emotions! My heart was cracking in half during the early chapters of this books. It is always heartbreaking to read about children, who are thrust into grownup situations, caring for their grownup, when that grownup should really be caring for them. I sniffled and cried as Fig related how she paid the bills and made sure there was food, but what really killed me, was the isolation she suffered due to her peers, who lacked empathy and compassion. To make matters worse, Fig had to deal with the fear of being separated from the only parent she had ever known.

But, Melleby allayed my fears by inserting a new neighbor into their lives, Mark. Fig first called on Mark out of fear during a storm, but Mark and Fig's dad develop a friendship, which eventually grew into more. The new situation left Fig feeling like the odd-man out, and these emotions, combined with her own fear of losing her father, on top of her discovering her feelings for another girl was a lot for Fig to process.

Fig made it through her hurricane season ok, because there was always love in her home. Her father may have had vicious mood swings, but when he was "present", he was a caring and doting father.

I found this to be a very beautiful story, and I really appreciated Melleby's approach to the various issues she explored, especially dad's mental illness. At one point, we learned that Fig's dad was bipolar, and there was never discussion of a "cure". Rather, they talk about managing the symptoms, the difficulties of finding the right medications, and how the highs and lows may return every now and again. I felt it was an honest depiction of the challenges faced by those with mental illnesses and their loved ones, and was grateful that Melleby approached it that way.

Overall: A lovely and honest exploration of one girl's struggle to understand her father's illness while maintain her connection to him, which was emotional and touching, as well as hopeful.

*ARC provided in exchange for an honest review.

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