Hurricane: A Novel

*Minor spoiler* Will give young readers a sense of a disaster aftermath: the emotional and physical trauma involved and the need for a community to pull together to survive after a hurricane and mudslide. They'll also appreciate Jose's role as hero as he is forced to step up and lead in the absence of his father and older brother. The happy ending is predictable and the story would be richer with a little more Honduran sabor, but as a survival story, it's enough to satisfy the intended audience.

Reviewed by Me for TeensReadToo.com

With HURRICANE, author Terry Trueman brings to life in vivid detail the almost complete devastation of 1998's Hurricane Mitch on Honduras.

In the tiny village of La Rupa, there are only a handful of homes. One of those, at one end of town, is the house of Jose and his family: his mother and father, older brother and sister Victor and Ruby, and younger siblings Maria, Angela, and Juan. There is also their dog, Berti, who can sometimes be persuaded to do more than lie around in the sun.

La Rupa is the type of place where everyone knows one another; there is no way to avoid it, since the village is so small. Jose, who attends school at the bilingual International School in nearby San Pedro Sula, is pretty show more much the only person in the town who can speak both Spanish and English fluently.

In September 1998, La Rupa literally comes to a standstill when Hurricane Mitch destroys the town. After a deadly mudslide, the fifty-plus population of La Rupa is chillingly reduced to only a little over twenty. And Jose's father, brother Victor, and sister Ruby are missing, having been on the road traveling when the Hurricane hit.

In this vivid and fast-paced narrative, Mr. Trueman takes us through the days immediately following Mitch's destruction. As a lack of food and water begins to haunt the survivors, Jose is part of a group who must search the nearby trucha for supplies. And when little Juan falls ill, it is again up to the teenage Jose to venture out into the mud and muck to attempt to make his way to San Pedro Sula to find help.

HURRICANE is a vivid, fast-moving story that even younger readers will find themselves immersed in, as they struggle right along with Jose in learning to survive with next to nothing. The emotions he feels, as he worries about his family's fate, both those missing and still at home, will grip readers of all ages.

The author's note at the end of the book states that more than 5,000 people were initially killed in Honduras during the Hurricane. In the months that followed, bodies of the more than 8,000 missing individuals were also found. Even now, in 2008, the clean-up and recovery period in Honduras is still ongoing. This is one book that brings to life a plight of many that most of us never even knew about. show less

Although a fiction book, it could have been a true story of a boy who lives through and survives Hurricane MItch in Honduras in 1998. As in many situtations its not the hurricane, but something else it causes--in this case a mudslide--that does the most damage. José is thirteen and grows up fast.

Tells of the change in the life of a young boy and his community in Honduras following Hurricane Mitch in 1998. Young Jose is irritated because he is scared of the storm, he's never seen rain like this before. His roof is leaking in so many places, and he doesn't understand what is going on. He is also scared because he and his mother and sister are separated from his father and brother and sister. Out of the fifty-six people who live in his small town thirty-three are killed in the storm and the mudslides that it triggered. They have no running water and no way of knowing whether his father and siblings are dead or alive. The young boy makes the trip to a neighboring town seeking medical help for his sick younger brother. He brings show more back help and the set up a makeshift clinic in his home to care for sick survivors. the military search for and bury the dead to avoid the spread of disease. Surrounded by devastation and ruin, Jose feels like the luckiest boy on Earth when he learns that his father, brother, and sister are alive! show less

A short gripping read that while directly describing the effects of Hurricane Mitch in 1998, will shed light on what any hurricane victim goes through.

Thirteen-year-old Jose has to take charge when Hurricane Mitch destroys his village while his father and older siblings are doing business in the next town. Great for middle grade readers who like adventure and stories about natural disasters.

Hurricane is a perfect book. The Anticipation of this book is so great that u can't put it down! two words READ IT!