Cyclone

Starred review from May 8, 2017
A trip to Coney Island to ride the Cyclone roller coaster ends in tragedy for 12-year-old Nora and her 13-year-old cousin, Riley. Moments after their ride, Riley has a stroke and is rushed to the hospital, leading to the discovery of an undiagnosed heart condition. Nora is certain that the Cyclone (and her blackmailing Riley into riding it) led the blood clot in Riley’s heart to dislodge, causing the stroke. As Riley works to regain her verbal and motor skills, Nora faces her haunting choices and Riley’s difficult new reality. Footnotes in Nora’s voice provide commentary and relevant information (they frequently explain medical terms) in accessible, friendly language. Nora’s reaction to Riley’s stroke and recovery is exceedingly believable—she’s supportive, frustrated, angry, and scared—as is the way she reckons with her guilt and her anger at Riley, caused by an argument they had just before the accident. Moreover, Cronin (the Chicken Squad series) smartly uses the girls’ mothers, who are sisters, to provide another mirror for the complexity of female relationships that Nora is just beginning to understand. Ages 9–13. Agent: Holly McGhee, Pippin Properties.

May 15, 2017
Cronin, famous for solving cow communication problems with a typewriter in Click, Clack, Moo: Cows That Type (2000) and sequels, offers her debut middle-grade novel illuminating human communication problems.Nora, 12, blackmails her cousin Riley, 13, into riding with her on the Cyclone, the Coney Island amusement park's legendary roller coaster--and as soon as Riley steps off, she collapses from a stroke and is hospitalized, partially paralyzed and nearly unable to speak. In the waiting room, Nora meets Jack, a caring young teen, who says his younger brother is in the ICU with leukemia--although, sadly, he's not telling the full story. Riley's hospital stay drags on, including ample medical detail, and Nora's and Riley's mothers' other sister arrives, ballooning the already-substantial tension. As Riley begins to talk a bit, most of her words are, astonishingly, in Spanish, dredged up from her middle school language lessons; only her Latina roommate, Sophia, is able to understand her. (Sophia and some hospital staff aside, the characters all appear to be white.) It's only time, learning to listen, and a bit of emerging maturity that help Nora resolve these many communication problems, discovering poignant, hidden-in-plain-sight truths along the way. Her honest first-person (and thoroughly footnoted) voice believably moves from defensive and guilt-ridden to perceptive and empathetic as her understanding grows. A sensitive exploration of the high costs of failing to really connect with those around us. (Fiction. 10-14)

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July 1, 2017

Gr 4-6-In Cronin's middle grade debut, 12-year-old Nora longs to ride the Cyclone, a tall, shaky wooden roller coaster in Coney Island, NY. No one in Nora's family wants to join her, so Nora blackmails her cousin Riley into joining her by threatening to share a secret with Riley's mother. Once Riley gets off the Cyclone, she collapses, and doctors at the hospital reveal that she has a heart condition that caused a stroke. Riley can no longer remember what happened, speak, or care for herself, and Nora must come to terms with her guilt. Set primarily in a hospital, Cronin's book chronicles Nora's mixed emotions about Riley's accident and the community she forms with a boy whose brother is undergoing chemotherapy. It also broadly touches on themes such as how people cope during tough times. Despite the tension between the two girls, Nora takes up Riley's hobby of drawing to help the girl communicate, and plotlines including the absence of Riley's father and the truth about Riley's secret keep the narrative moving. Many characters are well developed and slightly flawed, such as Riley's irresponsible aunt Elayne, who fights constantly with Nora's mother. This humorous tale ends on a satisfying and hopeful note. Adult drug addiction plays a role in the plot, and there is some swearing. Footnotes explain the medical aspects of this story. VERDICT A novel that successfully tackles several serious subjects, including the struggles children and teens face regarding secrets and families. A first purchase for middle grade collections.-Liz Anderson, DC Public Library

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