The Book of Storms

October 27, 2014
Eleven-year-old Danny O’Neill awakens after a thunderstorm to find he’s been abandoned by his parents and suddenly is able to speak to plants and animals. Setting out to find his family, Danny is plagued by the terrifying creature Sammael, a sandman who inhabits dreams, bargains for souls, and wants Danny dead. With a distinctly British wit, debut author Hatfield weaves a dark and twisted tale in the vein of Neil Gaiman’s The Graveyard Book, as Danny searches for the titular book—“just a flat black shape in the darkness, full of some kind of promise”—along with his cousin and protector Tom. In this trilogy opener, Hatfield creates an imaginative, whimsical world filled with distinctively voiced flora and fauna and other strange characters, including her personification of Death as an old woman who cradles the newly deceased like a grandmotherly angel. Hatfield doesn’t shy from depicting violent deaths or the occasional bit of gore, but the story is never gratuitous—the frights are just enough to keep readers’ hearts racing as they read late into the night. Ages 10–14. Agency: Lindsay Literary Agency.

Starred review from October 15, 2014
Confident storytelling lays a solid foundation for Book 1 of this original middle-grade fantasy trilogy. Eleven-year-old Danny wakes up one morning after a tumultuous thunderstorm to find his parents gone and the giant sycamore in his backyard destroyed by lightning. Poking around the remains of the tree, he discovers a stick that, when held, allows him to communicate with all of the natural world-plants, animals, insects; even rivers and storms. When his parents-storm-obsessed ever since the storm-related death of their first child, a sister Danny never knew-do not return by the following morning, he sets off to find them. As Danny searches for his parents, Sammael is searching for Danny, as the stick, a taro, is powerful magic that he wants for himself. Sammael is an otherworldly entity who is part sandman-planting dreams into people as they sleep-and part devil, making deals in exchange for souls (souls that, in wonderful narrative cohesion, transmute to grains of sand after death). Complex and morally nuanced, Hatfield's story harkens back to European and ancient Greek mythology in its anthropomorphizing of dreams and fears (Death, a silver-haired woman with red eyes, plays a key role) and its portrayal of nature as character rather than setting. A powerfully conceived and executed story that adds a wholly original element to the fantasy genre. (Fantasy. 10-13)

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July 1, 2014

Gr 5 Up-This debut novel is an entertaining fantasy adventure set across a modern European landscape. The book follows 11-year-old Danny O'Neill as he struggles to piece together the seemingly incomprehensible details left behind by a devastating storm. The quest takes him deep within himself where he must find courage that he never knew he possessed. The conflicts that arise range from loneliness and feeling like an outcast to demonic forces and strange powers of communication. The book is paced well throughout, aside from a climax that leaves a little to be desired. Readers will truly root for the protagonist and find very relatable characteristics within the villainous Sammael. Hatfield also manages to include some deeper topics that will hit home hard with some students, an applaudable feat considering the overall fun nature of the story. The true beauty of this tale lies in the personification that runs throughout the entirety of the novel. Not only does Hatfield take readers inside the thoughts and minds of all sorts of flora and fauna, but she uses their observable traits to guide their humanistic presence in very believable ways.-Chad Lane, Easton Elementary, Wye Mills, MD

Copyright 2014 School Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

October 15, 2014
Grades 6-9 Danny's parents often leave him home by himself when they chase storms, but this time, when he wakes to find them still missing and the old sycamore tree in their backyard destroyed by lightning, he is worried that something is terribly wrong. And if that weren't enough, the tiny stick he finds amid the ashy remains of the tree seems to give him the power to talk to plants and animals. Sammael, a spooky demonic figure, is after that powerful stick, and he starts to pursue the 11-year-old, leaving ruin in his wake. Meanwhile, Danny follows mysterious clues in his parents' journal to locate the Book of Storms, which holds not only the secret of his parents' whereabouts but also instructions on how to control the weather. Hatfield infuses her debut with a macabre, Neil Gaimanesque sense of folk magic and chilling scenes of light horror. Though the pace occasionally flags thanks to Danny's sometimes belabored decision-making and a few confusing plot points, middle-schoolers making their first forays into dark fantasy will be pleased by this series opener.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2014, American Library Association.)