A Hundred Hours of Night

February 15, 2016
A Dutch teen flees scandal at home for the bright lights of New York only to encounter Hurricane Sandy. Fifteen-year-old, anxiety-ridden Emilia de Wit steals her father's credit card and books a flight to New York City as well as a room through Craigslist after the news goes viral that her principal father has fallen in love with a student. No surprise, the room is a scam, and Emilia has no place to stay while Sandy approaches. Desperate, she throws herself on the mercy of Seth, the teen boy who actually lives in the Craigslist apartment. Together with Seth, his little sister, Abby, and "movie-star" beautiful Jim, a down-on-his luck 17-year-old from Detroit, they hunker down to wait out the storm and together find a strange kind of magic in the darkened streets of lower Manhattan when the lights go out. The fairy-tale version of New York is ridiculous (Emilia's actions are dangerous yet everything repeatedly has a happy outcome) but also a love letter to a city that shines when the chips are down. The way Emilia, Seth, Abby, and Jim (all white) help each other deal with various issues (all emotional) and the way her adventure cures Emilia's germ-focused OCD-like tendencies are sweet and simplified, as is the blossoming romance between Seth and Emilia. This won't linger, but it goes down smooth. (Historical fiction. 11-15)

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March 1, 2016

Gr 9 Up-When Emilia's father commits an act so scandalous that she cannot stay in school or even at home in Amsterdam any longer, she declares her independence by fleeing to New York City. Emilia de Wit is a meticulous 15-year-old who leaves nothing to chance and who is repulsed by dirt and germs, so she carefully plans every step of her journey, even prepaying to sublet a lovely apartment. Despite her fastidiousness, Emilia finds herself without a place to sleep just as Hurricane Sandy is bearing down on the city. She is rescued by Seth and his young sister, who are taking care of each other and their apartment in their mother's absence. With Jim, an injured teen neighbor, Seth, Emilia, and Abby prepare a hurricane shelter in the apartment and ride out the storm. Woltz wrote this engaging story after being in New York during Sandy, and she pulls readers into her experience through vivid descriptions of the neighborhoods, the storm's devastation, and the residents' amazing resiliency. While Emilia is a well-developed character, we learn only as much about others as she does, and only enough to understand their relationships with her. They have dealt with traumatic life events and ridden out personal storms in their own ways. As their stories emerge, the protagonist learns more about herself as well and finds new strength to confront her father and her temperamental artist mother and to become a catalyst for change for them all. VERDICT Highly recommended.-MaryAnn Karre, West Middle School, Binghamton, NY

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