Chasing Helicity

February 5, 2018
Thirteen-year-old Helicity Dunlap, named after a physics term relating to a particle’s spin, loves storms, science, and math. After she isn’t placed in honors classes for the coming school year, she goes for a horseback ride and is far from home when a tornado hits. Helicity’s western Michigan town is destroyed, and her football-star older brother is injured while searching for her. In the aftermath, Helicity meets a meteorologist/storm chaser named Lana who gets her a handsome tutor named Sam, so that Helicity can prove to her parents that she belongs in the honors classes. It takes her father some time to come around, but Helicity is eventually allowed to go on a storm-chasing trip with Lana and Sam. But tragedy strikes there, too, and a cliffhanger sets up a sequel. Meteorologist Zee deftly balances the science of storms, their fascination to storm chasers, and Helicity’s angst and family problems. Readers should easily relate to Helicity’s longing to follow her passion: “Wind, moisture, pressure, temperature—there was so much about the weather that she didn’t know, and so much she wanted to understand.” Ages 8–12.

March 15, 2018
ABC News meteorologist Zee embellishes her debut novel with plenty of accurate weather information.Thirteen-year-old Helicity (a physics term that means "to spin") finds herself on the fringe of a devastating tornado that sweeps through her town. Caught up in filming it, she barely escapes, but her older brother, Andy, out looking for her as the storm strikes, is less fortunate. He's injured, possibly ending a promising football career and leaving their father raging about his potential loss of a scholarship. Helicity, fascinated by weather, attracts the interest of a young female meteorology professor and storm chaser, Lana. Lana has a cute 17-year-old male sidekick named Sam, who too often lets his enthusiasm carry him into danger, breaking Lana's safety rules. The weather isn't the only thing that's extreme in this book. Andy quickly (and predictably) becomes addicted to the pain meds that his ridiculously angry father helps provide. Meanwhile, Helicity, in spite of her age, is implausibly invited to spend the summer storm chasing with Lana and Sam. Default-white cardboard characters who seem to lack any real reason for their behavior move enigmatically through the storm-wracked landscape. The action ramps up nicely toward a conclusion that, disappointingly, leaves nearly all the conflict unresolved, presumably setting up the next in the series. The weather is nicely evoked and fully believable; the trite plot stretches credibility to the breaking point.This might possibly appeal to readers who are weather-focused. (Fiction. 9-14)

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