Jersey Cameron has always lived in the Midwest. She grew up loving storms, even with the tornado drills they had to do at school. She loves dancing in the summer rain.
Now, a couple of weeks before the end of her junior year, all she wants to do is be lazy. When her little sister asks to teach her the East Coast Swing that she learned in dance class, Jersey says no. When her mother and sister leave for dance class, Jersey finally drags herself off of the couch to do chores and get dinner ready.
Just as she starts cooking a tornado warning siren goes off. She considers ignoring it. There are so many false alarms. Then she decides she should go to the basement where she spend the most terrifying fifteen minutes of her life.
When she emerges from under the pool table, bruised and battered, but alive, she is surprised to find that most of her house is missing. She has no cell phone service, and she doesn't know where her mom and sister are, or her step-father.
Brown has written the story of a girl whose life is ripped away from her. She has to grieve while also learning how to survive. She is sent to live with family who might as well be strangers - people her mother warned her about.
Brown is a great writer who tackles tough issues with amazing characters. Her books are strong and her stories thought provoking and sometimes heart wrenching. Check one out today.
Brown, Jennifer. (2014). Torn Away. New York: Little, Brown and Company.
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