Caroline's mother gave birth to her daughter during a hurricane. " ... it's a curse being born during a hurricane. I won't have an inch of luck for the rest of my days, and sadness will follow me wherever I go."
There is a deep sadness in Caroline's life. "One morning my mom got up and went halfway across the world ... " All she has now are occasional postcards sent from faraway places and now the postcards have stopped coming.
She also seems to be under a curse: "Seeing that I'm the littlest girl with the darkest skin and the thickest hair in the whole Catholic School, Missus Wilhelmina doesn't like me - no not at all. I get a smacking on my bum for everything: not looking her in the eye when spoken to, laughing too loud during playtime, and thinking I'm better than everyone else because I know the answers to her questions in class, for asking too many questions in class, for not crying after those bum smackings. I always refuse to cry after a bum smacking." The other girls taunt and tease her, no one is her friend. Every day Caroline makes the long journey by boat from her home on Water Island to Saint Thomas and everyday her experience at school is utterly dreadful.
All of these things motivate Caroline. She is determined to find her mother. She needs answers to her desperate questions - Why did her mother leave? Does her mother love her? Was it Caroline's fault that she left? Will she please come back?
Caroline mostly does not worry about being different but she is deeply lonely until a new girl arrives in the class. Kalinda is a special girl. She is not bullied by the other horrid girls, she is confident and wise. It seems impossible to Caroline that Kalinda could very be her friend but somehow this does happen and life feels better until the terrible day when Kalinda (and those other horrid girls) read the beautiful love letter Caroline has written to Kalinda. This love is more than the love of a friend. This is a deep first love. The Wikipedia entry for this book says: there is a "romantic relationship that is developed between two of the main adolescent characters."
This is another one of those books where I feel quite conflicted. Many reviewers list this book for ages 9+ or even 8+. When I finished reading Hurricane Child I declared it was a Young Adult title for 12 or perhaps 13+. If you look at my list of labels I have assigned to this post it is clear this book has mature themes.
Here is a quote from the New York Times (part of their discussion of four recent books including Hurricane Child)
Reading a middle-grade novel can feel like opening Pandora’s box. Devastating storms. Racial injustice. Violence, divorce, bullying, class conflict, depression, displacement, illness, grief, homophobia, abandonment, isolation, money worries and suicide attempts.
I did enjoy so much about this book. The voice and honesty of Caroline, the descriptions of the Caribbean islands, and the unwavering determination of Caroline to find her mother. The way Kacen Callender describes the Caribbean islands reminded of the way I felt reading Turtle in Paradise set in Key West Florida. Here are some maps to help orientate you to the setting of this book:
Why do I think this book is for older readers: Caroline's mother has previously attempted suicide; every day Caroline is beaten by her Catholic school teacher; Caroline is making new discoveries about her own sexuality; and then there is the violence of the bullying inflicted on Caroline every day.
Each of these reviews has more plot details:
You can see several awards on the front cover - Stonewall Award (Given for exceptional merit relating to the gay/lesbian/bisexual/transgender experience in English-language books published in the U.S.) and Lambada Literature Award (Created over 30 years ago to recognise the crucial role LGBTQ writers play in shaping the world). Here is a video review by Andrea Pinkney.
Companion reads:
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