Like a Hurricane

Employing aesthetically stylized, sensate verse, Bécotte artfully captures one character's struggles with coming out and self-esteem. In first-person narration, the novel tracks the unnamed protagonist's worries surrounding his feeling that "I am racing in a marathon/ but the finish line/ keeps moving" when he thinks about the fact that he doesn't know how to come out to his family and is navigating unrequited love. His self-worth takes a hit when revealing his crush on his best friend results in them hardly sspeaking anymore. He often describes himself using natural disaster metaphor ("I wasn't born to be a hurricane./ But I can no longer/ hold back the winds inside"), believing that keeping his queerness a secret will bring about rejection from his family and friends. The text is formatted in varying font sizes and placements, and makes use of negative space to visually capture the narrator's internality. Succinct, highly emotive text sensitively conveys the protagonist's shifting worldview and his developing courage in owning who he is and allowing his family and friends, who are minimally characterized, to act as a support system amid his internal storm. Ages 9-12. (Feb.)

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Gr 3-7--This is a high concept story of one boy's journey to self-discovery through his mental wrestling on the page. He is gay and terrified of rejection from his family, friends, and overall community, including his childhood friend with whom he may want something more. Here the words are simple, broken down and visually presented. But this novel immediately takes one's breath away with its poetry and power. It's also an art book; each page drips with bold font choices, emphasized line breaks, and incredible use of light and dark through shaded words and blacked out pages. For instance, the phrase, "Crying has always been a part of me," is written vertically on the page, a torrent of tears falling. The sadness is there through the words but seeing it on the page adds a helpful dimension. Almost the entire story is couched in those layers, extended metaphors made explicit through the text presentation. It's the kind of book readers can pore over. The more time spent with it, the better it gets. VERDICT Definitive proof that a book doesn't have to delve into the dark corners of the dictionary to be deeply affecting. An ideal tool to illustrate poetic elements or emphasize stories of sharing scary yet necessary truths.--Cat McCarrey

Copyright 2023 School Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

Beautiful, heart-warming, heart-rending, exquisitely realized in verse with minimal text, each word powerful and poignant...A text one will want to read and reread and reread. Highly Recommended. — CM: Canadian Review of Materials