WATCHES AND WARNINGS

A tornado mows through an Oklahoma town, causing a local teen to contemplate life’s big questions.

Philip’s been spending the summer helping a neighbor stock his storm cellar and secretly giving half his earnings to his brother, Victor, who was evicted from the family home. Philip chooses to believe Victor’s lies, pretending the money’s not feeding his brother’s heroin addiction, a result of opioid dependence following a sports injury. He internally questions his Baptist youth-pastor parents’ sincerity—Mom prays “like she’s put makeup / on her voice.” When a storm comes, the family shelters in their basement, ultimately remaining safe, although their house sustains serious damage. A couple of nights later, Victor comes home “like the prodigal son,” forced into withdrawal by the destruction of his drug stash in the tornado. He decides to detox cold turkey with his family’s support, a realistically messy, roller-coaster affair. During the cleanup following the natural disaster, 16-year-old Philip meets Catholic Mariana, who genuinely believes life has meaning. Philip and his family are presumed white except for his sister who has Down syndrome and was adopted from South Korea; Mariana is cued as Latinx. The short stanzas make the text accessible, while the topics addressed are deep and complex. Philip’s voice feels authentic to the teen experience, alternately conflicted, profound, and critical.

Intense, emotionally charged realism for reluctant readers.