Storm Trooper

This kid has good reason to be terrified of storms, but learns to be brave and wise by the end of the book. What a trooper…

Jolted, by Arthur Slade

HarperCollins, ISBN: 978 0 00 639571 3

Newton Starker is the last of his line except for his shrewish great-grandmother. The rest of his family has been struck down by lightning, one by one, for generations. Accordingly, Newton has a strict set of rules to live by that help avoid any scenario that might see him endangered by weather, and has enrolled in a survival academy, where he begins to challenge a few rules, like not having friends.

When he tries to elicit his old relative’s secrets of survival, she, too, is struck, and between that incident, some competition at school, and letting some new connections into his life, newton realizes something that might just be the key to not only surviving, but really living.

This is a quirky book, to be sure, filled with oddities that somehow work in this world, but it is also full of heart and life lessons that aren’t preached, but earned along with the character. The end isn’t perfectly tied up, either, and leaves room for some ambiguity, but in this case, I kind of like that, because part of the point here is about how we can’t truly control everything. It’s a fun read, and also a great, wisdom-imparting one, and I quite liked it. Here’s to your continued survival, Newton…