Stormy Weather

Hurricane Season by Nicole Melleby

” And I tell you, the more I think it over, the more I feel that there is nothing more truly artistic than to love people.”
​Vincent Van Gogh to his brother Theo, September 1888

When you're in sixth grade, life can be difficult. When your mother leaves the family, life can be challenging. When your father suffers with a bipolar disorder, life is a burden that becomes impossible to conceal from others. Fig struggles under the weight of these difficulties. The daughter of a renowned composer and pianist who is no longer able to create music, it is up to Fig to maintain some semblance of order in her home and her life.

Her father loves Fig and tries to be a good parent to his daughter. But often his illness prevents him from functioning in the role of care-giver to Fig.

She is beyond terrified when her teacher notifies child protective services and a case worker arrives at her home. She knows that there are problems but is desperate to protect her father at all costs. ​She reasons that perhaps she can help her father if she better understands him.

A science and math geek, she takes the plunge and enrolls in a painting class. Fig discovers Van Gogh. Drawn both to his work and his life story, she begins to see her father as Van Gogh, the troubled artist and herself as Theo, the supportive brother.

Life takes an unexpected turn with the arrival of a new neighbor, Mark. Fig enlists his help when dad goes wandering off during a storm. Over time, the two men develop a romantic relationship. Fig is troubled by her father’s new love interest, as she fears this will destroy their father/daughter dependency. When a violent hurricane strikes, everything comes to a frightening climax.

Fig eventually realizes that she can neither solve nor hide her father’s problems. She learns to accept this new man in their lives. She is not alone. She can trust. She can hope.

I wept buckets and buckets while reading this. I wept for the little girl, who bravely tries to carry such a tremendous weight on her fragile little shoulders. I wept for the loving father, trying to make his way through the muddle in his mind, wanting desperately to care for his daughter and realizing that he is failing her. 

This is a story of love in the face of crushing difficulties. Of overcoming fear. Hurricane Season broke my heart and then put the shattered fragments back together in an astonishing way. 

Art Imitates Life. Life Imitates Art

Chapter titles are the names of well-known Van Gogh paintings. Melleby cleverly weaves each painting's theme into the chapter. For example, the first chapter "The Yellow House" describes a change in the neighborhood, when Ms. Minkle moves out of the small yellow house across the street. "Three Sunflowers in a Vase" recounts the first time Fig, her dad, and Mark eat dinner together.
You don't have to be familiar with Van Gogh's paintings to appreciate the chapter titles. However, after reading the book, I scoured the internet, finding the paintings used as chapter names. It was interesting to go back and piece together the connections between art and this novel for young readers.

For art lovers this touch is brilliant!

Additional Resource

Vincent and Theo by Deborah Heiligman is a thoughtful study of the van Gogh brothers. It received numerous awards including  2018 Michael L. Printz Honor Book, 2018 YALSA Excellence in Nonfiction Award, 2017 Nonfiction Boston Globe-Nonfiction Award, and  SCBWI 2018 Golden Kite Award for Non-Fiction for Older Readers. Pair Hurricane Season with Vincent and Theo for an excellent fiction/nonfiction reading experience.

Uncorrected copy provided by publisher.

Pub date: May 7, 2019  Publisher: Algonquin Young Readers  ISBN: 978-1616209063