Official Review: Against The Wind by Dawn C Crouch

[ALynnPowers]

[Following is an official OnlineBookClub.org review of "Against The Wind" by Dawn C Crouch.]

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4 out of 4 stars

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Against the Wind by Dawn C Crouch is a young adult novel that tells the story of one teenager’s experience during a natural disaster. Jane-Claire lives in Gulfport, Mississippi, right on the coast in her parents’ dream house. Her family has experienced plenty of tropical storms and hurricanes before this one; her older brother even heads out to go skim boarding at the beach as the storm approaches. While her father encourages the family to take shelter at the hospital where he works, Jane-Claire’s mother insists that they will be fine at home. In a single night, Jane-Claire and her family experience a disaster unlike any other. While their house is one of the few still standing, all of their belongings are destroyed, and all resources quickly become scarce and valuable. Jane-Claire has no other choice but to head north to Alabama with her mother and brother to take shelter with some family friends, leaving her father behind to care for those who have been wounded in the storm. That one night might have been traumatic, but the road to recovery isn’t any easier.

Though fictional, it is easy to see how this is based on a true story. While the specific date is never mentioned, and even the name of the hurricane is never directly stated, there are enough little hints and clues that make it easy enough to figure out that this story is about Hurricane Katrina and the devastating damaged in caused in the Gulf during late August in 2005. I was a little bit older than Jane-Claire’s brother when that happened, and I can remember the news coverage about how much of New Orleans was destroyed. I can’t recall anything about southern Mississippi; this is one of the problems that Jane-Claire and her family faced. With such a large city experiencing so much damage, her smaller city didn’t receive much help. Resources were brought to New Orleans and volunteers rushed to help there; meanwhile, her dad was overworked in his hospital, insurance companies couldn’t respond, and local looting was out of control. Admittedly, I feel a little bit guilty that I didn’t know that so much of the rest of the Gulf was affected until more than 15 years later when I read this book.

Not only does this story provide an eye-opening, insider’s perspective of what it is like to be in such a horrible situation, the writing also flows nicely to provide a well-rounded narrative of the events and consequences. The pacing of the story and the story-telling techniques used throughout the book do not create the expected feel of a typical memoir. Readers get to see events in different locations, such as in Huntsville, Alabama, with Jane-Claire and her family, but also back in Gulfport with Jane-Claire’s father and his experience with the direct aftermath.

While the events themselves are extremely important, I thought that the emotions of the characters were even better portrayed. It is easy to relate to the shock and numbness that Jane-Claire initially feels throughout the storm, with a surreal feeling of “this isn’t even happening to me right now.” The following events that lead to blame and anger are some of the most powerfully portrayed emotions in the book. It is interesting to recognize the patterns of grief that Jane-Claire and her family go through in different ways. It’s also easy to see how people who haven’t had the same experiences will often say the wrong thing, thinking that they are helping. One particular character in the story infuriated me when she pointed out that “it could always be worse” in her attempt to be motivational and encouraging.

Overall, I give this book a rating of 4 out of 4 stars, and I highly recommend this book to young adults who enjoy realistic fiction. Those who can remember that particular storm would probably enjoy it as well, though it would certainly be triggering to anyone who has personal experience in such a storm. There are only a few uses of profanity and no scenes that would be consider graphic in nature. With only a handful of very minor errors throughout the book, the writing itself is excellent, and I especially enjoyed the pacing of the story and the powerful emotions that were conveyed through the characters. I can’t find anything in particular that I disliked about this book. This one is definitely worth the read.

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Against The Wind
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[Kanchan Sharma]

The review is interesting and intriguing. I am eager to read the book.

[El_limitless]

Interesting plot. It's quite unfortunate what has happened to Jean-Claire's family, and I would love to know how she went through her recovery process. Great review.

[Peace Odii]

Teenagers experience a high degree of trauma during these times.

[rubalpreet kaur]

I think that this book is quite interesting and I am dying to read it

[Pallavi Lakra]

In times of adversity, most important lessons are learned. You've done such a wonderful job at writing this review. Would love to read the book.

[Hanifa zabeen]

I'm very much interested in reading this book and want to know about how did they overcome this.... Eagerly waiting

[the_ashfeathers]

The cover is honestly very captivating, I couldn't stop myself from reading the review. The book too seems to be heavy, and will relate well given the world's conditions right now. It seems to contain a very promising and insightful plot.

[Adelle v]

This book sounds interesting. I feel Jane-Claire and her family went through more than we realize. I hope to read it soon thanks for a great review.