Synopses & Reviews
No matter how bright the sun, how high the ball, Nick is there to catch it. Hawkeye, his dad calls him. Then one summer Sunday in the year 1961, the sky at the racetrack trailer park where the family lives isn't so bright--"looks funny," Nick says to his parents, and the air grows very quiet until... "Tornado!" somebody yells. The roaring air sounds like "a stampede of horses," and the trailer where Nick's baby sister, Becky, has been napping, is suddenly no longer there. it takes a "hawkeye" to see beyond the ruins left behind, to find "one lucky girl" whom the swirling wind has picked up in her crib and sent flying--to blissful safety. The vigorous pastel and watercolor paintings catch every change of family mood and weather--and the tornado sky is unforgettable, as anyone who's seen such a storm coming will attest.
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tender picture book ( Sesame Street Parents)
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Lyon's clear narrative poetry and Trivas' pastel illustrations express the fragility of the baby sister... and strength of the family in the face of the devastation. (Booklist)
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This exciting picture book skillfully balances a variety of emotions... although children may experience a few moments of anxiety as the dramatic events unfold, they will be reassured by the wholeheartedly happy and triumphant ending. (School Library Journal)
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...Trivas perfectly captures the family's grief and panic as they search under torn bits of their trailer... (Denver Post)
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Life and family... do matter more than possessions, and this story is about feeling the difference. (Chicago Tribune)
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Lyon's text is spare, but she has chosen her words for their poetic effect and emotional power.... Trivas... does a nice job showing the boy's small town world before the tornado tears it apart. (Memphis Commercial Appeal)
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...A delightful flurry of shivers, followed by the comforting relief of a family unharmed and inseparable--this is the action picture book at its best. (The Bulletin of the Center for Children's Books (Starred Review))
Review
When a tornado hits the trailer park and Nick's mother realizes his baby sister is missing, Nick says, 'All the screams nobody had screamed tore out of my mother's mouth.' As his parents search through the ruins, it is Nick who finally finds his sister in her crib, miraculously carried by the wind to a field. Lyon's deft storytelling weaves together images with economy and grace. Nick's homely metaphors and his carefully established powers of observation-- 'Hawkeye,' his father calls him--make his story believable and allow the reader to feel him emotions. Searching, he sees 'a skillet and a doorknob,' and then 'a dream, the best you could ever have,/the one where you find your treasure./ Right there in the green grass,/plain as cake on a plate.' Trivas's exquisite pastels grow more textured and menacing during the tornado and its aftermath. The ending is especially satisfying. As the reunited family stands together, bathed in sunlight and surrounded by wildflowers, Nick asks where they are going to live. 'Together,' says his father, emphasizing the real value of Nick's 'treasure'. (Publishers Weekly)
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A well-crafted picture book--based, apparently, on a true story--that is both text and illustration pitches drama and tension at exactly the right level for the audience. The first two spreads establish setting (a racetrack trailer community) and narrator (Nick, a baseball-loving boy nicknamed Hawkeye for his ability to see the ball and catch it)--all that's necessary to set up the rest of the story. In compelling sequence, a tornado approaches, hits, and scatters Nick's family's trailer, with his baby sister inside. The grownups search frantically for Becky under the debris, but, as it should be it's Nick--Hawkeye--who finally finds her, miraculously unharmed. Lyon's telling has the spareness, denseness, and vividness of poetry but never strains for effect. Trivas's watercolors emphasize the human story here ... portraying a family and neighborhood united by calamity and joy. (The Horn Book Magazine)
Review
A true story of a miracle in the midst of disaster. When a tornado sweeps through town it destroys everything in its path, including young Hawkeye's home. But in the ensuing chaos, there's a loss more valuable than property--the young boy's baby sister is missing! His family digs through the mess of their broken, twisted-up trailer, but they can't find Becky. Possessions are scattered across the field--a door knob, a fry pan--and then Hawkeye, aptly nicknamed, catches a glimpse of something int he tall field grass. It's the baby's crib and inside Becky is nestled, safe and sound. Lyon's writing communicates the fear generated by the funnel cloud's wrath and the loss of the baby and Trivas's illustrations perfectly depict the dark green light of the storm clouds and the horrible destruction of the wind. The faces of her characters tell the whole story, terrified, scratched, and bloody, then relieved and thankful. Though this may be a scary book for kids who live in a tornado alley, or are afraid of storms, there is a reassuring tone and the warmth and love of Hawkeye's family shines throughout. (Kirkus Reviews)
Synopsis
Even though their trailer is destroyed by a tornado, a young boy's family is grateful because they find his baby sister alive. Full-color illustrations. 10 1/4 8 3/4.
About the Author
George Ella Lyon, a prize-winning author and poet of more than twenty books, has many accomplishments to her name. While the Kentucky native is known mostly for her children's books, her work reflects her great versatility. She has authored fifteen picture books. A poet, she recently wrote Counting on the Woods (DK Ink, 1998), which Booklist, in a starred review, called "a gem of a counting book." She has also written three novels for children. With a Hammer for My Heart (DK Ink, 1997), hailed by The Alan Review as "a powerful novel, compelling, engagingly written, with strongly painted characters," was her first novel for adults. She has also written two plays. Her most recent picture book for DK Ink is Book, illustrated by Peter Catalanotto, it was hailed as "beautiful in spirit and presentation" by the Houston Chronicle. After graduating from Centre College with a degree in English, Lyon received her master's degree in English from the University of Arkansas and her doctorate in English Literature and Creative Writing from Indiana University. She wrote her dissertation on Virginia Woolf. She now resides in Lexington, Kentucky with her husband and two sons. Both an author and a teacher, Lyon has been a Writer-in-Residence at Centre College and also taught in the English Program there. She works with students and teachers on writing, and she teaches at the Appalachian Writers Workshop at the Hindman Settlement School. Her author appearances have included speaking engagements at the International Reading Association conventions, as well as at various library and educational conferences. Lyon has written for many magazines, including The New York Times Book Review, The American Voice, Appalachian Journal, Appalachian Heritage, Journal of Kentucky Studies, Language Arts (Interview), The Horn Book, Book Links (Interview)½ Ohio Journal of the English Language Arts, and Library Talk (Profile). The honors and awards she has received for her work are many. Her Catalpa, a volume of adult poems, was chosen as the Appalachian Writers Association Book of the Year; Borrowed Children, a novel for children, won the Golden Kite Award (SCBWI); Basket was the winner of the Kentucky Bluegrass Award; Comes a Tide, a picture book, was chosen as a Reading Rainbow Feature; and Mountain won the Lamont Hall Award. Irene Trivas has illustrated many books, among them Anne Shelby's Potluck, Three Perfect Peaches by Cynthia DeFelice, and her own long-selling Emma's Christmas. She lives in West Newbury, Vermont.