Torn Away by Jennifer Brown

Reflecting this age of extreme weather events, Jennifer Brown has written a gripping novel, Torn Away, which explores the impact of a tornado on one Missouri community and in particular on a sixteen-year-old girl named Jersey. The descriptions of sights and sounds are vivid and readers will sense the horror which Jersey experiences both during and after the storm.

The story is an emotional roller-coaster as Jersey struggles to deal with the grief and sadness due to losing family members and being forced to live in unfamiliar surroundings. At the beginning of the book, Jersey seems like a strong, if typically self-centered, teenager.  It's a stretch towards the middle of the story to believe that she wouldn't more quickly be utilizing her anger and desire for self-preservation to escape a situation where she is totally mistreated, hardly offered any comfort, and not even addressed by name. I wanted to give Jersey that much-needed hug as she dealt with being frightened and with feelings of depression; I also wanted to confront the step-parent who sent her away to complete strangers and separated her from friends at such a heart-breaking time. Still emotionally numb, she is later sent to yet more extended family and lashes out cruelly.  Fortunately, those adults – mellowed by their own regrets – try to be more caring and patient with her. Like Brown's Hate List, expect to see Torn Away on the Abe Lincoln Award list in the near future.