Donna Marie Seim

Mia thinks her entire summer is ruined when she has to travel from Boston to spend her vacation with her grandparents at their Caribbean home instead of going camping with her friend. She is stuck on an island with limited contact with the outside world and thinking she has little to do with no computer, TV, DVD player, or cell service. To make matters worse, the reason she has to stay with her grandparents is because her mother has leukemia.

But a chance encounter with a local girl named Neisha sets Mia’s mind turning. Neisha tells Mia about a bush doctor named Auntie Cecilia who has a tea that cures everything. Mia is determined to buy this tea to make her mother well and return to her regularly scheduled life. Mia tries to save up tips by working at the Green Flash Café, the restaurant owned by Neisha’s mother. When she finds out it will cost $300 to charter a boat to get to the remote island where Auntie Cecilia lives, Mia realizes she will never make enough tips and decides to take matters into her own hands! Adventure ensues as Mia, Neisha, and Mia’s little brother try to find their own way out to the island.

Beyond Mia’s working at the restaurant for tips to save up for purchasing the tea, there are other economic lessons hidden in this chapter book. For instance, readers will see how children’s schooling differs in other cultures by learning that Neisha can’t go to high school because it’s on a different island and her mother can’t afford the boat ride it would take to send her to school every day. Mia and Neisha get crash courses in markets by understanding how tourists influence local businesses, such as the Green Flash Café. In another instance, the girls are given a free ride on a horse to help drum up customers for a local man who sells horse rides, with the idea that their ride would show how gentle the horse is so people would want to ride it.

In addition to its economic lessons, the book is an interesting look at cultural differences, friendship, and family relations. It’s also a book about learning when it’s right to persevere and when it’s just plain stubborn – and learning from mistakes that happen as a result of the latter choice.

The gentle pencil-sketched illustrations are an added bonus, especially for seeing the character’s faces as envisioned by the creative team, but these illustrations are not indispensible. There is also a map on page 90, which is a nice touch but might have been better suited at the beginning of the book so that readers would learn the new geography right away instead of towards the end of the book.

The book concludes with helpful supplementary features – a glossary, plans for a Caribbean party, discussion questions, and a bibliography. Children are thus given the chance to further interact with the book and its subject matter, whether alone or in groups.

I reviewed this book for EconKids. See the full review here: http://econkids.rutgers.edu/older-children-and-young-adults-2010/2073-hurricane-...… (mehr)

A child's adventure can be found anywhere. A backyard can be host to pirate adventures, birthday parties and summer fun with a water hose and sprinkler. But for Mia the adventure is real. A summer in the Caribbean becomes a life and death adventure that inspires courage.

Mia has plans for the summer, like most kids do. She and her best friend Sam have planned a horse back riding adventure in Maine. Together they would learn about taking care of horses and how to ride them. It was going to be great. But her parents had another idea and before she knew it she and her brother Jack were on a plane that was landing in the Caribbean. Their adventure would start in Bambarra.

With a mother that's ill and a father who travels often, Mia and Jack are stuck with Gram and Gramps and no close neighbors, grocery stores, friends or playgrounds. As Mia learns her way around she meets another young girl named Neisha. A friendship is formed. As Mia and Niesha get to know each other Neisha shares some very interesting information. Mia learns of a tea that will cure her mothers illness. The problem that lies ahead is she has no money and it's on another island.

“Suddenly, seemingly out of nowhere, a rouge wave hit them from behind, knocking them flat as pancakes. All three were submerged, the water washing over them and the undertow sucking them backwards from the shore. Neisha let go and started flailing. In her frenzy, she hit Jack in the head and he let go of Mia's wrist. The chain was broken. Mia was the first to bob up, followed by Jack. “Shoot! I lost my glasses!” Jack called to Mia before diving back under the water.”

Mia becomes desperate. You see, she hasn't exactly gotten along with her Grams and her little brother is a brat. Her stress levels are high but she needs to save her mother. Mia, Niesha and even Jack plan a way to get the tea. But little did they know, it wouldn't be as easy as they thought. They didn't know of the bad weather that was going to come their way. They didn't know that they would lose the boat they stole from Gramps or that they would be stranded on Iguana Cay. You will have to read the story to find out what happens.

Note to Parents & Teachers:
Hurricane Mia is a great way to start dialogue with children in regards to the differences of living on an island versus living in the city. Cultures and peoples are so different. Animal and plant life is also a very interesting topic to cover. But most importantly this story inspires family, friendship and trust.… (mehr)

In Hurricane Mia, a middle reader, 12-year-old Mia believes that her summer is ruined when she learns that her mom is very sick. Then she and her younger brother are whisked away to their grandparents’ home in the Caribbean for the summer. Mia is furious until she meets Neisha, an island girl, who tells her about “the tea that cures everything.” Can Mia find the tea? And will it cure her mom? Mia and friends set sail in search for the magical tea. Their quest is filled with danger and adventure, including barracudas, tropical storms, and uninhabited islands. Includes illustrations, study guide, and activities.

It's a must read for all kids 8-12. Adults love it too!… (mehr)