Marian Hale

I had read "Isaac's Storm" by Erik Larson quite a while ago and was impressed by his ability to bring this historic event to life. I am even more impressed by Hale's writing which brings the people to life in a very accessible way for younger readers. Which is not to say that only the young will enjoy or get anything out of it--I have.
Fourteen-year old Seth is unhappy with his family's move to Galveston, unhappy having to babysit his 4-yr old sister, and rebellious about his father's expectations for his future. He has learned carpentry from his father and wishes to continue that, but his father has bought into the myth that a higher education is the way of the future.
Hale powerfully brings out Seth's inner-knowing, his growing awareness of the gift of connecting with his work. First, she shows Seth observing a master carpenter: "There was something almost mystifying in the way he rested saw and nail against lumber--just for a second--like he was listening, like the wood had whispered something to him I couldn't quite hear." (p.49) Then she shows him reflecting on the experience, understanding it's meaning: "I'd felt it wake something inside me...A quiet something that'd always been waiting in my hands...it shot right through me, lighting me up like the electrical current that lit the city, bridging each of us to our work and to one another...thanks to Zach, I recognized it...this undercurrent that had been sleeping in me..." (p.51-2). And several times through the book she has him dream of this feeling, and it sustains him through the coming trials, e.g. "I remembered my dream, that easy, instinctive flow, and as natural as breathing...Josiah and I quickly fell into that invisible rhythm again, and I rode the current, no longer mindful of the worries..."(p.195)
This is set against the backdrop of the fear in the flood: of slate tiles slicing through people's necks, people being sucked under the water and disappearing; the horror of the aftermath: people trapped under twisted piles of metal and lumber and no way to get them out, bloated bodies half-buried in sand or washing ashore, layers of mud coating every surface, loss of one's belongings/home/family/friends; and the spirit to rebuild, to help each other, to grieve and move on--the same spirit, it seems, as motivated Galveston to rebuild 40 blocks burned down in the Great Conflagration of 1885 (p.11).
I do wonder about the wisdom of rebuilding in a disaster-prone area, but the book doesn't address this human hubris. The Afterword does detail the major constructions undertaken to prevent the re-occurrence of another flood.… (mais)

17-year-old Mercy Kaplan wants one thing – to be free of the drudgery and repetitious work of her life as the oldest daughter of a sharecropper. Too soon, she gets her wish – in a horrible and tragic way, as the Spanish Flu epidemic of 1918 sweeps through her little Texas town and deprives her of nearly everyone she loves. But Mercy’s not the only victim of great tragedy. Can she build her life all over again with handsome Daniel Wilder and his young brother and sister? If she does, she’ll face that repetitious work all over again…Easy read, sort of gothic/ romantic tale, 271 pp.… (mais)