Cyclone
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1.0 • 1 Rating
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- $9.99
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- $9.99
Publisher Description
Nora’s whole world plummets faster than the Cyclone roller coaster when her cousin Riley falls into a coma that Nora thinks is her fault in this warm, big-hearted debut middle grade novel from #1 New York Times bestselling author, Doreen Cronin.
Riding the Cyclone, the world famous Coney Island rollercoaster, was supposed to be the highlight of Nora’s summer. But right after they disembark, Nora’s cousin Riley falls to the ground…and doesn’t get up. Nora had begged and dragged Riley onto the ride, and no matter what the doctors say, that she had a heart condition, that it could have happened at any time, Nora knows it was her fault. Then, as Riley comes out of her coma, she’s not really Riley at all. The cousin who used to be loud and funny and unafraid now can’t talk, let alone go to the bathroom by herself. Now she’s only 10% Riley. Nora, guilt eating her up on the inside worse than a Coney Island hotdog, thinks she knows how to help. How to get 100% Riley back. But what Nora doesn’t realize is that the guilt will only get worse as that percentage rises.
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
A trip to Coney Island to ride the Cyclone roller coaster ends in tragedy for 12-year-old Nora and her 13-year-old cousin, Riley. Moments after their ride, Riley has a stroke and is rushed to the hospital, leading to the discovery of an undiagnosed heart condition. Nora is certain that the Cyclone (and her blackmailing Riley into riding it) led the blood clot in Riley's heart to dislodge, causing the stroke. As Riley works to regain her verbal and motor skills, Nora faces her haunting choices and Riley's difficult new reality. Footnotes in Nora's voice provide commentary and relevant information (they frequently explain medical terms) in accessible, friendly language. Nora's reaction to Riley's stroke and recovery is exceedingly believable she's supportive, frustrated, angry, and scared as is the way she reckons with her guilt and her anger at Riley, caused by an argument they had just before the accident. Moreover, Cronin (the Chicken Squad series) smartly uses the girls' mothers, who are sisters, to provide another mirror for the complexity of female relationships that Nora is just beginning to understand. Ages 9 13.
