Meet the Sky

Gr 9 Up—Sophie March's family is immediately and forever changed after a car accident that left her older sister, Meredith, with a brain injury—a tragedy that was too much for her dad to handle. It is now up to independent Sophie and her selfless mom to care for Meredith and run their horse farm on the barrier islands of North Carolina. As if this isn't enough to deal with, old friend and first crush Finn Sanders has moved back to the neighborhood—having forgotten how he ditched Sophie two years prior for their date to the school dance—and a hurricane is looming, making evacuation vital. Mom and Meredith head for the mainland while Sophie is detained by a flat tire. Finn happens by and gives Sophie a lift, but their escape is short-lived when Finn wrecks, leaving them trapped to ride out the storm alone. They find shelter in evacuated homes where they are forced to rely on each other for survival and have nothing but time to learn more about the other's painstaking journeys since they last spoke. Hoyle's beautifully descriptive writing envelops readers, and Sophie's first-person account will ring true with teens who are surrounded by complications and faced with life-changing decisions.