Storm Runners

by Roland Smith Narrated by Ramón de Ocampo

Overview

Book one in Roland Smith's middle-grade action-adventure series--now in paperback!

Chase Masters and his father are "storm runners," racing across the country in pursuit of hurricanes, tornadoes, and floods. Anywhere bad weather strikes, they are not far behind. Chase is learning more on the road than he ever would just sitting in a classroom. But when the hurricane of the century hits, he will be tested in ways he never could have imagined.

Editorial Reviews

School Library Journal - Audio

Gr 5–8—After the death of Chase Masters' mother, his father goes through some changes that lead him to become a storm runner. Chase joins him in this new family business as they move often and stay in front of storms by predicting where they will hit and heading to those towns to help residents prepare. During the latest storm, Chase stays at a farm that is the winter home for a circus while his father travels further into Florida to get ahead of Hurricane Emily. The storm doesn't act as predicted and heads toward the farm. The principal at his new school doesn't heed his warning to keep students in the school instead of sending them home early in buses. When the hurricane takes out the bus he is on, Chase goes into action. Ramón de Ocampo narrates this exciting first novel in a projected series by Roland Smith (Scholastic, 2011), varying his voice to reflect each character's personality and changing his pacing to match the growing danger. News reports throughout are realistically recorded and reflect the building tension. A cliffhanger ending leaves listeners eager for the next installment.—Stephanie A. Squicciarini, Fairport Public Library, NY

School Library Journal

Gr 6–9—Chase, 13, has been taught to be a survivor. He carries a go bag that contains supplies to keep him warm, dry, and fed for three days. He knows to look for high ground in storms and which rooms are safest. He carries a satellite phone in case the landlines are down and the cell phone signals fail. His father is in the disaster business and taught him all of this and more. He travels the country with Tomás, his assistant, and Chase. After a disaster strikes, they provide construction services in Florida to help residents rebuild. The men drop Chase off at Tomás's brother's house before heading for Saint Petersburg, in preparation for Hurricane Emily. Chase is at school, 40 miles away from where his father predicts the storm will hit land, when it changes course unexpectedly, and he needs to use all of the survival techniques he knows to get himself and two friends to safety after their bus rolls into a lake full of alligators. This is an exciting, quick read, with chapters alternating between Chase and his father, who is trying to find him. Weather reports and a lot of survival tips and facts are included. Readers will feel engaged with Chase and his friends in their struggles to survive. However, it seems a set-up for the second book rather than a complete novel.—Erik Carlson, White Plains Public Library, NY

Kirkus Reviews

Readers will really feel blasts of wind, water and flying debris in this disaster tale—at least until the narrative cuts off in mid-howl. As (fictional) Hurricane Emily moves toward Florida and his father, an itinerant contractor specializing in weather-disaster prep and repairs, heads for its expected landfall, Chase takes up temporary residence at a "farm" that turns out to be a circus' winter quarters. Hardly has he reported to the local school, though, than the storm makes a sudden turn and surge that strands him, along with classmates Nicole and Rashawn, in a wrecked bus on a crumbling levee. Writing in clipped prose and dialogue, Smith quickly plunges the three refugees into a desperate struggle to survive floods, darkness, howling gales and even an encounter with a wily alligator on the way to what they hope will be safety. Though the author's practice of repeatedly cutting away to other characters' points of view distracts from rather than tightens the suspense, and he abruptly chops off the narrative on a cliffhanger as the storm's eye passes, Chase and his friends get repeated opportunities to show that they're made of sturdy stuff. Since they are left sharing a barn with an elephant who is about to give birth as a vicious escaped leopard roams outside, readers are really going to want to find out what happens next. (Adventure. 11-13)

Product Details

BN ID:	2940170507788
Publisher:	Scholastic, Inc.
Publication date:	03/01/2011
Series:	Storm Runners Series , #1
Edition description:	Unabridged
Sales rank:	1,128,494
Age Range:	8 - 11 Years

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