Fig or Finola is a young middle school trying to survive. Between the difficulties at home with her father and trying to find her own identity, she struggles. But that does not mean she has given up! She is a powerhouse!

She and her dad live alone. Her mother left right after she was born. They are trying to make ends meet in an uniquely difficult situation.

I loved this book from start to finish. I definitely plan on adding it to my classroom library!

Lots of drama here , but I think kids fourth grade up could enjoy it as a summer read. It's characters are well developed and the plot is riveting. I am sure it will appeal to many readers, especially those with troubled parents. I always looked for books that mirrored my family in some ways to help me cope.

Very well written and better suited for middle school readers. However, the main character is 11 so it will struggle to get wide readership there.

Hurricane Season is a beautiful exploration into mental illness and presents it in a very accessible and realistic way for both young and adult readers. It also explores sexual orientation in a practical manner that is helpful for young and old alike. Neither of these topics is portrayed as taboo or something to be ashamed of. They are simply just facts of life.

Also, if you don't know a lot about Van Gogh's life or about storm season on the eastern seaboard, you'll certainly learn a lot while reading this. It was all pretty fascinating. 

AND CAN WE TALK ABOUT THAT AMAZING COVER?! This is one of the most amazing book covers I have ever seen. Kudos to the illustrator! 

If you pick this one up, which I highly recommend that you do, bear in mind that this is aimed at middle school aged readers. It's a short read, but one that has no shortage of emotions. My heart constantly broke for our main character Fig as I was reading this. As if being in sixth grade isn't hard enough with all the emotional and physical changes that occur at that age (and how horrible other sixth graders can be), she also has this constant fear of being taken away from her father looming over her life.

Nicole Melleby has carefully written a moving tale about how mental illness can affect a family. It's not only a wonderful book, but it's a great tool for young readers to learn about mental illness, sexual orientation, and art history too. I wouldn't hesitate to buy this for the young readers in my life and plan to do so once Christmas rolls around. And for some of the adults too! It does end on a hopeful high note so don't worry about finishing this and being devastated. It also has left itself open to a sequel which is one I would eagerly read if published.

Wow. This is a great book! It is as complex as life itself. It showcases the struggle a child can go through when he/she is convinced that he/she is fully responsible for the parent's well being: exhaustion, confusion, anger, fear. And that is on top of being a middle schooler who is trying to figure out who she is! There are plenty of unexpected discoveries and new found parallels. It was interesting to see two stories of coming out that were so very different. But at the end, for that moment of time, both seemed to come to a comfortable point.

I received this from the publisher through Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.

This book was a thoughtful story about Fig -- a young girl who lives with her dad. Her dad struggles with an initially undiagnosed bipolar disorder, while Fig herself works through challenges in a close friendship with a boy. It does a great job dealing g with the struggles of a family challenged by mental health and doesn't ignore that for a middle schooler like fig, social situations at school only add to the chaos of an uncertain home situation.

This middle grade debut has a ton of heart and positive representation of sexual orientation as a spectrum that evolves.

This was a beautiful story to help children who may have someone in their lives with bipolar disorder. Fig was very relatable as well. My only complaint is that I felt it was too mature for my Elementary readers, although I would recommend it for those who may be dealing with similar issues.

I loved this book on so many levels. Mental illness is super rare in books, as it still seems to be a taboo subject, but to find it in a middle grade read is even more rare than that. I loved the struggle Fig had, and the anger too. It just felt real for someone who was her age and going through this. I loved the relationship between her and her dad, and how she wanted to learn about art for him. I also really liked that Vincent Van Gogh was compared to her dad, and how she used that to try and better understand him.

See below for spoiler and only "dislike"

My only "dislike was" the fact that both Fig and her father ended up being gay, and honestly that's not the issue. The issue I had with it, is I worry that people who are not friends to the LGBTQIA+ community will see this as an example of a parent who is gay, raising their child to be gay too. That's my main concern. Other than that I really don't mind that her father and Mark developed a relationship. And I don't care that Fig was figuring out that she liked girls, and not boys "in that way."

See LGBTQIA+ is super rare in Middle Grades and I appreciate that it was brought in! But again worry that this will be used against the novel itself.

Nicole Melleby’s debut novel, Hurricane Season, is a gentle look at love and life in all its messy complexity and hopeful beauty.

It’s been just Fig and her dad since she was a baby, and that’s fine by her. Fig knows her dad, a brilliant and once-famous pianist, has his bad days – days where he can’t get out of bed or where he’s so excited he’s liable to wander off in the middle of hurricane season. But she also knows how much he loves and cares for her, even if she can’t understand his artist’s mind.

Fig, whose always loved science, decides to sign up for an art class her sixth grade year, hoping it will help her understand her dad better – his extremes, the mystery and magic he finds in a storm-churned ocean and in music. But things go terribly wrong when her father shows up at school, confused and panicked, and Fig’s art teacher calls social services about his behavior.

Now, with hurricane season approaching – her father’s worst time of year – Fig must try to keep her father safe from the storm, both literally and figuratively. And that might mean admitting that she can’t do it all alone. Reluctantly, Fig accepts help from her best friend and a kind new neighbor who both help her find the resources she needs to understand her father better, and help her father find the help he needs to heal.

Hurricane Season is a beautiful look at several aspects of life: coming out, mental illness, adolescence, pain, fear, rejection, and overall — hope.

There were a couple points in the book that felt a little too cliché with the perfect resolutions all tied up in a bow, in a way that wasn’t realistic to life. I don’t want to give anything away so I won’t go into specifics, but overall, these issues were minor and didn’t take away from the strong, clear voice of Fig and the journey of self-discovery she’s on, and her father’s battle with mental illness. This book is not only beautifully written, but important and poignant for any middle grade reader trying to find their place in the world, and certainly for anyone who has/had a parent with mental illness.

At its core, this is a story about love: the magic of a first crush, the mystery of unexpected love, the unbreakable bond between parent and child, and the struggle to accept each other – and ourselves – for who we are.

I received a free e-galley of this book from Algonquin Young Readers – thank you!

Most of the middle grade books I tend to pick up are usually about dangerous adventures infused with monsters, in which the main character has to overcome a set of physical obstacles in order to find themselves.

Hurricane Season is filled with obstacles, sure, but they are on a whole other level and I ended up loving this book so much more than I initially thought I would.

It was an absolute delight to read about Fig and her dad’s relationship, and there were so many moments that nearly made me cry and where I just wanted to jump into the book, give Fig a hug and tell her that things would be okay. Everything about this was incredibly beautiful, and I really feel that the characters and the little moments between them really was what made this book so good.

Hurricane Season did a couple of things absolutely right. First of all, Fig’s dad’s mental health felt incredibly realistic. I also loved that his newfound love interest wasn’t set up to be some magical cure, as I so often see in the YA books I read which feature characters with different problems. Instead, the author really pushed on the fact that even after everything is “solved” there will still be good days and bad days, which is exactly what it’s like (as I’ve learned from my own experience with anxiety issues).

Second, I loved that Fig also got to realize that she wasn’t really all right and that she too got the help she so clearly needed. She pretty much learned the hard way that a 6th grader can’t be the only one to care for her dad, and I’m so happy she was able to get help from the amazing adults around her that so obviously loved her, even when it wasn’t really that obvious to her.

My one issue is that I didn’t feel that some of the characters were developed enough. For example, at one point Fig told her father that Danny was her best friend and I kind of had to stop for a second and wonder if I had missed anything, because I hadn’t really seen that connection between the two characters. I also wish Mark would have been a bit more developed too (but I did love Mark a lot anyway). Basically what I’m saying is I wish this book had been a little bit longer.

I loved this book a lot and I really recommend this to anyone who wants to explore the wonders of Middle Grade fiction, or to anyone who just wants to read a really good book. A wonderful Middle Grade with mental health and queer rep – you know you want it.

Fig and her father have been on their own since her mom left just after her birth. After having to take care of her eccentric musician father during his "episodes," STEM minded Fig dives into the world of Vincent Van Gogh to try to connect with her father and see the world the way he does, but things become more complicated when social services shows up at their door after an incident at Fig's school.

With beautiful writing and an insanely gorgeous cover, this novel approaches difficult subjects such as mental illness is such a tactful, age appropriate way and provides some much needed LGBTQ representation in middle grade fiction.

This story is about Fig, a pre-teen who lives with her dad. Her dad was a famous musician before Fig was born but has struggled, with good days and bad. Fig has had to take on a lot of responsibility. Fig worries about her dad who is drawn to the ocean when there are big storms and starts connecting his behavior to Vincent van Gogh's. They get a new neighbor, who is more helpful than either of them imagine. This is a nice story but it has a lot of social issues going-mental illness, gender identity, social work and who's responsibility it is to take care of whom, and friendship (there's even a brief mention of drug abuse). It felt like it was trying to go in a lot of directions at once. It was a nice enough story, but I don't think it would get a lot of play in my school.

3 1/2 stars

I feel like I should highly recommend Nicole Melleby’s Hurricane Season and tell you that it’s an important middle grade novel that deals with mental illness and its ramifications for an eleven-year-old girl and her famous composer father. Because certain sequences put me on edge and by the end of the novel I realized that I didn’t actually like any of the characters, I can’t offer a wildly glowing review.

As I mull the events over, I guess one thing that bothers me is that Fig’s father didn’t become ill overnight. Events seem to happen in a vacuum. Doesn’t Fig have grandparents on either side? Sure, maybe her mother couldn’t live with her father, but why would she leave Fig with him? All the neighbors ignore the father’s behavior. People talk about it. Gossip about it. But no one worries about Fig. No one does the right thing. Only one concerned teacher involves herself.

On the flip-side, let me point out the good stuff.

I found Fig’s obsession with Vincent Van Gogh interesting, in a good way. Can’t you just see that in the cover art, which I love, by the way? The writing flows well and the pacing is on target. Fig’s obsession leads her to paint a splendid expression of her relationship with her father.

One of the best aspects of Hurricane Season is its honesty and handling of mental illness. It isn’t cured overnight. It isn’t a weakness.

Besides the mental illness issues, Fig discovers that her father is bisexual as she discovers that she has feelings for girls. While I love that the LGBT issues are dealt with without judgement, I found it a little unbelievable that both father and daughter would realize their sexuality in the same week. But it’s fiction so it doesn’t have to be entirely credible, right?

I will mention that alcohol shows up at a party for 6th and 8th graders. I’m not sure why this was included. Hopefully it has not become customary for 8th graders to drink beer at parties.

The suggested age level for Hurricane Season is 9-12 while the grade level is 4-7. You are probably the best judge as to whether this is a suitable novel for your child, or you.

I received an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

CW: depiction of manic episodes, a nervous tic that leads to mild self discomfort/harm, parental abandonment

Rep: mental health (bipolar disorder), MC who questions her sexuality, later-in-life queer realization

Fig is a young girl trying very hard to connect with her father. It's been them against the world since Day 1 when her mother left. Ever since, they've supported one another, sometimes Fig more than her father because she knows better than anyone how to take care of him during his "bad days".

But when a previous bad day and a new incident at school puts her small family on the radar of Child Protection & Permanency, the balance of Fig's world becomes very precarious. What will she do as a new visit from CP & P looms in three months? A new, suddenly close neighbor moves in? A whole host of other changes pop up? Fig's got a lot to think about in Hurricane Season.

It was such an experience reading Fig's story. Hurricane Season begins with this eleven year old girl desperately trying to hold her family together. Fig's father, a pianist who once performed in well known concert halls, has been dealing with (at the time) undiagnosed bipolar disorder and raising his daughter alone after his wife/her mother abandoned the day old Fig. As the "bad days" become more common, more frequent during hurricane season in their New Jersey hometown, Fig makes an attempt to understand her father by signing up for art class over her preferred science.

Through the artwork of Van Gogh the letters he exchanged with his brother Theo, she makes some progress. There comes a time, though, when she has to realize that her brother is not Van Gogh and she is not Theo. It was difficult to attend these realizations with and sometimes ahead of her. As an adult reading the situation she was in, seeing her experience it, my heart hurt. The fear that Fig felt at the possibility of losing her family, the confusion she felt at not understanding a lot of things, this built up into a stressful situation for her that felt tremendous. 

While Fig is intensely invested in understanding her father, she is also at a time in her life where she's trying to figure out who she is and how that fits in with her peer group. There are numerous instances in the book, from parties to moments in class, where she questions herself and what she wants from these interactions with her friends, including what it means when a boy asks her to be his girlfriend. The influence of her father is felt in this interactions, due to public displays during manic episodes, and add to some of Fig's stress which manifests, at time, in what I believe is a nervous tic wherein she tugs on her earlobe to the point of soreness.

The queer rep within Hurricane Season is handled well though subtly. Fig is questioning herself, particularly regarding her feelings for an older girl from the library.  Things get  a little confusing when a boy classmate who Fig considers her best friend expresses interest. She doesn't have the language to use labels for her feelings, but throughout the story she becomes able to reason things out in her head and later in conversation with her father and said classmate. 

Tim (Fig's father) and Mark the neighbor across the street) also bring queer rep to Hurricane Season. As with Fig's situation, there's no direction labelling within the text so the situation can be a bit interpretive. I reached out to the author to ask specifically and Mark, who is introduced as a widower having lost his wife a few years ago, is bi. Tim, who's only serious/last legit relationship was Fig's mother (roughly eleven years), is word-of-god later in life gay realization. 

I didn't want to put this book down because Nicole Melleby's writing style drew me in. Her characters were well crafted; I became attached to them and wanted to know more, hopin so hard that they would be alright. The timeline of thee book had a good tension to it throughout without uneven lag, which I liked a lot.

Hurricane Season is an impeccably written debut novel that is difficult to put down. I can see it appealing to its middle grade audience easily and most importantly. Additionally, though, I think it will also have crossover appeal to other audiences so that every age group that picks it up will be able to enjoy the story of Fig and her determination to understand.

This was a really sweet book. I'm so happy I picked this up! I wasn't prepared for how cute this was going to be! As a person who is from South Texas and has dealt with plenty of hurricanes I loved the inclusion of this topic into the narrative. It deals with some tough situations but it uses them to teach students and make them more relatable.

Hurricane Season is a poignant story of the complexities of loving a parent who struggles with mental health issues. Fig is used to having to take care of her dad. She’s used to him embarrassing him in front of her friends. She’s used to needing help (sometimes even from the police). She’s used to the questions and the worry that this time social services might actually take her dad away from her. She’s used to all of these things, but that doesn’t make any of it any easier to handle.

The story follows Fig as she struggles to understand her dad and battles her own fears. Her story is heartbreaking and incredibly realistic. For instance, it’s easy to understand why Fig doesn’t know what would be worse: for her father to be taken from her or for life to continue in the chaos she’s been used to. When a new neighbor moves in, Fig is relieved to finally have someone who’s willing to help, but she also feels threatened when she feels he’s starting to take her place in her father’s life. Fig’s struggle between wanting her father to change and fearing that things will spiral out of her control is palpable. The book handles mental illness realistically—even when Fig’s dad gets help and starts to get better, there is no miracle cure. And Fig’s feelings about her father’s illness and about his relationship with their neighbor View Spoiler » come off as true to life as well. The only reason I don’t give it my highest rating is because it took me longer to read than a MG typically does–I found myself putting the book down more often than normal (and the book felt longer to me than it really was). Still, I think many kids will relate to Fig’s emotional journey, even if they don’t know anyone with a mental illness themselves. And they will certainly grow in compassion through reading this story.

***Disclosure: I received this book from the publisher via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. No other compensation was given and all opinions are my own.***

First of all, thanks to NetGalley and Carla from Algonquin Books for sending me an eARC in exchange for a honest review.
You have to know English isn’t my first language, so feel free to correct me if I make some mistakes while writing this review.


It's not often that I read middle grade books, but when it happens they always catch me off-guard - and "Hurricane Season" was simply beautiful.

Fig is a sixth-grader, she loves math and science but she's willing to try an art class hoping to better undestrand her dad - someone who once was a well-known composer and pianist and now he's struggling with his own mind.
She finds so many similarities with her dad and Vincent Van Gogh, with herself and Theo Van Gogh - she craves her own time to be an eleven year older, but she also needs to be useful and to be an adult to help her father.
Fig feels even more stressed after a teacher calls CP&P and, when a big storm rolls in, she's forced to ask for help to her new neighbor Mark - not sure she can trust him, but without another option at the moment.

I related so much to Fig because I remembered what it was like to be an eleven year older: the need to be included into a circle of friends, the pain to be rejected, how you wanted to be treated like an adult but the need to still be a kid.
I liked how she was "selfish" in her need to be the one saving her father, how outsiders were seen as intruders in her relationship with her dad and how this brought her to cry, to be angry and rebellious - it was all so believable, especially when she felt like the only one unable to reach her dad knowing someone else could.
I liked all the main characters - Fig, her dad, Mark - and how the author developed their dynamics because this book is about family, love, mental illness, misplaced guilt when you believe to be the cause of it, therapy and support. Because when things get too heavy, you need know you can rely to those on your side, knowing they're not gonna leave you facing it all alone.

I can't recommend it enough and I hope it will be someday translated in Italian.

It's always been just Fig and her dad. He is a musician but has not really done anything big since she was born. In fact he seems to be struggling more and more - acting very high strung and coming to school one day and other days barely getting out of bed. It has gotten so bad that social services have noticed and are keeping an eye on things. Fig knows they just have to get through the hurricane season - avoids the storms that seem to attract her dad and try to be "normal". But Fig is having a harder time helping her dad without jeopardizing her own well-being. When Mark moves in next door he becomes a friend to her dad but Fig is jealous that Mark is becoming more to her dad than she is. Can Fig and her dad figure things out?

I was kind of irritated with this book about 1/2 way through but then something that was bothering me was addressed. I know on our committee we often struggle with the sadness - dead parents or just bad parents in particular. Manic depression isn't often addressed so this did have that...

I just finished this book and I have tears rolling down my face. It is so wonderful. As a child, I grew up with a bipolar lesbian mother what it would have meant for me to have had this book when I was in middle grade.
I have to admit I read it somewhat suspiciously, or perhaps protectively at first due to my family history. So many people try to write books for children and just make a mess of it, but Melleby's debut novel is stunning.

Written in close third person, we are brought into the world of Finola, called Fig, and her father. Her mother walked out when she was a newborn, and her father slowly descended into mental illness. Fig struggles to keep him together and protect him from the world, yet when a neighbor steps in to help, she has a hard time trusting him. When her father and the neighbor fall in love, it becomes more complicated for Fig as she has to contend with giving up her role as her father's protector and trusting someone new in her life. As the same time, she walks in the middle school world of crushes of her own.

This is a book to treasure. Melleby has captured the frustrations, fear, anger, and yearning of a child with a mentally ill parent. Her queer characters are fully formed, believable, and written with a loving pen. I love that queerness was a side plot that didn't hijack the story. (I don't object to coming out stories, but I also appreciate books like this that show people who happen to like people of their own gender and are dealing with other life problems.

Thanks Net Galley for a digital copy in exchange for an honest review.