Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for granting me free access to the advanced digital copy of this book.

Hurricane Girls is a beautiful story about three intertwined friends. They are all three complicated but so powerful. I highly recommend this story for a character novel study.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for providing me with an advanced copy of The Hurricane Girls by Kimberly Willis Holt.

3 friends, 3 complicated stories, and an improbably triathlon team will totally draw in readers. As they seek to help one friend recover from a family tragedy, have they all taken on too big if a challenge? Great for middle grade readers and anyone whose ever taken on a challenge they were wildly unqualified for. Loved it.

Set in New Orleans, over a decade after Hurricane Katrina devastated the area, The Hurricane Girls tells a very sweet story of three friends trying to help each other through tough times. This book touches on how deeply tragedies impact kids, whether or not they were alive to witness it, and the importance of community in those times. The girls are very easy to know and love, and it makes for a quick and thoughtful novel.

Fantastic story about 3 young friends in New Orleans. Short chapters alternated each of their voices and perspectives. Greer, Kiki, and Joya Mia are going through personal struggles, but they are the best of friends. With supportive family and new friends, they find ways to grow and change both together and apart. Participating in a team triathlon gives them a group goal to strive for. This is definitely a story all young readers will enjoy.
Thanks to the publisher and NetGalley for the eARC to read and review. All opinions are my own.

Place has always been key in Kimberly Willis Holt’s middle grade novels. The Hurricane Girls is no exception. The newest edition to her collection takes place in New Orleans and draws from her own experience living there during one of her father’s military assignments. Three middle school girls, who are so different that they seem unlikely friends, bond in sixth grade over a project report on Hurricane Katrina. The hurricane happened the year they were born so their research sends them to their own family stories.

In seventh grade, Greer, Joya Mia, and Kiki each have personal and family issues that threaten to drive a wedge into that friendship. Focus for each chapter rotates among the girls to such an extent that the reader gets the feel of three distinct protagonists, each one believable and relatable. They plan to compete in a triathlon to restore their friendship which is important to all three of them. Each has to put effort into specific obstacles that would keep Kiki from swimming, Joya Mia from biking, and Greer from running. Family loyalty, guilt, and body image all come in to play in ways that are common to middle graders. I will not spoil the ending, but will say it was not Cinderella but was satisfying and hopeful.

The book is available for preorder with a book birthday on August 29, appropriately on the thirteenth anniversary of the hurricane. When I saw an offer for an advance reading copy, I jumped right in since I am a KWH fan reaching back to her earliest works when Zachary Beaver came to town and when Tiger Ann lived under her Louisiana sky. Lest you think that might make me biased, The Horn Book Magazine gives The Hurricane Girls one of its infrequent starred reviews. You don’t want to miss this book even if you are no longer in middle grade.

I received an ARC of this book from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

I was excited to read this because I love Kimberly Willis Holt’s books! This was no exception. The characters: Greer, Joya Mia, and Kiki, were all lovable in their own way. I enjoyed reading from all of their perspectives. I also thought Holt did a wonderful job touching on important subjections: trauma, therapy, body image, etc.

The Hurricane Girls by Kimberly Willis Holt, one of my favorite authors, has penned a wonderful story of the strong bond between three girls who were brought together on a school project. I thought the story was going to focus on the tragedies of hurricane Katrina, but it’s about the lives of children born during the devastating hurricane. There is nothing particularly exciting in this book, rather it’s just a fantastic story of human nature.

You view each girl facing her own personal “hurricane” as they struggle with recent decisions, an accident, and a parent who left.

The girls are 13 and named, Greer, Joya Mia, and Kiki. They have been close friends ever since they worked on a project about Hurricane Katrina the previous year. Another connection is, living in New Orleans, they were all born in 2005, and Kiki was even born on the day the hurricane made landfall.

It seems in the past few months, their once close friendship has declined. Greer is burdened with guilt after an accident she blames herself for, Joya Mia struggles to balance her family life while not sacrificing her own, and Kiki has felt lost ever since her father walked out on her family. Kiki, a quite mature girl, misses her friends. She decides to bring them back together with a unique project: a summer relay triathlon.

I liked seeing each girl deal with her own struggles and decisions as they decide to train for a relay triathlon with real reservations,

Kiki doesn't want to be a quitter anymore like her father who left and and she struggles with a poor self respect of her body image. We watch her grow and become more comfortable in her body and herself.

Greer, poor girl, is dealing with grief from the accident that left her little sister in a wheelchair. She blames herself and feels her mother blames her as well. I believe the mother did blame her daughter and even though she didn’t want Greer to feel that way it came out as such. Can the family ever come to peace with the accident?

Joya Mia, who cares so much about her family, is such a strong character, but is still figuring out life and what she wants out of it.

I don’t think every book needs to have a teaching element or a message but Holt’s story can teach us all that as adults there are so many things in life to learn from the children around us, even our own.

Now, I want to go meet and be friends with the Hurricane Girls.

Hurricane Girls is a book about Greer, Joya Mia and Kiki. Born in the wake of Hurricane Katrina and completing a project about the Hurricane, the girls starting started calling themselves the Hurricane Girls. Geer had a family tragedy that the girls are trying to help survive. Kiki decides they should do a triathlon together, she will do the swimming (even though she doesn’t know how).

This story has/deals with a lot of issues-guilt, body images, father leaving, budding romance, etc. Together, the girls face things together and learn valuable lessons. I really enjoyed this story! Would highly recommend this book!

I loved this book about friendship and overcoming all sorts of obstacles. It was heart warming and realistic. Thank you to the publisher and Net Galley for the ARC.

A wonderful book showing how three friends working together find their strength when they decide to enter a triathlon. Greer, Joya Mia, and Kiki were born when Hurricane Katrina hit and call themselves the hurricane girls. When something happens to Greer’s sister, Greer stops running , and so Kiki wants to get Greer out of her funk and suggests they enter the triathlon. However, Kiki decides maybe the triathlon isn’t a good idea. Can her friends change her mind?

The Hurricane Girls by Kimberly Willis Holt (Christy Ottavanio Books August 2023) vividly portrays a summer after the strong bond between three girls has started to unravel. Each girl faces her own personal “hurricane” as they struggle with recent decisions, an accident, and a parent who left.

Thirteen-year-olds Greer, Joya Mia, and Kiki have been close friends ever since they worked on a project about Hurricane Katrina the previous year. They face a strong connection because they’d all been born in 2005, and Kiki was even born on the day the hurricane made landfall in their city of New Orleans. But in the past few months, their once close friendship has deteriorated. Greer is burdened with guilt after an accident she blames herself for, Joya Mia struggles to balance her family life with her own desires, and Kiki has felt lost ever since her father walked out on her family. Despite the distance that has grown between them, Kiki misses her friends and decides to bring them back together with a unique project: a summer triathlon.

The narrative unfolds with alternating chapters that offer a glimpse into each girl’s perspective and provide insights into each girl’s individual concerns, conflict, and emotions. This really let me get to know their personalities and like the girls even more. The title of the book relates to not just to the shared experience of surviving Hurricane Katrina but also reflects the turbulent nature of their friendship during this summer as they make choices and face new challenges. Entering adolescence sometimes feels like a hurricane, where everything is in flux. The girls find that by supporting and helping each other through their hurricanes, they become stronger individually and collectively.

I voluntarily read and reviewed an advance review copy of this book provided by the publisher via NetGalley. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

Thank you NetGalley, Little, Brown Books for Young Readers, and Kimberly Willis Holt for the opportunity to read this e-ARC!

The Hurricane Girls are a trio of friends, Kiki, Joya Mia, and Greer, who are bonded because they did a group project on Hurricane Katrina in 6th grade and were all born in the wake of that devastating hurricane. Now that they're in the summer before 8th grade, they've noticed they're starting to drift apart.

Every chapter alternates with the perspective of the three girls.
Greer - trying to reckon with the guilt of an accident involving her younger sister and her favorite sport, running.
Kiki - always coming up with new things to do, but usually finding a reason to abandon the thing.
Joya Mia - always puts 110% into everything she does, family, school, and planning for her future.

Kiki hatches a plan to bring them together again and in the process, they discover more about themselves, each other, and their friendship.

A very heartwarming book with relatable topics for middle grades. Will definitely be adding this to my classroom library!

The Hurricane Girls is a story about 3 girls, Greer, Joya Mia, and Kiki. All three girls were born the same year that Hurricane Katrina hit New Orleans in 2005. They were the best of friends in 6th grade, but their friendship has had some bumps in the road. Kiki sees a flyer for a Junior Team Relay Triathlon. She starts planning for Greer and Joya Mia to join her in the relay. This story shows each of them overcoming a life challenge to themselves, but also working together to work as a team to accomplish something that they didn’t think was possible.

This book was so good! It was so inspiring to hear how they all pushed past their mental blocks and worked together to do the race! And it was written so well. I loved how it switched perspectives just at the right moments to create suspense.

Kimberly Willia Holt is an automatic read for me. I met her when I was in elementary school and loved "My Louisiana Sky" and this one is my new favorite.
Greer, Kiki & Joya Mia have such a great friendship. Things have changed and are waning since Greer's family had an accident that changed everything.
I liked seeing each girl come out of their shell as they decide to train for a relay triathlon.
Kiki doesn't want to be a quitter anymore like her father who left and I loved seeing her grow and become more comfortable in her body and herself.
Greer, poor girl is dealing with grief from the accident, but finally comes to terms and finds a way to find peace.
Joya Mia, she cares so much about her family, she is such a strong character, but is still figuring out life and what she wants out of it. They are only in middle school, but they are already looking to their futures and dealing with some big issues.
I loved this book. It is a great just grade read, but can also teach us all that there are still so many things in life to learn from the children around us.
Holt does a great job of showing us these different families and how they are all doing their best to help their children along. The writing is real and wholesome. I want to go and be friends with the Hurricane Girls!

Thanks NetGalley and the publisher for this ARC!