What a cute read!

One thing I've always loved about Foley's writing is her ability to tackle the hard stuff, especially in middle grade. And it's no exception here. We're dealing with a lot throughout the book, such as drug addiction and death via weather disaster, but it all naturally comes together in a coherent matter. It's one of my favorite things about Foley's books.

Nadine and Francis' friendship is really cute, too. Their dynamic was very enjoyable, and I loved the adult friends they had/gained in the story. All of them have their quirks, but they're grounded enough to be believable and bot be too silly.

The one thing that dragged this book down a lot was the magical realism (i.e., the cause of the tornado). It came up suddenly and completely contradicted the consistent message the book had ("Tornadoes aren't a good or bad thing. They just are.") because the person who caused the tornado had evil intentions, therefore the tornado was a bad thing! It just didn't make any sense.

Overall, despite the book having all the staples I've come to expect from Foley, the magical realism element really dragged it down.