Storm Catchers

Bibliography: Bowler, T. (2003). Storm catchers. New York: Margaret K. McElderry Books.
Annotation: This story begins with a young girl named Ella taking care of her younger brother Sammy while her parents and older brother were out. There was a huge storm brewing when Ella heard a scary noise. She was abducted in the middle of the night. Her older brother Fin came home to find a note from the kidnapper about his sister and Sammy was nowhere to be seen. Fin tells his parents and they receive a phone call from the kidnapper to give him $200,000 by a specific day and they are not allowed to go to the police or she will die. Ella is taken away by the kidnapper to a cave under an old dangerous lighthouse. While Fin and his parents are trying to figure out what to do Sammy keeps running away and is being possessed by a little girl that leads him to the edge of a cliff. Sammy keeps repeated “gonna catch the storm before it catches me.” Fin had the idea to use a pendulum to find his sister. By the time Fin and his dad reach her they hear a gun shot. The kidnapper was laying on the ground. By the time Fin and his dad got Ella back to shore Sammy was missing again. Everyone felt that he had gone over the cliff because his favorite teddy bear was wedged between the rocks at the bottom of the cliff. However Fin finds Sammy hiding in the light house. Ella drastically changes her mood and is yelling and accusing her dad of the kidnapping. The boy told Ella how his sister disappeared off of the cliff when he was younger. Ella’s dad was in the light house and the time and accidently scared her because he realized that this little girl was a loved child of his. The kidnapper survived the shooting and was placed into a nursing home. Ella, Sammy, Fin and their mother visited him often while their father was never the same again.
Genre: Fiction/Mystery
Grade: 6-9
Readers: The readers that will enjoy this book are readers that enjoy mystery books. Readers that also like a dark and scary story will also really enjoy this story as well.
Rate/Response: 10 I absolutely love this book. I was glued to it from literally the first page. This book is very suspenseful and very dark. I however would not recommend this book to a young audience. I even think that 6th and 7th grade is too early for this book. It is very realistic and the language is very strong within the book. I feel this is an excellent book but would have to be used wisely within a classroom.
Question: Have you ever been scared of storm? Do you have a special place in your home if someone comes in?