April 15, 2003
The tornado that levels the town of Poetry, Missouri, does more than change the topography of the small town; it changes lives. Jenilee, a 21-year-old with no real future, helps her elderly neighbor, Eudora, who is grateful for her rescue from the cellar of her demolished home, although perplexed by the identity and generosity of her savior. Jenilee has been the object of scorn because of her family's poverty and the abuse she's suffered at the hands of her father. Now Eudora and the rest of the town are in for yet more surprises as Jenilee makes herself useful at the armory, helping the injured and creating a wall of the photos and lost documents she has recovered so that the rightful owners can preserve treasured memories in the face of destruction. Jenilee's courage helps Eudora realize that she, too, can change. Wingate has written a genuinely heartwarming story about how a sense of possibility can be awakened in the aftermath of tragedy to bring a community together and demonstrate the true American spirit.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2003, American Library Association.)