May 16, 2010
Every once in a while you read a book that’s so damn good you need to tell everyone about it. The Handbook for Lightning Strike Survivors is one such book. Intriguing characters Buckley and Becca, both survivors of lightning strikes from two different worlds, grow up with dysfunctional, partial, interesting families that drew me into their worlds and left me wanting to reach out and hug them. Their yearning to find love from their parents–and from anyone–left me yearning to finish the page in the hopes that these affectionate, lightning-strike-fearing oddballs would find the normalcy they so desperately sought. Along the way, fabulous, outlandish characters swoop into their lives like Padraig John and Clementine glitter the story’s landscape like the fish scales adorning Becca’s paintings.
Watching these two characters grow up, sharing their struggles, successes, loves, pains, and lightning strikes was a small glimpse into a world in which I could have stayed. I was a bot disappointed when the story ended, only because it left me wanting to follow these characters for the rest of their lives.
The icing on the cake? The author, Michele Young-Stone is a Richmond mom and native, and having met her I felt quite honored to know such a creative and gifted author. No wonder the reviews are rocking.
