The Horn Book Guide

YOUNGER FICTION

Jennings, Patrick

The Tornado Watches: An Ike and Mem Story

64 pp. | Holiday | August, 2002 | Trade ISBN 0-8234-1672-0 $$15.95

(1) 1-3 Illustrated by Anna Alter. Threat of a tornado provides structure and suspense to this finely tuned chapter book about big brother Ike and younger sister Mem (The Bird Shadow). For two nights, Ike keeps himself awake watching TV, just in case a tornado comes and he has to wake the family. By the time the tornado hits, on the third night, Ike is fast asleep. Illustrated with black-and-white drawings, the writing is all the more telling in its spareness.

Reviewer: Roger Sutton | Horn Book Magazine Issue: January, 2003