Storm (New Windmills) Book

Suzanne Fisher Staples is the author of Daughters of the Wind, winner of a 1990 Newbery Honour in the U.S. and described by the New York Times as "a small miracle". Storm is the story of a unique friendship--young Buck Smith and Tunes Smith may share the same surname but are not related, though their loyalty to one another is so strong one could be forgiven for thinking they were brother and sister. United by circumstance and a love of fishing, they are, however, divided by race and social class: Buck is white, a descendent of settlers who left England in the eighteenth century to farm land in Virginia, and tomboy Tunes is black, her ancestors having come from Africa as slaves to work the Smith land. Tunes' daddy, Kneebones, manages Buck's family farm, but her Mama, who worked in the farmhouse, has passed away. Buck's family take pity on Kneebones and Tunes, inviting them to share family meals and sweet treats. Tunes and Buck's unswerving friendship survives the most testing of times, but can it endure an accusation of murder? Tunes is caught up in "so much trouble" and Buck is powerless to help. As the skies darken and storm clouds gather, Buck makes desperate attempts to gain support from family and friends to free Tunes from victimization and jail. A sensitively written story of a young person's bitter disappointment at a world full of injustice and adult double-standards, Storm addresses important issues of racism, hypocrisy, honesty and trust within a context young people of 12 and over will understand.Read More