Hurricane Wills

“There’s a hurricane smashing, trashing, bashingthrough our house. CRASH! BANG! WALLOP!”The hurricane is Wills, Chris’s thirteen-year-oldbrother. He has ADHD. Having a brother whocauses so much chaos around the house is hardon eleven-year-old Chris. Sometimes Wills acts likehe’s six years younger, sometimes like he’s only atoddler. He throws food on the floor, has tantrums,and teases Chris relentlessly. And when Chris andWills’s dad moves out, everyone feels abandoned.Chris believes he has to be even more supportivetowards his mom when sometimes all he wants to dois shout and scream just like Wills. In the wake of hisparents’ divorce, Wills starts hanging out with a badcrowd, shoplifting, and not coming home directlyafter school. When Chris finds a stash of money underWills’s mattress, he knows he is up to somethingbad. It is only when things get truly out of controlthat the two brothers manage to help each other,and even find some solutions for the problems theyshare.

Sally Grindley captures the difficulties of living withADHD and divorce, two of today’s most challengingfamily issues. Written for a wide audience of youngreaders, Hurricane Wills provides an honest narrativethat balances daily hardship with the optimisticresiliency of a family that’s just trying to get by.