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A Break in the Weather: Autism. Escape. Budding Romance.
Autism. The Blizzard of the century. Escape from a madman Near-death experience. Budding romance.
Sixteen-year-old Alley Price grew up in church but has drifted away from the Lord. When her autistic classmate Ben Sanders won’t stop babbling about the weather, she wishes he would just shut up. A few days later, the Great Blizzard of 1978 slams into Ohio, and Alley finds herself stranded in a garage, having to keep herself and her would-be rapist alive. She turns to Ben in the middle of the night. The events that unfold change her attitude toward people with autism and reheat her lukewarm relationship with Jesus.
Sixteen-year-old Alley Price grew up in church but has drifted away from the Lord. When her autistic classmate Ben Sanders won’t stop babbling about the weather, she wishes he would just shut up. A few days later, the Great Blizzard of 1978 slams into Ohio, and Alley finds herself stranded in a garage, having to keep herself and her would-be rapist alive. She turns to Ben in the middle of the night. The events that unfold change her attitude toward people with autism and reheat her lukewarm relationship with Jesus.
199 pages, Paperback
Published July 19, 2025
1 person want to read
About the author
Roy Wood
1 book2 followersRoy is a retired school-based speech-language pathologist and former newspaper reporter. He enjoys Christian fiction and released his debut Christian novel, Hear My Cry, in 2020. Roy lives in a rural corner of Southwest Ohio with his wife Rosi.
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Displaying 1 - 6 of 6 reviews
October 3, 2025
I almost added this book to my virtual shelf labeled "contemporary", because I am that old-fashioned, but no, this book is definitely a 1970's story from front to back. Though some aspects of the plot seem "ahead of their time", so to speak, little details such as CB radios, entertainment references, and the shebang about Junior Prom set the era quite well. I also very much appreciated how the story centered around the historically true blizzard and political situations. Other true history the author includes at the end as "stuff that was real in 1978" merely adds to the authenticity.
I read this at a timely time (haha), in the wake of the government putting a spotlight on the causes of Autism, and I enjoyed reading a story with an autistic hero, showing how someone with autism has quirks and oddities like the rest of us--and that teasing can be humorous, just as it is for everyone else's quirks and oddities (as long as it isn't mean-spirited). At times I wasn't clear on just what Ben's struggles are, and what he doesn't pick up on (or does so belatedly). But certain personality traits come through clearly and consistently.
For many of today's YA readers, the content--centered around sexual abuse and high school romances--may be normal, but such topics are discussed bluntly, both among friends and in a public setting during a criminal trial. The ease with which Alley refers to her own figure and the advances made on her are rather unusual--especially in a setting which, according to the narrative, women are fighting to be treated equally with men--to "be heard", as it were. In the beginning, Alley tells basically every prominent character information that, I imagine, is very embarrassing (even without her being at fault). And yet none of that openness advances or shapes the plot in any way.
In many ways, I could tell this story had a male author, which isn't a denunciation (in fact, often I enjoy a masculine style of writing/perspective), but when it comes to a female teenager's perspective, the story's difficult circumstances are shown in a matter-of-fact, blunt manner, without the emotion and angst that one would expect to go along with the subject matter. To be honest, that's my preferred kind of character, male or female--although I definitely would not have been comfortable with the sexual references as a YA reader.
One more note, this time regarding the faith content: Alley's spiritual life has a positive arc, if a bit vague; she makes decisions to pray and attend church as a response to the events, but it is not clear whether she was actually a Christian. Her mother's immoral relationship is briefly mentioned as just that, but not really condemned. Alley's Christian friend is distinctive as such, but she engages in the same high school flippant dating scene like the rest of them. Nevertheless, she is a good influence on Alley, despite the awful environment that is public school.
All in all, this story touches on valuable insights into people from an historical viewpoint, which provides a bit of an honest breath of fresh air. Recommended only for readers who are already very familiar with today's hyper-sexualized culture.
I read this at a timely time (haha), in the wake of the government putting a spotlight on the causes of Autism, and I enjoyed reading a story with an autistic hero, showing how someone with autism has quirks and oddities like the rest of us--and that teasing can be humorous, just as it is for everyone else's quirks and oddities (as long as it isn't mean-spirited). At times I wasn't clear on just what Ben's struggles are, and what he doesn't pick up on (or does so belatedly). But certain personality traits come through clearly and consistently.
For many of today's YA readers, the content--centered around sexual abuse and high school romances--may be normal, but such topics are discussed bluntly, both among friends and in a public setting during a criminal trial. The ease with which Alley refers to her own figure and the advances made on her are rather unusual--especially in a setting which, according to the narrative, women are fighting to be treated equally with men--to "be heard", as it were. In the beginning, Alley tells basically every prominent character information that, I imagine, is very embarrassing (even without her being at fault). And yet none of that openness advances or shapes the plot in any way.
In many ways, I could tell this story had a male author, which isn't a denunciation (in fact, often I enjoy a masculine style of writing/perspective), but when it comes to a female teenager's perspective, the story's difficult circumstances are shown in a matter-of-fact, blunt manner, without the emotion and angst that one would expect to go along with the subject matter. To be honest, that's my preferred kind of character, male or female--although I definitely would not have been comfortable with the sexual references as a YA reader.
One more note, this time regarding the faith content: Alley's spiritual life has a positive arc, if a bit vague; she makes decisions to pray and attend church as a response to the events, but it is not clear whether she was actually a Christian. Her mother's immoral relationship is briefly mentioned as just that, but not really condemned. Alley's Christian friend is distinctive as such, but she engages in the same high school flippant dating scene like the rest of them. Nevertheless, she is a good influence on Alley, despite the awful environment that is public school.
All in all, this story touches on valuable insights into people from an historical viewpoint, which provides a bit of an honest breath of fresh air. Recommended only for readers who are already very familiar with today's hyper-sexualized culture.
October 2, 2025
Roy Wood’s “A Break in the Weather: Autism. Escape. Budding Romance,” is labeled as both Christian fiction and drama, but it is told with such conviction that it reads more like an autobiography – well, sort of. In writing the book, the retired speech therapist with ministerial aspirations thereby joins a growing number of male authors who, not only write first-person fiction, but also narrate their books through a female persona.
With Ohio’s Great Blizzard of 1978 as a historical backdrop, the book chronicles the attempted rape of sixteen-year-old Alley by her mother’s drunk and lecherous boyfriend Derek with whom she has been left alone during a once-in-a-lifetime storm in which there is no power, no telephone service, and no open roads on which to drive or even walk safely. Without triggering too may spoiler alerts, her autistic classmate Ben unexpectedly comes to her rescue.
What follows in the last half of the book are various scenarios involving Alley’s family and classmates which heighten reader awareness to autism and promote Christianity. The writing is clear, the tempo is appropriate, and the characters are well developed, but the book meanders at times which detracts from the overall strength of the narrative.
Roy Wood has written a nice book with an interesting story and an obvious purpose, but with one major distraction. Roy, how could you misspell Muhammad Ali’s name twice?
With Ohio’s Great Blizzard of 1978 as a historical backdrop, the book chronicles the attempted rape of sixteen-year-old Alley by her mother’s drunk and lecherous boyfriend Derek with whom she has been left alone during a once-in-a-lifetime storm in which there is no power, no telephone service, and no open roads on which to drive or even walk safely. Without triggering too may spoiler alerts, her autistic classmate Ben unexpectedly comes to her rescue.
What follows in the last half of the book are various scenarios involving Alley’s family and classmates which heighten reader awareness to autism and promote Christianity. The writing is clear, the tempo is appropriate, and the characters are well developed, but the book meanders at times which detracts from the overall strength of the narrative.
Roy Wood has written a nice book with an interesting story and an obvious purpose, but with one major distraction. Roy, how could you misspell Muhammad Ali’s name twice?
November 4, 2025
It's unusual to find a character who both has autism and is self-aware about it; it's so unusual that it's almost unbelievable. But the author does a good job of portraying the high-school students, and the surly drunk boyfriend is an all-too-common figure in the America of the last fifty years. In that sense the book is a great portrait of late-70s American high school experience - the main character handles it like a champ.
August 13, 2025
As a Book Reviewer, I received a copy of A Break in the Weather. However, I was not required to write a positive review or any review. These are my honest opinions of the book.
A Break in the Weather is Roy Wood's debut novel. It is YA. The story starts with tension between Alley Price and her mom's boyfriend, and that tension and the situation continue to build until a snow blizzard. During the blizzard, the situation between Alley and her mom's boyfriend escalates until Alley runs out in the blizzard, afraid for her safety.
Alley becomes a hero of the story through all the events that take place during the blizzard, but as she is stuck in a garage and not sure how to survive the blizzard, she reaches out to a boy she knows from school, who has Autism. She knows he's very smart when it comes to science related things, so she calls him on the phone in the middle of the night, despite the fact that she ordinarily finds him quite annoying, and he quickly becomes a hero in the story as well.
Also, as Alley faces all of the events during the blizzard, she begins to think about Jesus. She hasn't given him much time or attention in years, despite the fact that her best friend is a Christian, and Alley's grandmother talked to her about Jesus a lot, until her grandmother passed away.
I found this story suspenseful and exciting, but the suspense and excitement slows down in the middle as the author focuses on events at school. However, just because the suspense and excitement slows down, this story, in no way, gets boring. Mr. Wood did a great job of developing his characters and expressing their very different personalities and how they react and respond to one another. Mr. Wood also did a great job in portraying how the characters learned to make good decisions, accept one another, work together, help one another, and encourage one another.
In the last third of the story, the tension and suspense build again, but not quite to the level they did in the first third, but readers who crave tension and suspense won't be disappointed.
I really enjoyed this story and its characters. I also liked how Mr. Wood ended with an epilogue that gives the reader a glimpse into the Alley's future as an adult.
Although this story includes a very awkward uncomfortable relationship that leads to revealing a character as a child predator and there is some violence, this is a clean story -- no explicit sexual scenes and no profanity. Also, the child predator story line is brought to a satisfactory conclusion without being extremely traumatic or difficult to read.
There were just two places in the book, where I found a couple of scenes to be a bit confusing, but, they didn't keep me from disliking the story or finishing the book.
I recommend A Break in the Weather by Roy Wood to readers ages 16 and up, who enjoy well-written, exciting YA stories that include a positive message or two.
A Break in the Weather is Roy Wood's debut novel. It is YA. The story starts with tension between Alley Price and her mom's boyfriend, and that tension and the situation continue to build until a snow blizzard. During the blizzard, the situation between Alley and her mom's boyfriend escalates until Alley runs out in the blizzard, afraid for her safety.
Alley becomes a hero of the story through all the events that take place during the blizzard, but as she is stuck in a garage and not sure how to survive the blizzard, she reaches out to a boy she knows from school, who has Autism. She knows he's very smart when it comes to science related things, so she calls him on the phone in the middle of the night, despite the fact that she ordinarily finds him quite annoying, and he quickly becomes a hero in the story as well.
Also, as Alley faces all of the events during the blizzard, she begins to think about Jesus. She hasn't given him much time or attention in years, despite the fact that her best friend is a Christian, and Alley's grandmother talked to her about Jesus a lot, until her grandmother passed away.
I found this story suspenseful and exciting, but the suspense and excitement slows down in the middle as the author focuses on events at school. However, just because the suspense and excitement slows down, this story, in no way, gets boring. Mr. Wood did a great job of developing his characters and expressing their very different personalities and how they react and respond to one another. Mr. Wood also did a great job in portraying how the characters learned to make good decisions, accept one another, work together, help one another, and encourage one another.
In the last third of the story, the tension and suspense build again, but not quite to the level they did in the first third, but readers who crave tension and suspense won't be disappointed.
I really enjoyed this story and its characters. I also liked how Mr. Wood ended with an epilogue that gives the reader a glimpse into the Alley's future as an adult.
Although this story includes a very awkward uncomfortable relationship that leads to revealing a character as a child predator and there is some violence, this is a clean story -- no explicit sexual scenes and no profanity. Also, the child predator story line is brought to a satisfactory conclusion without being extremely traumatic or difficult to read.
There were just two places in the book, where I found a couple of scenes to be a bit confusing, but, they didn't keep me from disliking the story or finishing the book.
I recommend A Break in the Weather by Roy Wood to readers ages 16 and up, who enjoy well-written, exciting YA stories that include a positive message or two.
August 17, 2025
A Break in the Weather is a beautifully written and emotionally rich story that swept me away. The characters feel so real, their struggles deeply human, and the writing captures both the storms of life and the fragile light that breaks through them. Through shared challenges, the characters discover more about each other, revealing strengths and vulnerabilities that forge an unlikely friendship you can’t help but root for until the very end. Heart-wrenching yet full of hope, and intertwined with faith, this book is the perfect read for anyone who loves stories that linger long after the final page.
August 8, 2025
Roy Wood can really weave a tale!!! He tells of a high school girl who ends up growing closer to God via quite a bit of trauma. She and her mom never would have guessed that the guy Mom was dating would come after Alley, sexually. Being 16, she knows a lot about how to maneuver diplomatically. She is also polite to the autistic boy in school, unlike her classmates.
The big 1978 Ohio blizzard comes and school is closed. People lost lives. Alley braves the storm and ends up in a garage. She overcomes her obstacles and remembers her autistic friend has a citizens band radio "handle". She reaches him and he tells her advice how to make a fire, keep warm, and to fight hypothermia. What a friend!! She doesn't go to the prom with her autistic friend, but ends up dancing with him. God had an ultimate plan for those two teens.
The big 1978 Ohio blizzard comes and school is closed. People lost lives. Alley braves the storm and ends up in a garage. She overcomes her obstacles and remembers her autistic friend has a citizens band radio "handle". She reaches him and he tells her advice how to make a fire, keep warm, and to fight hypothermia. What a friend!! She doesn't go to the prom with her autistic friend, but ends up dancing with him. God had an ultimate plan for those two teens.
Displaying 1 - 6 of 6 reviews