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Tornado Season
Tornado Season arrives as a storm is raging, yet its stories urge us not to seek shelter but to leave it. To walk out of our inner place of hiding and face the whirlwind. To recognize it. To acknowledge it and fight it. Ethnicity and culture alongside the U.S.-Mexico border; deportation and immigration; life in the U.S. foster care system--of these tumultuous subjects Courtney Craggett writes with honesty, a big heart, and a complete lack of sentimentality. She shows us ordinary people who suffer, dream, hope, and strive for something just a little bit better. And by doing so, she elevates these stories from the realm of the timely into that of the timeless. Long after the storm has passed, the stories in Tornado Season will ring true and dear, for they sing of the innermost yearning of the human heart for freedom, justice, and love."--Miroslav Penkov
"A lyrical, heartfelt collection, Tornado Season exhibits a breathtaking range of styles, from the nuanced, long form spiral of its title story to flash fictional flights of fantasy, dystopia, and fairy tale. Craggett's imagination probes the vulnerability of children amidst fraught family situations, menacing nature, and the gross inequities of America's current immigration policies. These fifteen short stories shimmer with a steady current of empathy and the strength of deep convictions rendered lovely through the nimble language and bright imagery of Craggett's consistent, impressive talent."--Constance Squires
"A lyrical, heartfelt collection, Tornado Season exhibits a breathtaking range of styles, from the nuanced, long form spiral of its title story to flash fictional flights of fantasy, dystopia, and fairy tale. Craggett's imagination probes the vulnerability of children amidst fraught family situations, menacing nature, and the gross inequities of America's current immigration policies. These fifteen short stories shimmer with a steady current of empathy and the strength of deep convictions rendered lovely through the nimble language and bright imagery of Craggett's consistent, impressive talent."--Constance Squires
- GenresShort StoriesFiction
164 pages, Paperback
Published January 1, 2019
3 people are currently reading
93 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 15 of 15 reviews
July 12, 2019
This is a fine collection of fifteen wonderful stories - some are lovely fantasies, others are grounded in cold, sad reality. All are beautifully written. My favorites were Pledge, one of the sadder tales about a teacher whose favorite student is deported, and the title story which concerned a woman struggling to deal with her troubled stepbrother.
Highly recommended.
Highly recommended.
April 14, 2020
I loved reading Tornado Season. It is a collection of short stories ranging from the shortest being a couple of pages to the longest story being 40 pages. As most of the stories are short, the book goes by fast, but is amazing. Craggett’s writing is very fluid and consistent, but also unique in the fact that there are multiple stories from a second perspective (“you”) and there a few with a plural group (“we”). In all of my years of reading, I haven’t found anyone who writes with a “we” perspective, and it is honestly refreshing.
What I found most interesting is the content of the stories. In every single one of them, there is the question, “What if things went wrong?” There are not very many happy endings in Tornado Season, but that fact just reinforces the question. Though they don’t end happily, they do portray hope, but they do so very differently. Many showcase the ability for us as humans to endure while some showcase how we will always be active in our pursuits. There is always hope.
Finally, what stood out to me about the stories are that they are a broad mix of genres. Most would fall under a historical fiction context, but there are many with fantastical elements. While the fantastical are not explained, they do fit directly with the question; something always goes wrong. The fantastical elements are very interesting, and I loved thinking about what each story meant, especially the ones with the fantastical. Craggett does a very good job with presenting her creations in an interesting and different light, and it is awesome to ask the question, “what if things went wrong?” How would we react? I’d recommend this to anybody with time to read. Tornado Season is an amazing set of short stories.
April 15, 2020
Low 5/5. No spoilers - just vague background and my own take on it. Tornado Season is a blend between ethereal flashback and hard reality. The stories often end on an open note of distress, but the stories do not feel like they are incomplete. Some of these stories really hit home, and I enjoyed playing with some serious topics covered in the short stories. Most of the stories dealt heavily with family life and problems.
Here are some of the highlights for me: "Dia de Grasias" is a short story told in second-person where you are a person who moved to Mexico to apply for your partner's American visa. This story accurately represented culture shock as I have felt it and how you try to cope with the changes during a Thanksgiving. I felt truly immersed in this story and invested in the hopes of the characters because the narrator's descriptions were poignant without detailing too much.
"Also Lonely, Although on Land" is about a woman named Stella on a jungle beach vacation with her husband. However, her family life is difficult, and we see her change her interactions with the island, her husband and a mystical messenger over the course of the story. The imagery is vivid, and I loved the transitions Stella makes in her journey through loneliness.
"Tornado Season" was one story that hit home with me. It is about a woman named Claire reconnecting with her half-brother Josh after many years and the choices she makes with her lifestyle for that connection. Josh is a troubled youth, who reminds me of one of my family members a little too much. It made me think about the differences between my idealization of family and how different a real family can be from that idea.
Here are some of the highlights for me: "Dia de Grasias" is a short story told in second-person where you are a person who moved to Mexico to apply for your partner's American visa. This story accurately represented culture shock as I have felt it and how you try to cope with the changes during a Thanksgiving. I felt truly immersed in this story and invested in the hopes of the characters because the narrator's descriptions were poignant without detailing too much.
"Also Lonely, Although on Land" is about a woman named Stella on a jungle beach vacation with her husband. However, her family life is difficult, and we see her change her interactions with the island, her husband and a mystical messenger over the course of the story. The imagery is vivid, and I loved the transitions Stella makes in her journey through loneliness.
"Tornado Season" was one story that hit home with me. It is about a woman named Claire reconnecting with her half-brother Josh after many years and the choices she makes with her lifestyle for that connection. Josh is a troubled youth, who reminds me of one of my family members a little too much. It made me think about the differences between my idealization of family and how different a real family can be from that idea.
April 30, 2019
At one point each of these stories was my “favorite”... until I read the next one. Craggett’s voice is compelling, and the characters are vulnerable and admirable and full of a kind of wild hope and love I wish we all lived by. I was surprised by each story and didn’t want it to end. Wonderful debut collection!
March 16, 2020
This is my Advanced Fiction professor. I read the book for my Contemporary Literature class. Good voice. I like the stories that make me feel like I'm in Texas, and I've never been to Texas. I like some of the stories more than others.
April 12, 2019
Beautifully written, intriguing and moving. The themes of fostering, immigration and relationships are interspersed with accurate description of settings and natural phenomena.
July 21, 2019
A spare but seamless blend of climate change and the weather within relationships. To be reviewed in American Microreviews and Interviews.
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July 4, 2025Too grim for me. Gorgeous writing but these are stories of sacrifice and disappointment, of the post-apacolypse.. Heroic statues come alive and kill the people who raised them and a little boy is convinced the tooth fairy is dead because the city sprayed to stop West Nile and that killed her. The cover is a stunner.
"Waves roll black against the night." No, they don't.
The last story begins: "It's late summer in London and all the pigeons have died." It ends with starlings black against the sky and pink dawn.
"Waves roll black against the night." No, they don't.
The last story begins: "It's late summer in London and all the pigeons have died." It ends with starlings black against the sky and pink dawn.
April 16, 2020
Tornado Season is a gripping slice of life that I wasn’t expecting. I was able to attend one of Courtney Craggett’s readings this year, and while I got a taste of her ability to dive into some of the harsh and sweet realities of life, I’m glad that I was able to experience more of this by reading Tornado Season.
Craggett’s work is unique in tone and perspective. I found myself drawn to the conflicts in her short stories as they portrayed situations that, although unique, were relatable in the emotions they invoked. One of Craggett’s obvious talents in her work is her ability to write at a pace that is quick, but doesn’t miss important details to her stories. Every word in her work is necessary and purposeful, whether the story is two pages, or twenty. My favorite story of the collection was “Tornado Season.” And although this particular story is that longest of the collection at 40 pages, it doesn’t feel like it. You’ll meet Josh (who I feel many of us have met before through the troubled loved ones in our lives) from the perspective of his half-sister, who shows her unlimited soft spot for the boy as she tries to find the balance between her heart and her head. If you only have time for one story, this would be my recommendation.
Other favorites of mine in this collection are “Dia De Gracias” and “Donation.” But feel free to pick any of the stories to start from; all will have you reflecting on this life, and how to navigate the reality it presents.
Craggett’s work is unique in tone and perspective. I found myself drawn to the conflicts in her short stories as they portrayed situations that, although unique, were relatable in the emotions they invoked. One of Craggett’s obvious talents in her work is her ability to write at a pace that is quick, but doesn’t miss important details to her stories. Every word in her work is necessary and purposeful, whether the story is two pages, or twenty. My favorite story of the collection was “Tornado Season.” And although this particular story is that longest of the collection at 40 pages, it doesn’t feel like it. You’ll meet Josh (who I feel many of us have met before through the troubled loved ones in our lives) from the perspective of his half-sister, who shows her unlimited soft spot for the boy as she tries to find the balance between her heart and her head. If you only have time for one story, this would be my recommendation.
Other favorites of mine in this collection are “Dia De Gracias” and “Donation.” But feel free to pick any of the stories to start from; all will have you reflecting on this life, and how to navigate the reality it presents.
April 14, 2020
Tornado Season is a powerful collection of short stories that, like an all-consuming storm, affects you long after it’s ended. Each of the fifteen short stories explores the human experience in a unique way by matching the environment to the character’s whirlwind of emotions. In “Carnival Ride,” the garish remains of a carnival mock the mother’s loss of her child. In “Also Lonely, Although on Land,” a new connection with a mysterious person who can only be communicated with through messages in a bottle shows the falling apart between a wife and a husband.
Even though I haven’t experienced most of what Craggett writes about--adjusting to living in a new country, slowly giving all you have to others, an unexpected and unwanted pregnancy--her use of imagery in painting her stories makes me forget that these events aren’t happening to me. What I’m really impressed by, though, is that Craggett can write so convincingly about events that she hasn’t experienced either. She’s an author and a professor, not a bogged down social worker like in “Goodness and Mercy,” or an elementary school teacher falling in love with a students father like in “Pledge.” And that is what makes Craggett’s writing so powerful. To convince the reader that you know what it’s like to go through events you’ve never experienced is challenging enough. To do so as poetically as Courtney Craggett does in Tornado Season is powerful. I recommend Tornado Season to anyone who is looking for an empathetic experience through short stories.
Even though I haven’t experienced most of what Craggett writes about--adjusting to living in a new country, slowly giving all you have to others, an unexpected and unwanted pregnancy--her use of imagery in painting her stories makes me forget that these events aren’t happening to me. What I’m really impressed by, though, is that Craggett can write so convincingly about events that she hasn’t experienced either. She’s an author and a professor, not a bogged down social worker like in “Goodness and Mercy,” or an elementary school teacher falling in love with a students father like in “Pledge.” And that is what makes Craggett’s writing so powerful. To convince the reader that you know what it’s like to go through events you’ve never experienced is challenging enough. To do so as poetically as Courtney Craggett does in Tornado Season is powerful. I recommend Tornado Season to anyone who is looking for an empathetic experience through short stories.
April 15, 2020
Courtney Craggett’s collection of short stories and prose is incredibly well written and fantastical. She writes with such whimsy and detail that it’s so easy to feel immersed in the setting she is creating. Her prose is truly incredible. The words so quickly and accurately describe the complex emotions and feelings that are so integral to the human experience.
That being said, not all of the stories within this work are created equal. I had a difficult time getting into some of her work and found some stories significantly less compelling and immersive. I also found myself frustrated with some of her endings. She creates such an immersive world and leaves you stranded without a satisfactory resolution. Some of the stories in this volume are so short, a mere page and a half, that it’s harder to connect with every world that she creates. While this brevity wasn’t my personal preference, I walked away with the desire to reread her work and seek to truly unravel the levels in her work. She leaves you knowing that there was more to what you just read than meets the eye.
Overall, I think the title for her collection is incredibly accurate. The stories are truly chaotic and wild like a tornado, but there is so much to appreciate. While the stories themselves are creative and fascinating, so is the writing style. Craggett presents a wonderfully unique world view and many of her stories I will be going back to read again and again.
That being said, not all of the stories within this work are created equal. I had a difficult time getting into some of her work and found some stories significantly less compelling and immersive. I also found myself frustrated with some of her endings. She creates such an immersive world and leaves you stranded without a satisfactory resolution. Some of the stories in this volume are so short, a mere page and a half, that it’s harder to connect with every world that she creates. While this brevity wasn’t my personal preference, I walked away with the desire to reread her work and seek to truly unravel the levels in her work. She leaves you knowing that there was more to what you just read than meets the eye.
Overall, I think the title for her collection is incredibly accurate. The stories are truly chaotic and wild like a tornado, but there is so much to appreciate. While the stories themselves are creative and fascinating, so is the writing style. Craggett presents a wonderfully unique world view and many of her stories I will be going back to read again and again.
July 9, 2019
Sometimes the characters’ choices would annoy me to no end but that was a testament to the way they were written, not villains or heroes, but real people who make their own choices for their own reasons. Each of these stories were unique, compelling, and authentic to the characters. I fell in love with these characters then wanted more, which is exactly what you want in a short story. I loved this collection. I will be mulling these stories over for years to come.
July 31, 2022
A strong collection, highlighting broken families, especially at the hands of abusive husbands and fathers. My favorite stories contained magical realism, perfectly implemented. All story arcs were executed with spot-on rise and fall, and the endings landed just where they needed to land--not completely resolved and with a bit of wonder and beauty.
July 3, 2022
Beautiful, haunting, powerful.
July 7, 2022
I didn't like the book.
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