Storm Rising

by Marilyn Singer

Seventeen-year-old Storm, lonely, lost, and going nowhere, is drawn to a gentle older woman who possesses unusual powers, and as love develops between them, Storm experiences the beginnings of confidence, suffering, and a promise of a new start to his life.Seventeen-year-old Storm, lonely, lost, and going nowhere, is drawn to a gentle older woman who possesses unusual powers, and as love develops between them, Storm experiences the beginnings of confidence, suffering, and a promise of a new start to his life

215 pages, Mass Market Paperback

First published January 1, 1989

About the author

Marilyn Singer was born in the Bronx (New York City) on October 3, 1948 and lived most of her early life in N. Massapequa (Long Island), NY. She attended Queens College, City University of New York, and for her junior year, Reading University, England. She holds a B.A. in English from Queens and an M.A. in Communications from New York University.

In 1974, after teaching English in New York City high schools for several years, she began to write - initially film notes, catalogues, teacher's guides and film strips. Then, one day, when she was sitting in the Brooklyn Botanic Garden, she penned a story featuring talking insect characters she'd made up when she was eight. Encouraged by the responses she got, she wrote more stories and in 1976 her first book, The Dog Who Insisted He Wasn't, was published by E.P.Dutton & Co.

Since then, Marilyn has published over seventy books for children and young adults. Her genres are many and varied, including realistic novels, fantasies, non-fiction, fairy tales, picture books, mysteries and poetry. She likes writing many different kinds of books because it's challenging and it keeps her from getting bored. She has won several Children's Choice and Parents' Choice Awards, as well as the following: the Creature Carnival, Lee Bennett Hopkins Poetry Award Honor Book, 2005; I Believe in Water: Twelve Brushes with Religion, New York Public Library's "Best Books for the Teen Age," 2001; Stay True: Short Stories for Strong Girls, Popular Paperbacks for Young Adults, 2000 (YALSA); On the Same Day in March, Booklist's Top Ten Science Books of 2000; NCSS-CBC Notable Book, 2000; Deal with a Ghost, finalist, YA category, Edgar Award, 1998; It Can't Hurt Forever, Maud Hart Lovelace Award, 1983; The Course of True Love Never Did Run Smooth, ALA Best Book for Young Adults, 1983; Turtle in July, NCTE Notable, N.Y.Times Best Illustrated and Time Magazine Best Children's Books of 1989; Turtle in July was also a Reading Rainbow review book.

Marilyn currently lives in Brooklyn, NY, with her husband Steve; their standard poodle Oggi, a cousin of their beloved and recently departed poodle Easy, seen in the home page photo; a cat named August ; two collared doves named Jubilee and Holiday; and a starling named Darling. Her interests include dog training, reading, hiking, bird-watching, gardening, meditation, playing computer adventure games and going to the movies and the theatre. She's also a major Star Trek fan.

Reviews

[Bentoboxcreature22 · Rating 5 out of 5]

**SPOILERS**

I really, really wish there were more teen books like this. Storm Rising is a perfectly paced, beautifully written coming-of-age romance with a paranormal twist, enough to spice up the plot but not overdone. The story is beautiful, and it's very different than a lot of YA fiction you'd see at today's bookstores. I was actually expecting the book to be sort of prim and proper, with no sex in it, but that wasn't what I found. There is sex in it, and what's awesome is, the book doesn't overly romanticize it, and actually views sex in a very adult way. It does the same for Jocelyn's powers. Storm isn't totally accepting when he finds out she can do things with her find, like heal and work electric stuff. He freaks out and calls her a witch. It takes him, like, two weeks to even be willing to see her again. And then, when he does, and he accepts her powers, he also accepts that they don't make her an angel or anything. They are wonderful, but they're also dangerous and unpredictable--like I said, not romanticized. Throughout the book, Storm really figures out what it means to be a man, which would also be nice to see in today's books. These days, at least in a lot of books I've read which are targeted for girls, "coming of age" is all about self-acceptance. Most of them don't really deal with the issue of actually growing up. This is really annoying, because, while I know that self-acceptance is a part of maturing, there's more to being an adult than loving yourself. Like, the way you treat others, and yes, your understanding of love and sex. Also, on and unrelated topic, why do I feel like YA books targeted towards girls today can't have a male protagonist? You have to admit, it's rare to find one. In Storm Rising, I found I enjoyed reading a romance from a guy's point of view just as much as if Storm had been a girl...although admittedly, I would have found the whole age difference between Jocelyn and Storm way more creepy like that. Sorry, I know that's sexist of me. But basically, my overall point is, we need more books like this one in today's literature!

[Livia Corry · Rating 3 out of 5]

I remember reading this book in middle school and loving it. I never forgot it. I remember being scandalized by the mild spicy scene when I was that age. It’s just as entertaining 20 years later.

[Bridget · Rating 3 out of 5]

I picked this up because it looked like a not scary Christopher Pike book (I found those intriguing but too scary as a pre-teen...ironically.) I remember it being an unusual book because you don't normally get an emotional teen boy protagonist in this style of teen fiction.
I remember enjoying the narrative regardless of what would be considered statutory rape.
It was the first time I'd ever seen or heard the name Jocelyn which I pronounced as Joyce-uh-lynn until I heard someone pronounce it correctly years later.