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Like a Hurricane
A young teen's secret is tearing him apart.
He knows he is gay but is afraid to share this knowledge with his parents or his friends. What if they reject him? And what can he do with the feelings he has for his childhood friend when he knows his friend does not feel the same way? The turmoil continues to rise with the force of a hurricane―total destruction seems almost certain.
Told in beautiful, evocative prose with its unique design, Like A Hurricane is a visually stunning exploration of what it means to be true to one's self.
He knows he is gay but is afraid to share this knowledge with his parents or his friends. What if they reject him? And what can he do with the feelings he has for his childhood friend when he knows his friend does not feel the same way? The turmoil continues to rise with the force of a hurricane―total destruction seems almost certain.
Told in beautiful, evocative prose with its unique design, Like A Hurricane is a visually stunning exploration of what it means to be true to one's self.
128 pages, Paperback
First published November 6, 2020
2 people are currently reading
349 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 141 reviews
April 17, 2022
4.5 ⭐️ pour cette œuvre magnifique. dès le début, j’ai été complètement enchantée par les mots, par leur légèreté et leur puissance en même temps. j’ai été renversée et charmée. 𝓌ℴ𝓌, 𝓌ℴ𝓌, 𝓌ℴ𝓌.
April 2, 2023
Have you ever read a book where you literally don't have the words to describe the experience? Yea, this book did that to me. 4.5 Stars
Like A Hurricane is a beautiful and gut-wrenching middle grade novel written in artistic like verse about a young boys feelings about coming out to his parents. Translated from French, this book is nothing short of a gem that captures the difficult moments that LGBTQ+ youth face when coming to terms with their identity and what it will mean for their relationships with family members.
What Worked: This book was beautiful. Originally, I thought that it was simply a coming out story written verse, but it's so much more. There isn't much that one can say about the plot of this one without spoiling it because it's so short, but that doesn't take away from it's beauty. I'm not sure how to even describe the style that Becotte utilized in this story, but it gave the actual text movement and life. This alone made me more emotionally in tune with the main character. Every fear, every triumph, every feeling of nervousness is beautifully captured in such few sentences. The turmoil that he feels in having to share his secret with the world is perfectly compared to a hurricane. A storm of confusion, destruction, and chaos. Not only is there this fear associated with coming out to his parents, but he's also reckoning with the distance relationship he has with friend that he now has feelings for. Honestly, this wasn't written for adults, but I know so many who appreciate the feelings that are captured page by page. So many LGBTQ+ youth will appreciate this book.
Overall, this was great. I read it in one sitting, but it's one I could definitely see myself coming back to time and time again.
Like A Hurricane is a beautiful and gut-wrenching middle grade novel written in artistic like verse about a young boys feelings about coming out to his parents. Translated from French, this book is nothing short of a gem that captures the difficult moments that LGBTQ+ youth face when coming to terms with their identity and what it will mean for their relationships with family members.
What Worked: This book was beautiful. Originally, I thought that it was simply a coming out story written verse, but it's so much more. There isn't much that one can say about the plot of this one without spoiling it because it's so short, but that doesn't take away from it's beauty. I'm not sure how to even describe the style that Becotte utilized in this story, but it gave the actual text movement and life. This alone made me more emotionally in tune with the main character. Every fear, every triumph, every feeling of nervousness is beautifully captured in such few sentences. The turmoil that he feels in having to share his secret with the world is perfectly compared to a hurricane. A storm of confusion, destruction, and chaos. Not only is there this fear associated with coming out to his parents, but he's also reckoning with the distance relationship he has with friend that he now has feelings for. Honestly, this wasn't written for adults, but I know so many who appreciate the feelings that are captured page by page. So many LGBTQ+ youth will appreciate this book.
Overall, this was great. I read it in one sitting, but it's one I could definitely see myself coming back to time and time again.
May 20, 2021
Wow wow mais que c’est beau! J’ai adoré ce court roman poétique tout en douceur et empreint de sensibilité. Les mots, les images, tout est magnifique. Je veux faire lire ce livre à tous mes élèves. Une belle belle initiation à la poésie.
April 4, 2021
Jonathan Bécotte a un don phénoménal d'écriture. ♥️
March 19, 2023
J'ai emprunté ce livre à la bibliothèque, suite aux nombreux avis que j'ai vu passé sur instagram et j'ai adoré ❤️ tant de douceur et de beauté 💞 très hâte de me lancer dans la lecture de son livre La chambre éteinte 😊
December 31, 2021
« Je ne suis pas né pour être un ouragan. Mais je ne suis plus capable de contenir mes rafales. Mon secret souffle trop fort, pour que je l’étouffe une journée de plus… »
Quelle belle façon de terminer mon année littéraire que par la lecture de ce roman unique. J’ai été transportée par l’écriture poétique et douce, mais j’ai surtout été bercée par cette tempête d’amour.
Les mots me manquent pour exprimer comment je me sens suite à cette lecture sans vous dévoiler plus du livre.
La seule chose qui me vient en tête c’est MERCI @unravel24 pour ce roman et SVP écris-en encore tout plein ❤️
Un livre à lire par les parents et les ados, un livre à voir en cours au secondaire, un must de la littérature québécoise.
Quelle belle façon de terminer mon année littéraire que par la lecture de ce roman unique. J’ai été transportée par l’écriture poétique et douce, mais j’ai surtout été bercée par cette tempête d’amour.
Les mots me manquent pour exprimer comment je me sens suite à cette lecture sans vous dévoiler plus du livre.
La seule chose qui me vient en tête c’est MERCI @unravel24 pour ce roman et SVP écris-en encore tout plein ❤️
Un livre à lire par les parents et les ados, un livre à voir en cours au secondaire, un must de la littérature québécoise.
January 10, 2021
Super roman que je recommande à tout les jeunes surtout du secondaire !
August 4, 2021
Belle façon d’aborder plusieurs sujets. Et que dire de la mise en page. Ça peut être inspirant pour des projets pédagogiques ou par pur plaisir !
January 7, 2021
Lien vers la critique complète : http://sophielit.ca/critique.php?id=2471
Les œuvres de Jonathan Bécotte sont toujours d’une grande sensibilité et celle-ci ne fait pas exception. Il faut dire que ce moment précis de l’affirmation de l’orientation sexuelle est porteur, riche en possibilités. Ici, l’auteur le traite avec délicatesse de deux angles, en amont avec des souvenirs qui remontent à la petite enfance, les galets sur le chemin qui ont mené à ce moment si important et si terrifiant à la fois, et en direct, alors que le lecteur assiste à cette affirmation.
Les œuvres de Jonathan Bécotte sont toujours d’une grande sensibilité et celle-ci ne fait pas exception. Il faut dire que ce moment précis de l’affirmation de l’orientation sexuelle est porteur, riche en possibilités. Ici, l’auteur le traite avec délicatesse de deux angles, en amont avec des souvenirs qui remontent à la petite enfance, les galets sur le chemin qui ont mené à ce moment si important et si terrifiant à la fois, et en direct, alors que le lecteur assiste à cette affirmation.
June 25, 2021
Gros coup de coeur pour ce petit livre tellement riche! C’est beau, beau, beau, touchant et authentique. J’ai vraiment pu comprendre ce que peut ressentir une personne qui désire ardemment crier qui elle est tout en ayant peur des réactions de son entourage. J’ai de la peine à penser que certaines personnes ont peur de s’ouvrir, on ne devrait jamais avoir la crainte de montrer qui on est réellement 💕
March 6, 2021
Juste WOW..! 💖💫 Le choix des mots, de la calligraphie, la façon pure et simple d’aborder le sujet. Je l’ai dévoré en quelques minutes. 📚 Je l’ajoute assurément à ma bibliothèque de classe. 👩🏻🏫
August 9, 2021
Mon seul souhait est que ce roman fasse écho dans les écoles primaires et qu’il se fasse lire par plusieurs. Bref, Jonathan Bécotte a encore réussi 💙
September 2, 2021
Un beau petit livre poétique, tout en émotions. J’ai été émue, à en avoir des frissons. J’ai adopté cet auteur. Il a le tour de me toucher.
March 22, 2022
De toute beauté. Plein de douceur et d'appels à l'aide, d'une envie de crier. J'ai aimé le parallèle avec l'ouragan
December 15, 2024
4,5 ⭐️
Un chef d’œuvre, tout simplement.
Un chef d’œuvre, tout simplement.
March 10, 2021
Jonathan Bécotte est l’un de ces auteurs qui peuvent nous faire plonger dans ses personnages et nous faire vivre toute une gamme d’émotions en peu de mots. J’étais heureuse de retrouver l’écriture de Bécotte après être tombée sous le charme en lisant Maman veut partir et Souffler dans la cassette. Encore une fois, la puissance de ses mots vient nous atteindre! Ce livre saura plaire aux petits et grands lecteurs!
December 19, 2024
WOW! Ce livre est tout simplement magnifique.
J’avais l’impression de devoir retenir mon souffle durant le récit, tout comme le petit garçon. J’ai pu reprendre mon souffle, à la toute fin, en même temps que lui.
Les métaphores utilisées sont exceptionnelles. La plume de l’auteur est tout simplement magique.
C’est un livre que tout le monde doit ABSOLUMENT lire! 💖
J’avais l’impression de devoir retenir mon souffle durant le récit, tout comme le petit garçon. J’ai pu reprendre mon souffle, à la toute fin, en même temps que lui.
Les métaphores utilisées sont exceptionnelles. La plume de l’auteur est tout simplement magique.
C’est un livre que tout le monde doit ABSOLUMENT lire! 💖
April 16, 2021
Très belle histoire. Le tout écrit avec tant de sensibilité.
J’ai beaucoup aimé. J’ai été émue par les métaphores utilisées par l’auteur. C’était très touchant, très simple et tout en douceur.
Un bon moment de lecture à offrir à nos jeunes.
J’ai beaucoup aimé. J’ai été émue par les métaphores utilisées par l’auteur. C’était très touchant, très simple et tout en douceur.
Un bon moment de lecture à offrir à nos jeunes.
April 10, 2023
Quelle belle poésie 💙 GROS plus pour les dispositions du texte qui fait vivre le texte.
October 3, 2025
Easily readable - don't let the 'poetry' genre scare you. Words laid out in symbolic patterns. A very relatable coming out story for the intended younger reader in middle school, or even high school.
I'm preparing to give the most important performance of my life: showing the world who I am.
You can feel the fear in the heart of the unnamed main character. One of his friendship-trio has distanced himself, but another has grown closer. A solid reality of what can be experienced. No spoiler here on the parents, but lets just say this is the book I'd like gay kids to read that are trying to come out.
And you know, the trio member that is distant per the peer pressures in high school? I will bet money he will befriend his friend in the future once again.
4.75*
I'm preparing to give the most important performance of my life: showing the world who I am.
You can feel the fear in the heart of the unnamed main character. One of his friendship-trio has distanced himself, but another has grown closer. A solid reality of what can be experienced. No spoiler here on the parents, but lets just say this is the book I'd like gay kids to read that are trying to come out.
And you know, the trio member that is distant per the peer pressures in high school? I will bet money he will befriend his friend in the future once again.
4.75*
September 16, 2022
Initialement, je n’étais pas certaine de ce livre, mais il gagne à être connu. J’ai opté pour le format audio et l’expérience était vraiment immersive. Par exemple, lorsqu’il parlait de foyer, on entendait un feu crépité. Ce livre aborde un sujet d’actualité tout en douceur. Les figures de style sont nombreuses et je crois que c’est le genre de roman qui nécessite d’être lu plus d’une fois afin de le comprendre entièrement.
January 17, 2021
Cette histoire est touchante et la mise en page, fantastique. Il faut le lire !
January 25, 2023
Not sure what to call this style of writing. Slam poetry? The visualization of the words give them feeing and power.
A wonderful addition to any middle school library.
A wonderful addition to any middle school library.
October 19, 2025
This one is difficult to rate. If my best friend had had this book in 1985, it would have transformed his entire adolescence and teenage years, so heavy was the great secret of his being gay. It would have lifted the great burden of his feeling so alone with the secret. In 2025, though, this lovely and spare and very short novel, beautifully translated from French and rendered in shape poetry, feels a bit thin. There have been SO many amazing middle grade novels published featuring gay characters in the past 15 years, characters who are fully rendered, and what is typical of most of them now is that most gay kids (thankfully) are not so deeply closeted, as our society in general (with notable backsliding recently) has become so much more accepting and embracing of LGBTQIA+ people than it was 40 years ago. The storyline is rarely centered around coming out anymore because it is not central to the character's coming of age or story arc...they are either already out, or whether they will be accepted is not the greatest challenge they face, as acceptance is more...accepted.
I do not mean to suggest that there is not still widespread discrimination toward gay people, and of course we have seen so many attacks on books that tell the stories of gay characters. But what I have loved and appreciated about so many of the books published is that gay characters are fully realized and are depicted in the fullness of their humanity, just as gay readers exist in the world, so that their sexual orientation is rarely central to the plot...it is just one of their character traits, along with their hobbies, their personality, their strengths, their curiosities, and their challenges. In Like a Hurricane, the main character's character is ephemeral, blowing in the wind, barely hinted at, beyond the power of his secret. He is defined by what he hears people say about his mannerisms, by his mother's steadfast presence, by his friend's abandonment, and by the presence of another friend who shows up as just a flash of light on a few pages, but beyond that, he is just his secret.
I feel relieved to say I don't think this is true of the emotional life of most gay kids anymore. And so I am not sure how much this book will resonate with middle grade readers; in fact, in some ways, it feels a somewhat regressive for 2025.
And so a rating is difficult. I inherited this purchase in a new school library this year serving upper elementary students, and I have no objection to it being in the collection. The shape poetry is interesting and it is short and easy to read and the translation from French is lovely. With a very limited budget, though, I would not consider this a first purchase and probably would not have purchased it., simply because there are so many other rich and fully realized gay characters in other middle grade books that are more fully fleshed out. For all of the readers who still NEED this book and who may feel as alone and as weighed down as my dear best friend did 40 years ago, though, I am glad it exists and hope it finds who it is meant to find.
I do not mean to suggest that there is not still widespread discrimination toward gay people, and of course we have seen so many attacks on books that tell the stories of gay characters. But what I have loved and appreciated about so many of the books published is that gay characters are fully realized and are depicted in the fullness of their humanity, just as gay readers exist in the world, so that their sexual orientation is rarely central to the plot...it is just one of their character traits, along with their hobbies, their personality, their strengths, their curiosities, and their challenges. In Like a Hurricane, the main character's character is ephemeral, blowing in the wind, barely hinted at, beyond the power of his secret. He is defined by what he hears people say about his mannerisms, by his mother's steadfast presence, by his friend's abandonment, and by the presence of another friend who shows up as just a flash of light on a few pages, but beyond that, he is just his secret.
I feel relieved to say I don't think this is true of the emotional life of most gay kids anymore. And so I am not sure how much this book will resonate with middle grade readers; in fact, in some ways, it feels a somewhat regressive for 2025.
And so a rating is difficult. I inherited this purchase in a new school library this year serving upper elementary students, and I have no objection to it being in the collection. The shape poetry is interesting and it is short and easy to read and the translation from French is lovely. With a very limited budget, though, I would not consider this a first purchase and probably would not have purchased it., simply because there are so many other rich and fully realized gay characters in other middle grade books that are more fully fleshed out. For all of the readers who still NEED this book and who may feel as alone and as weighed down as my dear best friend did 40 years ago, though, I am glad it exists and hope it finds who it is meant to find.
January 14, 2021
Ah, la plume de Jonathan Bécotte! Un récit court, tout en douceur, en sensibilité et en vulnérabilité. C’est lumineux, inspirant et touchant. Comme un ouragan est certainement destiné à un plus jeune lectorat, et je n’hésiterai pas à le proposer à mes fils de 8 et 10 ans. Ses mots ont résonné pour moi et je suis certaine que ça ouvrira le dialogue pour plusieurs enfants qui manquent de mots et d’images pour s’exprimer sur des émotions valides et peut-être difficiles à comprendre.
En ce qui concerne les procédés typographiques, j’aime ce qu’ils ajoutent au récit : du mouvement, de l’intensité, des images cachées derrière des mots, des émotions. J’apprécie particulièrement qu’on puisse y percevoir des marques de modalités (émotions, opinions) et des marques d’énonciation (présence de celui qui écrit et de celui qui lit). Je trouve que ça transporte le message dans un souffle plus intime et que ça rend le récit sincère, bienveillant et valide. Mon petit bémol : j’aurais souhaité que l’aveu du personnage se fasse en des mots plus sensibles, plus poétiques, moins “étiquette”. Mais le choix des mots est certainement difficile, quand le vent souffle si fort.
En ce qui concerne les procédés typographiques, j’aime ce qu’ils ajoutent au récit : du mouvement, de l’intensité, des images cachées derrière des mots, des émotions. J’apprécie particulièrement qu’on puisse y percevoir des marques de modalités (émotions, opinions) et des marques d’énonciation (présence de celui qui écrit et de celui qui lit). Je trouve que ça transporte le message dans un souffle plus intime et que ça rend le récit sincère, bienveillant et valide. Mon petit bémol : j’aurais souhaité que l’aveu du personnage se fasse en des mots plus sensibles, plus poétiques, moins “étiquette”. Mais le choix des mots est certainement difficile, quand le vent souffle si fort.
May 19, 2021
Un tout petit roman, qui en dit gros. Les mots sont doux et poétiques. Le message est beau, la différence peut faire peur, mais c'est surtout comment elle est reçue qui va déterminer comment on se sent par rapport à elle.
March 2, 2021
Ce livre est tout simplement magnifique. 💙
June 24, 2023
This was beautiful to read.
Very short and the typography added to the story.
It gripped me by page 1 and I did not put it down until I finished it (which only took me 20 minutes).
Pick it up!!
Very short and the typography added to the story.
It gripped me by page 1 and I did not put it down until I finished it (which only took me 20 minutes).
Pick it up!!
July 12, 2023
My heart 💓
July 16, 2025
Bon livre jeunesse pour donner la chance d'ouvrir une discussion sur son orientation. Livre nécessaire!
Displaying 1 - 30 of 141 reviews