Down Came the Rain

July 17, 2023
Mathieu (Bad Girls Never Say Die) delivers a potent meditation on the devastating effects of climate change through the lens of two eco-conscious high school juniors. After Eliza’s home in Houston is flooded during Hurricane Harvey, she and her family are forced to move in with her aunt while their house is repaired. This means losing sleep while sharing a bedroom with her six-month-old cousin Ethan and transferring to a new school; Eliza’s worried that both scenarios will disrupt “the most important year of high school” and jeopardize her chances at being accepted into UT Austin. Being separated from her best friend and harboring silent resentment toward her father, who’s employed by CITGO, only adds to her frustrations. (The fact that he works for a gas and oil conglomerate “when climate change caused in part by fossil fuels no doubt helped cause our home to flood” is ironic, she asserts.) But when she meets Mexican American classmate Javi, sparks fly, and the two bond over their shared interest in environmental activism. Eliza and Javi’s alternating perspectives—each rendered using insightful and intelligent prose—provide illuminating glimpses of their individual experiences navigating class dynamics and eco-anxiety, culminating in an uplifting read. Ages 12–up.

August 1, 2023
Two teen activists in Houston find refuge in each other in the aftermath of Hurricane Harvey. The hurricane has completely upended Eliza Brady's life: Since her own home flooded, she's been sharing a bedroom with her baby cousin, and she and her Baldwin High community have been temporarily transferred to Southwest High. Baldwin had more white students and a more prestigious reputation than Southwest. Regardless, overachiever Eliza is determined to have a successful junior year that will help land her at the University of Texas at Austin. Fueled by her genuine fears about the future, Eliza, a white girl, starts Eagles and Tigers United for the Planet, an environmental club named after the mascots of her old and new schools. After experiencing an instant connection with sweet Mexican American Southwest student Javier Garza, who struggles with his own post-Harvey trauma, she asks him to be co-president of ETUP. Together they navigate a new and exciting relationship. Despite some dialogue not feeling like natural teen speech, Mathieu honestly depicts the toll of eco-anxiety and the nuanced interactions between two seemingly different people who are grappling with the environmental impact of their families' employment. Eliza resents that her family is well-off because her father is a Big Oil executive, while Javi grapples with his older brother's refinery job, a position he could get without a college degree and that helps feed his family. An empathetic exploration of the complex impacts of climate change on young adults. (resources) (Fiction. 12-18)

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September 1, 2023
Grades 9-12 In the aftermath of Hurricane Harvey's rampage through Houston, white rising junior Eliza and her parents are living with her aunt, uncle, and baby cousin. She and her classmates also have to attend Southwest High while repairs are made at her school, Baldwin High. The kind of student who maintains a color-coded planner and attacks assignments with laser-like focus, Eliza is worried about how these arrangements will impact her goals for junior year. Baldwin and Southwest students are in separate classes, but Eliza connects with Javier, a Mexican American student whose house was spared, but suffers a panic reaction whenever it rains. Javier helps Eliza successfully set up an environmental club that is open to students from both schools. The story is narrated in first-person alternating chapters, and both characters reveal a lot about themselves: Eliza is action-oriented, but she is so tightly wound, readers will likely see her approaching unraveling. Javier's family is warm and loving, although they also don't understand what he's going through. The romantic relationship between Eliza and Javier is sweet and positive, and the ending is promising.

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