Chasing Helicity (Chasing Helicity Series #1)

by Ginger Zee

Overview

Helicity is well aware that her name is unusual - kind of like Helicity herself. The word Helicity means to spin, and for as long as she can remember, Helicity has been fascinated by the weather. The weather is Helicity's escape from her own reality - may that be school, her father's strict discipline, or her brother's imminent departure for college where he's all set to play football.


One fateful day, Helicity and her horse head out on a long ride to take a break from life at home. Even with her vast experience with weather, Helicity is unprepared for the elements she faces. The choices Helicity makes before, during, and after that storm will have a lasting effect on her family and her future.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781484780381
Publisher:	Disney Press
Publication date:	04/24/2018
Series:	Chasing Helicity Series , #1
Pages:	208
Sales rank:	465,335
Product dimensions:	5.87(w) x 8.62(h) x 0.87(d)
Age Range:	8 - 12 Years

About the Author

Ginger Zee is the Chief Meteorologist for ABC News, forecasting for and reporting on the nation's weather from Good Morning America to World News Tonight. Zee has been on the ground before, during and after almost every major weather event and dozens of historic storms including Hurricane Katrina. She watched as the eye of Superstorm Sandy passed over Atlantic City and then covered the devastated Jersey Shore; she was there for the Colorado floods and wildfires; and the destructive tornadoes in Moore and El Reno, Oklahoma.
Zee’s dedication to science began at an early age, watching powerful thunderstorms rush across Lake Michigan. Her passion for meteorology brought her to stormchase in college at Valparaiso University where she earned her bachelor of science in meteorology. Throughout her career and especially in this book, Zee is dedicated to getting young people interested in science, respecting the environment and atmosphere around them.

Editorial Reviews

02/05/2018
Thirteen-year-old Helicity Dunlap, named after a physics term relating to a particle’s spin, loves storms, science, and math. After she isn’t placed in honors classes for the coming school year, she goes for a horseback ride and is far from home when a tornado hits. Helicity’s western Michigan town is destroyed, and her football-star older brother is injured while searching for her. In the aftermath, Helicity meets a meteorologist/storm chaser named Lana who gets her a handsome tutor named Sam, so that Helicity can prove to her parents that she belongs in the honors classes. It takes her father some time to come around, but Helicity is eventually allowed to go on a storm-chasing trip with Lana and Sam. But tragedy strikes there, too, and a cliffhanger sets up a sequel. Meteorologist Zee deftly balances the science of storms, their fascination to storm chasers, and Helicity’s angst and family problems. Readers should easily relate to Helicity’s longing to follow her passion: “Wind, moisture, pressure, temperature—there was so much about the weather that she didn’t know, and so much she wanted to understand.” Ages 8–12. (Apr.)

Publishers Weekly

2018-03-04
ABC News meteorologist Zee embellishes her debut novel with plenty of accurate weather information.Thirteen-year-old Helicity (a physics term that means "to spin") finds herself on the fringe of a devastating tornado that sweeps through her town. Caught up in filming it, she barely escapes, but her older brother, Andy, out looking for her as the storm strikes, is less fortunate. He's injured, possibly ending a promising football career and leaving their father raging about his potential loss of a scholarship. Helicity, fascinated by weather, attracts the interest of a young female meteorology professor and storm chaser, Lana. Lana has a cute 17-year-old male sidekick named Sam, who too often lets his enthusiasm carry him into danger, breaking Lana's safety rules. The weather isn't the only thing that's extreme in this book. Andy quickly (and predictably) becomes addicted to the pain meds that his ridiculously angry father helps provide. Meanwhile, Helicity, in spite of her age, is implausibly invited to spend the summer storm chasing with Lana and Sam. Default-white cardboard characters who seem to lack any real reason for their behavior move enigmatically through the storm-wracked landscape. The action ramps up nicely toward a conclusion that, disappointingly, leaves nearly all the conflict unresolved, presumably setting up the next in the series. The weather is nicely evoked and fully believable; the trite plot stretches credibility to the breaking point.This might possibly appeal to readers who are weather-focused. (Fiction. 9-14)

Kirkus Reviews

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