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45th out of 281 books
—
435 voters
The Storm Makers
by
Jennifer E. Smith (Goodreads Author),
Brett Helquist
Enter the world of The Storm Makers, where there's magic behind every forecast.
Then a stranger arrives and tells the twin
...more
Hardcover, 384 pages
Published
April 3rd 2012
by Little, Brown Books for Young Readers
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Twins Ruby and Simon are having an unusually hot and dry, but otherwise ordinary summer on their family's farm - until Ruby spots a strange man leaving their barn early one morning. His appearance sets off a chain of events that neither child could have ever imagined. The man, Otis, has come to find Simon in order to let him know that he is part of a secret society of people called Storm Makers. Storm Makers have the ability to control and tame the weather. Soon, Simon and Ruby must race against...more
This novel borrows themes from L. Frank Baum’s most popular children’s tale to tell the story of one special boy and the incredible destiny that awaits him. The twins are real children—fun loving, disobedient, curious and fiercely loyal to each other and their parents. They are fraternal twins but have begun drifting apart, developing their own distinct natures and diverging interests. Their parents are typical of this sort: loving and kind and yet spectacularly oblivious to their children’s act...more
Those on the lookout for good American rural fantasy should immediately get their hands on The Storm Makers. It's the story of two twelve year-old twins, Ruby and Simon, relocated from the suburbs to ten acres of midwest farm land by their idealistic (and quite possibly over-optimistic) parents. Ruby and Simon had always been very close, but in their new home, they began to go their separate ways, much to Ruby's regret, and she wonders if "maybe they'd never really been inseparable so much as th...more
Twins Ruby and Simon are living on a farm because their parents are trying to make it as an artist and an inventor, when a mysterious man, Otis, appears in their barn. Strange things start happening with Simon-- he seems to have an electrical effect on appliances, and the weather starts behaving strangely. Otis tells them this is because Simon has a rare talent-- he is a storm maker, and can control the weather. They find an ally in another storm maker, Daisy, who runs the local body shop. She i...more
Ruby and Simon, twelve-year-old twins, are passing their first summer at their family's new farm in Wisconsin, when a mysterious man shows up to explain that the strange weather they've been having is attached to Simon's mood and that Simon is the youngest (and potentially the most powerful) Storm Maker the world has ever seen.
A delightful middle-grade reader with a girl narrator telling the story, but centered around her twin brother (thus making it palatable for readers of either sex).
It is a...more
A delightful middle-grade reader with a girl narrator telling the story, but centered around her twin brother (thus making it palatable for readers of either sex).
It is a...more
This review was written by my 10 year old sister
Ruby and Simon are twins who’ve lived an ordinary life. So far. As their so called ordinary life continues, strange things start happening, eerily timed with Simons emotions.
When Ruby meets a man named Otis, he tells her the impossible. Otis says her brother Simon is a Strom Maker- part of a group that can control and tame weather. But things are getting scarier and scarier. When Simon suddenly gets sick, a harsh storm attacks the area. Soon aft...more
Ruby and Simon are twins who’ve lived an ordinary life. So far. As their so called ordinary life continues, strange things start happening, eerily timed with Simons emotions.
When Ruby meets a man named Otis, he tells her the impossible. Otis says her brother Simon is a Strom Maker- part of a group that can control and tame weather. But things are getting scarier and scarier. When Simon suddenly gets sick, a harsh storm attacks the area. Soon aft...more
Review originally posted on Rather Be Reading Blog:
It’s been a long time since I dived into a Middle Grade book. The last time was probably seven years ago when I was in my backyard starting the Harry Potter series. Years and years after it had first been released because I didn’t think I could get into it. Was I ever wrong. As most of us know, Harry Potter is the quintessential good vs. evil, love vs. hate type series. With friendships and magical powers even I could appreciate. Everything abou...more
It’s been a long time since I dived into a Middle Grade book. The last time was probably seven years ago when I was in my backyard starting the Harry Potter series. Years and years after it had first been released because I didn’t think I could get into it. Was I ever wrong. As most of us know, Harry Potter is the quintessential good vs. evil, love vs. hate type series. With friendships and magical powers even I could appreciate. Everything abou...more
Jennifer E. Smith is an author I know because of her awesome YA book The Statistical Probability of Love at First Sight. Her doing a weather-based fantasy for middle readers? Count me in, I thought! Unfortunately, the book didn't meet my expectations.
The concept is great - we learn that there are people capable of controlling the weather, and one of our two child protagonists is one of them, and may be one of the strongest yet. What results is a power struggle between the Storm Makers of who wil...more
The concept is great - we learn that there are people capable of controlling the weather, and one of our two child protagonists is one of them, and may be one of the strongest yet. What results is a power struggle between the Storm Makers of who wil...more
Aww, yay! :) I loved that ending.
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Ruby and Simon are having a typical summer. They're adjusting to a somewhat new city, the weather is just a little too hot and they're not as extraordinarily close as they were before, but for the most part, nothing too out of the ordinary has happened.
Until it does.
A real page-turner, The Storm Makers guides you through Ruby's life as she tries to adjust to the fact that her brother has the ability of control the weather. As I was reading this novel, I kept th...more
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Ruby and Simon are having a typical summer. They're adjusting to a somewhat new city, the weather is just a little too hot and they're not as extraordinarily close as they were before, but for the most part, nothing too out of the ordinary has happened.
Until it does.
A real page-turner, The Storm Makers guides you through Ruby's life as she tries to adjust to the fact that her brother has the ability of control the weather. As I was reading this novel, I kept th...more
A slightly different take on Kate Messner’s Eye of the Storm (this one is less dystopia, more fantasy). Ruby and Simon are twins who have been relocated from their comfortable suburban home to the prairie. What starts out as a dull summer turns exciting quickly, as it becomes apparent that Simon has some very unusual powers - the ability to change the weather. As forces both good and evil compete for Simon’s powers, the twins try to make sense of their new reality. Slow to get rolling, this one...more
This young adult adventure was warm and captivating, a story of a brother's and sister's love for family, and how they react to their new found talent as Storm Makers. The storyline generously builds the bond between Ruby and Simon, and their newly found friends, and they are thrust upon an mysterious path of weather reckoning.
I give The Storm Makers 4 stars for the story and the concepts, and definitely for the development of the characters. It would have been 5 stars if it didn't drag in place...more
I give The Storm Makers 4 stars for the story and the concepts, and definitely for the development of the characters. It would have been 5 stars if it didn't drag in place...more
The first half of the book wasn't exciting enough to keep my attention; I put it down and ended up finishing it a month later. The latter half of the book, though, is mush more entertaining, with two factions of storm makers fighting over whether to ameliorate the severe weather brought about by climate change or to increase the ferocity of extreme weather events in order to punish the people who mistreated the earth and caused the climate change. Humankind's role in causing climate change is ac...more
Ruby and Simon are twins living on a farm in Wisconsin. It is a hot dry summer with a drought scorching the land. one day Ruby sees a stranger coming out of the barn. Simon is having an electrifying effect on appliances as he shorts out the toaster and the car battery. It turns out that the stranger, Otis, is in town to tell Simon that he is a Storm Maker. he is part of a group that helps control the weather. Otis is not the only storm maker in town; Rupert London also wants to get a hold of Sim...more
ORIGINALLY PUBLISHED ON SHELF AWARENESS.
In her middle grade debut, Jennifer E. Smith (The Statistical Probability of Love at First Sight) skillfully pairs magic and science to create a whirlwind adventure, both entertaining and educational.
The drought at the new McDuff family farm in Wisconsin has been brutal this summer, and when 12-year-old Ruby finds a stranger, Otis Gray, in her barn, he lists the symptoms that match her twin brother Simon's fever, which seem to be connected to the shifting...more
In her middle grade debut, Jennifer E. Smith (The Statistical Probability of Love at First Sight) skillfully pairs magic and science to create a whirlwind adventure, both entertaining and educational.
The drought at the new McDuff family farm in Wisconsin has been brutal this summer, and when 12-year-old Ruby finds a stranger, Otis Gray, in her barn, he lists the symptoms that match her twin brother Simon's fever, which seem to be connected to the shifting...more
More like a 3.5, I guess. I loved the concept and the actual writing. The cover and page art is also beautiful. The plot structure, not so much. First and foremost, I figured out the big twist about 100 pages in, and for the next 200 pages had to be frustrated with every single other character for not figuring it out, too. ESPECIALLY Ruby, since she's supposed to be smart and wants to be a storm maker so badly anyway. It seems like she'd have reached for anything that could have re-forged her co...more
At first I thought this was going to be like Savvy, but it wasn't: not everyone has the ability to affect the weather (although I'm not sure that an earthquake is a type of weather, but whatever). Usually it's a skill/talent that emerges when the person is in their 20s, but in this case, Simon is only 12 - the youngest StormMaker ever.
The McDuff family has moved to a farm in Wisconsin, where they will make a living off Dad's invention, Mom's painting and a few crops. At least, that's the plan. B...more
The McDuff family has moved to a farm in Wisconsin, where they will make a living off Dad's invention, Mom's painting and a few crops. At least, that's the plan. B...more
Ruby and Simon are twins, and before they moved to the middle of nowhere, they were close. Now though they have slowly grown apart. That is until some startling news is brought to them. Apparently Simon is a Storm Maker, able to control the weather. Ruby can't even believe that such a thing is possible, but after all the weird things that had been happening it makes a strange sort of sense. There are others like them; other who use their powers to help save lives and others who only want to do h...more
Weather has definitely been on our minds. We just had the anniversary of the April 27, 2011 tornadoes, and we're in the middle of a week of unseasonably hot weather. So it's not surprising that I picked up yet another fiction book about weather. What's surprising is that it is completely different from the last one (Eye of the Storm) yet just as amazing! Great for kids interested in the weather and secret societies. But it's also a must-read for kids who have ever felt out of the loop.
Stated simply, "The Storm Makers" is great children's (middle grade) literature. Beautifully written - not at all a surprise, considering Jennifer Smith's skill with prose - "The Storm Makers" has a plot that goes beyond fun and fluff to tackle bigger questions like the complexity of good versus evil. Children will relate to Ruby and Simon, who are expertly developed characters, and discerning readers will appreciate the novel for both its form and content.
Posted on Seashell Reviews at Mermaid Vision Books!
I have many dear memories of favourite middle-grade novels, like The Giverand Bridge to Terabithia. They served to ignite my imagination and tell me truths adults may have been reluctant to share with an 8- or-9-year-old.The Storm Makersis a novel worthy of joining those much-loved books. The POV and narration were stellar, lively enough to keep young readers' attention but insightful enough to please older readers as well. In fact, there was an...more
I have many dear memories of favourite middle-grade novels, like The Giverand Bridge to Terabithia. They served to ignite my imagination and tell me truths adults may have been reluctant to share with an 8- or-9-year-old.The Storm Makersis a novel worthy of joining those much-loved books. The POV and narration were stellar, lively enough to keep young readers' attention but insightful enough to please older readers as well. In fact, there was an...more
Read it with my niece who loves mysteries. The story is not a mystery, but the mysterious characters were interesting to my niece. She really got involved with the story. We had a great time reading it together. It's not a complicated plot, but was perfect for my young niece. Honestly, I enjoyed it, too, but I like a good story that can reel you in. And this one was pretty good, as far as tween lit goes.
I enjoyed the aspects of sibling rivalry and fantasy in this book. The "big twist" was one I could see coming from the second chapter, but it was still a nice read. Would work well for boys or girls and doesn't necessarily need to be for kids who like fantasy. Nothing inappropriate... a little bit of drama in the big finale, but no bad language or yucky kissy face.
Somewhat uneven. There was about a 100 pages towards the end that I tore right through, because it was so exciting, but it took a while to get there, and the conclusion is a bit disappointing. There are lots of books that do this kind of combination of realistic and a bit of fantasy better.
I love it! Jennifer E. Smith is a wonderful author, with the illustrations, and the awesome plot, I absolutely love it. The best part was when I found out that the twins' age add up the 24, adds up to the normal Storm Makers' age. Very creative!
Ruby becomes concerned when strange things begin happening and how her twin brother Simon suddenly feels “under the weather.” They both then learn that Simon is a Storm Maker and is highly sought by other Storm Makers to work with them. One Storm Maker, Rupert London, is particularly interested in Simon; but not for the best of intentions.
Meh. I put this down before bed one night and never felt like picking it up again. What I read of it was fine, but I didn't feel super compelled to finish it. I think the story was dragging a bit and I didn't really care about the characters. Also, I think there may have been too many other characters behaving too cryptically mysteriously for me to get into this one.
This was a very upbeat book that kept you thinking about what could happen now. This book is good for people who like science or magic(or both). Storm makers gave me a surprize at the end by have to storm makers to make a storm. This was an easy book to read but a good one. I really liked Ruby because she always thought before she did and was thinking logically.
A solid junior grades book that both boys and girls would enjoy reading. Lots of adventure, imagination and throw in a little wild weather to grab a kids interest. A great book to recommend to young readers.
This is an interesting book. The main characters are twins, a boy and a girl. The twins are Storm Makers. I hope that there is a sequel to this book.
Good read for 4th - 6th graders. Fast paced, interesting characters. Tends to drag in the middle.
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Jennifer E. Smith is the author of The Statistical Probability of Love at First Sight, The Storm Makers, You Are Here, and The Comeback Season. She earned her master's degree in creative writing from the University of St. Andrews in Scotland, and currently works as an editor in New York City. Her writing has been translated into 28 languages.
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