Sergio and the Hurricane

by Alexandra Wallner

Sergio lives in San Juan, Puerto Rico. San Juan is usually sunny and peaceful, but one day the sky grows dark and the ocean gets choppy. A hurricane is coming, and Sergio and his family must prepare for the storm. Sergio is excited at first, but he soon realizes that hurricanes can be dangerous. Through the experiences of one little boy, readers will learn about hurricanes and the damage they can do. And they'll also see how a community can pull together to repair that damage.

With her signature folk-art style and lively text, Alexandra Wallner captures the bright colors and sounds of Puerto Rico and shows young readers what it is really like to live through a hurricane.

Genres: Science

32 pages, Hardcover

First published September 1, 2000

About the author

Alexandra Wallner was born in Germany. Not able to speak English when she immigrated to the United States, she almost flunked first grade. But with the help of comic books--Uncle Scrooge, Donald Duck, Katy Keene, Little Lulu--she learned her new language. Words and pictures together lit the spark for her future career.

After graduating from Pratt Institute’s Fine Art Program with an MFA and enjoying a brief stint in magazine design, she started collaborating with her husband John in creating children’s books.

Not limited to a love for children's books, Alex and John have a passion for renovating and working in old houses. In Woodstock, N. Y. they renovated an 1850’s farmhouse. They restored an 1865 townhouse in Philadelphia and remodeled a 1920's Maine island cottage.

During the long Maine winters, Alex started taking notes for a story about Sylvia and Max Saltwater and their encounters with island folk. The notes evolved into PINOCCHIO ISLAND.

They started thinking about warmer places to live when Alex became weary of slipping on ice. Breaking precedence, they moved to a warm climate into a newly built Florida house. Unfortunately soon after, they experienced three hurricanes in six weeks.

Continuing their gypsy ways, they moved to Merida, Yucatan, Mexico where they restored a mid-nineteenth century casa and added two studios in the back of the garden.

They care for an elderly Jack Russell, a family of cats, a rambunctious iguana, and a sprinkling of geckos.

Alex threw out the moving boxes and swears this is her final home.

Reviews

[Charly Carbray · Rating 4 out of 5]

Sergio and the Hurricane is a realistic fiction story about a boy named Sergio who lives in Puerto Rico. He begins by talking about the beautiful turquoise water that begins to turn gray and choppy; his first indicator that there is a storm on its way. What I really liked about this book was that Sergio is excited, at first, to get to be apart of a hurricane. I remember feeling a similar way while visiting family in Connecticut and a hurricane warning came out. However, I was lucky enough to avoid it all together! Sergio’s family shows a different type of preparation, since they live in a different area, and I think it would be neat for students to reflect on some of the similarities and differences, such as cutting down the coconuts. In the story, it mentions that the wind speeds were approaching 170 mph, so I would have a class discussion about what category of hurricane that means, and what type of damage we can predict. I would also want to talk to the class about the items that we can see on their shopping list while Sergio and his mother are at the grocery store. Everything is canned, or nonperishable, and I would be interested to see if students notice that on their own.

I would have given this a higher rating because of the educational value, however, I wasn't crazy about the drawing style of the illustrations. I do like the cover art though, that displays the gray and choppy waves that Sergio notes right before the storm.

[Antoinette Hollamon · Rating 4 out of 5]

Tells the story of a hurricane about to hit San Juan, Puerto Rico. Sergio is excited at first, since he can’t remember the last one. But as the city prepares and assesses the damage after, Sergio learns a valuable lesson about the dangers of hurricanes.

[Joan · Rating 5 out of 5]

Love the folk art illustration style of Alexandra Wallner. This story should be read by all children located where hurricanes come. It teaches them about why hurricanes are not fun and games. They are quite scary and require loads of work for everyone in order to recover from them.

[Amber · Rating 3 out of 5]

1st- 4th

Every year many families are affected by a Hurricane. What is a Hurricane you ask? Well, Sergio tells a story of how a hurricane affected his family and her neighborhood. Sergio lives in San Juan Puerto Rico. This place is usually a very peaceful place to live. Until one day when a hurricane came a turned their lives upside down.
A lesson on weather and how it affect communities. Here in NY or VT students many not be aware how detrimental a hurricane can be. This would be a great start or a support book for a lesson.