Ele Fountain, already well-known for her engaging narrative style and meaningful stories, delivers a novel with *Storm Child* that tackles environmental and social issues through the eyes of a young protagonist facing profound changes.

One of the novel’s strengths is the characterization of Maya. She is not just a girl undergoing a drastic transformation but a complex protagonist who grows throughout the story. Her voice is authentic, and her emotions are palpable: from initial anger to acceptance, from a sense of loss to a determined resolve to make a difference.
The relationship with secondary characters, particularly Kalani, is crafted with great sensitivity. Initially wary, Kalani represents Maya’s connection to the new reality she is thrust into. Their friendship is not immediate but develops through moments of struggle and misunderstanding, mirroring the challenges of adapting to a new environment and understanding different cultures.

The novel stands out for its approach to climate change and humanity’s impact on nature. Climate change is not merely a backdrop but an active element of the story. The storm that changes Maya’s life is just one of many consequences of a fragile balance that is constantly under threat.
Fountain does not simply discuss environmental issues; she intertwines them with themes of identity and personal responsibility. As the novel progresses, Maya realizes that her choices—just like those of the adults around her—have consequences, and that remaining a passive observer is not an option.

Ele Fountain’s prose is direct and immersive, with evocative descriptions that transport the reader into Maya’s world. The maritime setting, tropical islands, and the contrast between natural beauty and human destruction are rendered in a vivid and captivating style.
The pacing is well-balanced: there are moments of tension and action, but also more intimate reflections that allow the reader to connect with the protagonist. The first-person narration strengthens this bond, making the reader experience Maya’s emotions and discoveries firsthand.

*Storm Child* is a powerful and timely novel, capable of engaging both young readers and adults with a story that intertwines adventure, personal growth, and important reflections on our relationship with nature. Ele Fountain once again proves her ability to tackle complex themes in an accessible and compelling way.
If you are looking for a story about resilience, change, and environmental awareness that never feels preachy, *Storm Child* is a book worth reading.

It's a great and thought-provoking book targeted to early teens but I think other age groups can really enjoy it as well. The story was emotional and very interesting. I think it was such an interesting take on the issue of tourism in some places too, capitalism and sustainability, which I wish authors mentioned more often. The characters were written super well and the descriptions were fantastic.

Another cracking read by Ele Fountain. Storm Child sees Maya battle the all too familiar heart vs head conflict. When she finds herself in the middle of change, what direction should she take for the best? I loved the character as she felt so realistic and familiar. I also enjoyed the subtle yet highly relevant inclusion of environmental concerns which are such a trade mark of Ele's writing.
Highly recommended.

This book touches on so many tween/tesn relevant topics. From financial difficulty to friendships, and relocating. To top it off it’s such an enjoyable and gripping read. My verdict is still out on the father in this book though!

This was a relatively short novel coming in at 205 pages, it was also my first time reading this author.

An interesting story that had a lot of potential. It deals with serious subject matter in terms of financial problems within the home and a rash decision to relocate. For Maya, it’s a big change being separated from her friends, surfing and the only place she called home.

I am going to go against the general flow in my feelings for this book. Aside from the fact that I struggled with the formatting of my digital arc, but I don’t feel that I can blame that for how disjointed I felt the story was at times. I hope the final copy corrects the run-on of conversations in the same paragraph that left me confused as to who was talking.

However, within the story I was left wondering where it actually took place. I don't think I've every encountered a story, that wasn't fantasy and not know the location. It felt weird and actually took away from the story. Someone mentioned a jumper versus a jacket once, so I can assume it’s either Australia or England. Then the move 1000's of miles away to paradise, again location, location, location. It would’ve been nice to know where paradise was especially when there is talk of the sea, the waves and global changes.

The story itself was missing something more. Lots going on in terms of the move, loneliness, financial hardship, starting over, learning the lay of this new island (paradise), new jobs, lack of jobs, being secluded and more. All in 205 pages.

On the plus side, it does open up for discussion our responsibility to clean up after ourselves.

My thanks to Pushkin Children's Books for a digital arc in exchange for a honest review.

Maya lives in a stately home on the coast with her mom and dad. The home has been passed down generations and Maya can’t imagine living anywhere else. When her dad's fishing boat sinks in a storm, her world is tipped upside down. Her parents decide they need to move to a pacific island 12 hours away from all of Maya’s friends. Is grass greener there, or the waves better for surfing?
The cover is beautiful!
Thank you NetGalley and Pushkin Press for an ARC. #StormChild #NetGalley.

In contrast to the other Ele Fountain books I've read from her backlist, this feels too loose – it's really hard to work out where it's going. Oddly, too, it features a big move from one country to another – we're told one hemisphere to the other – and yet we still don't know where the characters making that move are from, or where they're going either. Is there enough drama or intrigue on these pages to cover over the large lack of focus?

We are focused at least on Maya, a young surfer chick in what seems like Australia. Paradise, but for the reality – the cold wintry seas are far too icy and stormy, and while her family owns a whole headland with large house atop it the money is barely there – dad's fishing boat brings nothing back, and mum's baking doesn't earn much bread, either. Maya in fact hears rumours of a selling-up and moving away, but after a major incident – more like a near-tragedy – the moving away certainly happens. You're left to google a couple of terms when you finally get them to work out where to.

And then… the book continues in its furrow, but as a character piece, partly showing Maya trying to befriend one of the local teenagers. Don't get me wrong, the usual strong writing ability of Ms Fountain is definitely here again – and her typical short chapters keep the pages blasting past – but the whole might have been here for a more definite point. There are things here and glimpses there that add to this being an issue book – the issues being <spoiler>ghost nets, the oceanic environment and coastal development, of all snazzy things</spoiler>, and the whole story has some ulterior motive, along the lines of <spoiler> the benefits or otherwise of the bohemian, beach-based, job-hopping life</spoiler>, but is that last actually a concern for the current tweenaged reader? Just as the parents seem to drift, losing touch with a permanent grounding, so has the narrative – and not even high drama when it comes makes you feel this is on an even keel. A brave misfire, I feel – two and a half stars being somewhat below the author's standard.

Thank you to the publisher and NetGalley for the e-ARC of this book.

I've enjoyed Ele Fountain's previous books and was looking forward to this one. I think kids will really enjoy the story, but those looking for the same action packed adventure as MELT, aren't going to find it in this one.

Storm Child is an easy read and a compelling story that deals with themes of friendship, dislocation, and the challenges of decision making and dealing with parental shortcomings.

Maya has a close group of friends and lives for surfing, so she is not keen when her parents propose a move to a tropical paradise for a new start. There, she has difficulty making friends, and in continuing her existing friendships long distance.

Eventually, she gets to know Kalani, a girl of a similar age in her new location. But their friendship is a bumpy ride - not least because Kalani is dealing with her own challenges.

Maya is a likeable and immensely relatable protagonist and this book will definitely appeal to the target age group. I really enjoyed reading it!

Children’s family adventure story. Maya’s family are pressed financially. So they set off to a tropical island where prospects seem better. Maya’s first love is surfboarding and the sea. As Maya tries to settle in her new home she finds new friends and danger because the sea is not forgiving. Neither is Maya really at having pulled from the life and friends she knew. But given time and perspective, families can sometimes work out what matters the most. Thank you to Pushkin Press and NetGalley for the ARC. The views expressed are all mine, freely given.

I.have no idea why we have
not read this talented authors books before now. We have enjoyed this book S0 much that we have already bought her other books to add to our bookshelf.They all important topics for the children to read about . such well written books.

Been a fan of the author for quite a while already. There is something just irresistible in her writing -- something gripping, relatable and beautiful without being poetic as in using a lot of flowery literary vocabulary. There is a briskness in her writing that is refreshing like a summer breeze.

This story takes a bit of time to build up but it has a message about over-tourism that is a relevant to the current generation. It is also a topic that I would love to discuss with my students. I will definitely use this in my classes in the future.

One of the reasons I was interested in this book was the blurb. A thought-provoking novel about globalization? And on top of that, it’s a children’s book. What narrative is the author trying to convey, I wondered?

For Maya, living in Penrose is her whole life. She has supportive friends and the freedom to pursue her passion for surfing. Everything seems perfect until an incident involving her father’s boat turns her life upside down. With the mounting costs of living in Penrose, Maya’s parents decide to move across the world to a tropical country.

Maya struggles to understand her parents' decision. Although she’s pessimistic about the move, she convinces herself that they’re doing what’s best for her. Still, adjusting to a new life without her friends, while her parents are busy, leaves Maya feeling lonely and homesick.

The book is quite fast-paced, so it doesn’t take long to finish. Being a children’s or middle-grade novel, Ele Fountain delivers the story in a straightforward style, avoiding overly detailed descriptions that might bog down young readers.

What surprised me was Maya’s growth throughout the story. She starts as a hot-headed, overly critical, and somewhat insensitive girl, but by the end, she learns to voice her opinions and empathize with others’ struggles.

I also appreciated how the author subtly addressed developmentalist issues. It’s refreshing to see Maya realize that not every improvement—like the resort development in the story—has the same positive impact on everyone’s lives.

However, I felt the backstory of Kalani and Maya’s relationship with her Penrose friends could have been explored further. It makes me wonder if there are more stories to tell about them.

This book provides a safe space for those grieving the loss of a dream, and floundering around in the aftermath of their loss ✨

after a family accident, Mayas family is forced to make difficult financial decisions that lead to their moving thousands of miles away. She struggles with the loss of her friendships over the distance, and the instability their sudden move has on their family. As she is forced to reckon with her new situation, she is thrust into a new friendship that helps her, and her family, realize that bad luck and bad choices aren’t the same, and they have the choice of persevering even when things go wrong.

Why I rated it a four
✅dialogue was hard to follow between characters, I was confused multiple times
✅I never learned Mayas age, this seems important
✅ Maya herself was not a very compelling main character.
✅the locations of Penrose and Paradise were vague, I would have preferred a location to associate and create mental images of!
✅ I wanted more from her relationship with Tom, are they interested in each other? If he is so kind and close to her why did she never call him once when her family was gone, even though his gift to her was a major reason her family returned home?

Positive Elements:

✅ Maya is perceptive of the small changes she sees in her parents, their unease and the consequences of fheir rash decision making
✅ I liked Kalani as a character, that she is more reserved and hard to get to know but a truly deep and loyal heart
✅ I loved the beach growing up and still do, Maya and Kalani both have a connection to the sea and cherish its details beautifully.
✅ A larger theme of protecting your homeland, especially the effects of tourism on local ecology, and how it is driving our indigenous peoples.
✅ compelling storyline of how grief makes us make poor decisions sometimes as we are floundering around in the aftermath.

A move to an island paradise on the other side of the world promises a new start, and a more prosperous life, for Maya and her parents after an accident ends her father's fishing business. But separated from her surfing friends and her beloved beach back home, and with her parents working even longer hours to make ends meet, Maya struggles to see the positives to this new lifestyle until she strikes up a tentative friendship with Kalani, a local girl. Despite some initial distrust, the girls soon realise that they have more in common than they think, especially when disaster threatens to strike a second time.

This is a tenderly written middle-grade story about friendship, family, and coping with change that also sensitively introduces larger environmental issues such as globalisation and sustainability. Highly recommended.

This did everything that it was supposed to in the children’s fiction novel, it does a great job in telling children about the globalization and was engaged with how well it told that story. Ele Fountain wrote this well and had that element that I was looking for and enjoyed getting to know the characters.

Storm Child is a medium paced middle grade novel that explores timely themes like climate change, This is the first Ele Fountain novel and I will definitely check out her other titles and recommend her to my middle grade students. The story was very relatable as well as engaging and suspenseful in places. She represents the thoughts and concerns of this age group very well.
I would recommend this book to 10-14 year olds and it would make a great addition to public, school and personal libraries a like.

Thank you Net Galley, Ele Fountain and Pushkin Press for the opportunity to preview Storm Child. The opinions shared are my own.

Storm Child is expected to be released Feb. 11, 2025.

Ele Fountain is one of the top authors for the 10-14 year old reading group - her stories are always original and gripping - tapping into events that affects many and highlighting very pertinent issues.

Maya and her parents live by the sea - Maya has a close group of friends and loves to surf. But following a storm and her father losing his precious boat , the family are forced to consider where they live especially as a developer wants their land for a sea side resort

The family decide to move to another part of the world with the dream that life will be better ...but will it?

Maya struggles to make friends and her parents work tirelessly to make ends meet; eventually she befriends a local girl- Kalani . Kalani views Maya with some scepticism - is she yet another tourist moving to her island forcing locals to lose their identity? Together the two girls confront danger and ultimately recognise they have similar concerns that impact upon them..

The message in this novel is more subtle than previous books- yes, it is about family and surviving in difficult times but this new book looks at a changing world where tourism is eroding the traditions and lives of local people all for the gratification of visitors and those with money.

A great read that will further open awareness awareness of global changes to its audience- a good upper key stage 2 class read for discussion too

loved kalani and maya soo much....tough as it is to get accustomed to a new place...maya did just that....i was sad and anxious for maya's dad before the move but then maya had adventures that boggled my mind and made that less trivial in a way ...5 stars!!