I had been meaning to read Jett Jamison and the Secret Storm ever since it was published last year, but I never got the chance until now. I knew it was a middle grade title about a girl who was dealing with the aftermath of sexual assault, so that part wasn’t a surprise. For these reasons, I hate to give the book such a low rating/negative review, but I had a few issues.

According to the synopsis, Jett can’t get any peace and quiet with her twin brothers around, but she barely even interacts with them (or their parents) throughout the book. The family member Jett was closest to was Mimi, her grandmother, who gifted her a set of matryoshka dolls before she passed. Jett “talks” to Mimi using the dolls when she wants to feel her presence.

Jett ends up finding an unlikely friend in Sister Gia, a local nun with some unconventional beliefs and ideas. Sister Gia is an herbalist and a great believer in the healing powers of nature. Jett finds she is able to talk to her about things she can’t tell her friends or family, and Sister Gia recommends a book to help make sense of her thoughts. Jett finds the book, “Resurrecting the Dragon,” in her local library, but the copy is badly damaged, with some pages blacked out or missing. Then, the book disappears altogether.

Jett learns the book is widely controversial in her small town, but Sister Gia can’t (or won’t) explain the details to her. All Jett knows is that the protagonist communes with nature, which offends some of the more religious townspeople. But there’s obviously something else in the book that people don’t want kids to see, and Jett makes it her mission to figure out what.


I don’t want to delve into any spoilers, but something about the banned book plotline didn’t sit right with me. Censorship is a hot topic in middle grade fiction lately, though most of the books I’ve come across take place in a school. I couldn’t quite suspend my disbelief far enough here- This book is so controversial that it’s impossible to find an undamaged copy in the entire town? And this one girl is the only person to challenge the ban? Sure.

In one scene, a local man goes on a ridiculous tirade against Sister Gia and accuses her of witchcraft because of her work as an herbalist. I’m sorry, is this Salem in 1692? Whatever the author intended this scene to be, it didn’t serve the story at all.

I wish I could say more positive things about Sister Gia herself- She’s a kind person who means well, though it bothered me that she recommended the book to Jett knowing she wouldn’t be able to actually read it. How is that supposed to help her? None of the adults in this story seemed particularly honest or like they really had Jett’s best interests in mind.