Four Months Past Florence

by Emily Paige Wilson

Overview

Emily Paige Wilson’s inspiring YA novel in verse is at times gripping and dripping with teenage angst, but always heartwarming and inspiring. Told in captivating lyrical verse, Four Months Past Florence follows an aspiring high school journalist's journey through friendship breakups, a moral dilemma that threatens her family, and the realization that life, like the weather, doesn’t always unfold as predicted.
Four Months Past Florence is the story of Millie Willard, a high school junior from a small, coastal town in South Carolina with dreams of becoming a hard-hitting journalist, despite feeling sidelined in her current position as the weatherwoman for her school’s newspaper, The Bloom. Little does she know, Hurricane Florence is brewing off the coast with plans to change everything. Four Months Past Florence is a thunderous page turner that will leave you believing that, just maybe, the kids are all right.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781524887728
Publisher:	Andrews McMeel Publishing
Publication date:	05/30/2023
Sold by:	Barnes & Noble
Format:	eBook
Pages:	384
File size:	7 MB
Age Range:	14 - 17 Years

About the Author

Emily Paige Wilson is the author of the full-length collection Jalubí (Unsolicited Press, 2022) and two chapbooks: Hypochondria, Least Powerful of the Greek Gods (Glass Poetry Press, 2020) and I’ll Build Us a Home (Finishing Line Press, 2018). Her work has been nominated for Best New Poets, Best of the Net, and the Pushcart Prize. She currently works in higher education fundraising and lives in Asheville, NC, with her husband, the poet and artist Eli Sahm.

Editorial Reviews

The free verse makes the hurricane’s impact feel visceral, and Millie’s motivations and determination come across as authentic… An interesting examination of journalistic integrity…”
  (Kirkus Reviews)

“This earnest novel raises timely questions about the intersection between journalism and activism and may lead readers to consider the ways they can effect change in their communities … Primarily recommended for libraries seeking to expand their YA verse novel ­collections.”
  (School Library Journal)

From the Publisher

2023-03-14
An aspiring reporter reveals a scandal after a hurricane hits her community.

High school junior Millie Willard desperately wants to be the next editor of her school’s paper, The Bloom, and takes every opportunity to show she’s worthy of being chosen. When Hurricane Florence comes through her small town of Magnolia, South Carolina, an opportunity arises. Millie overhears a conversation between her mother and her cousin, who’s deputy sheriff, during which he reveals the cause of the fire in the local library that was serving as a temporary shelter for people and their pets: It broke out accidentally after a librarian plugged in an electric kettle and went outside for a cigarette break. Millie seizes her chance, not considering the impact on the subject of her exposé. Her story in The Bloom goes viral and is picked up by Felicia Fitz, local news anchor and Millie’s hero. Soon the librarian starts getting threats, she’s derided on social media, and her property is vandalized. The free verse makes the hurricane’s impact feel visceral, and Millie’s motivations and determination come across as authentic. Millie feels the strain of the fallout of publishing the story, but her internal ethics don’t kick in immediately: She’s ultimately able to rectify the situation but experiences few consequences and is forgiven in a way that doesn’t feel wholly earned. Main characters are cued White.

An interesting examination of journalistic integrity that doesn’t hit all its beats. (Verse fiction. 13-18)

Kirkus Reviews