Over summer vacation, Nora drags her cousin Riley onto the Cyclone roller coaster with her and immediately afterwards Riley suffers from a stroke. As Riley lays in a hospital bed in the intensive care unit, Nora is eaten up by guilt. Can either girl fully recover from this traumatic incident?

I have really mixed feelings about this book. On the one hand, it's definitely full of heavy stuff. On the other hand, for kids who are going through a medical trauma of their own (or of a loved one), it could be comforting to read about another's trials. Cronin does make a point of both using medical jargon and explaining it thoroughly. The characters developed are realistically done, even to the point of using swear words. Cronin essentially "bleeps" these out, but I'm still not sure that I'd recommend a work full of f-bombs to young readers.

Also, after developing such a rich world, the book ends somewhat abruptly, in my opinion. There are many questions left open-ended -- for instance, how does the rest of Riley's recovery go? Does she reunite with her father or not? What becomes of the budding friendship between Nora and Jack? etc. While the book is certainly well-written and reads quickly and easily (in terms of pacing, etc. but not in terms of the heavy content), I'd really hesitate to recommend it generally. Specific children in specific situations might get something out of it, but I'm just really not sure about the audience here. ( )

Give this book to someone who likes books filled with realistic drama. In the story, Nora and her cousin are visiting the Coney Island amusement park. Nora convinces Riley to take a ride with her on a heart-stopping roller coaster, the Cyclone. Immediately after the ride, Riley tragically falls to the ground unconscious. Will Riley survive and will Nora be able to stop blaming herself for the incident? Doreen Cronin has added to her collection of picture book and early reader books with this satisfying debut middle-grade novel. ( )