When the rain starts coming down, Sebah's world floods quickly and swiftly, taking her family away from her. She survives at first by taking shelter in a tree, though with all the lightning, she knows that can't last. After a raft takes her to a huge ark, Noah's ark, she hides below deck with the animals hoping to survive the rain. Being alone with dangerous animals is one thing, but as tensions rise with Noah's family, Sebah will have to be careful to wait out the flood.

As a huge fan of Donna Jo Napoli's as well as creative retellings, I was ecstatic to find out about STORM. I had never read any retelling of Noah's Ark before, and Napoli's new imagining of it through the eyes of Sebah does not disappoint. The setting is wonderfully described, and it feels like you are right there on the boat with her. It's incredible how realistic everything is and how much attention to detail is in the story. Sebah is an excellent and strong main character, combining the expectations and treatment of women at the time with just enough sass and cleverness in her personality to still make her relatable to today's readers.

Though I love Sebah, the romance with Aban is not my favorite. It feels a bit sudden, and I never fully understood the depth their relationship went. Particularly when she got on the ark and talked about him with such strong feelings, I felt like I missed the point when their relationship strengthened so much. It definitely wasn't an issue that stopped me from enjoying the story immensely, but it did give me pause here and there.

Overall, Donna Jo Napoli has written another brilliant, moving, and incredibly imagined novel in STORM. Even with the romantic issue, I would still absolutely call this a new favorite. STORM is a perfect read for anyone looking for a new and different retelling.

Book Summary

A sixteen-year-old stowaway discovers her destiny on Noah’s ark in this riveting reimagining from award-winning author Donna Jo Napoli, available in time for the March 2014 major motion picture Noah.

The rain starts suddenly, hard and fast. After days of downpour, her family lost, Sebah takes shelter in a tree, eating pine cones and the raw meat of animals that float by. With each passing day, her companion, a boy named Aban, grows weaker. When their tree is struck by lightning, Sebah is tempted just to die in the flames rather than succumb to a slow, watery death. Instead, she and Aban build a raft. What they find on the stormy seas is beyond imagining: a gigantic ark. But Sebah does not know what she’ll find on board, and Aban is too weak to leave their raft.

Themes of family, loss, and ultimately, survival and love make for a timeless story. Donna Jo Napoli has imagined a new protagonist to tell the story of Noah and his ark. As rain batters the earth, Noah, his family, and hordes of animals wait out the storm, ready to carry out their duty of repopulating the earth. Hidden below deck…is Sebah.