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If Hurricanes Were Flowers
Paperback
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- Length: 160 pages
- Dimensions: 5.5 × 8.5 in
- Published: March 30, 2027
- Imprint: IVP Kids
- ISBN: 9781514015629
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Available at all major retailers!
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Hope Blooms in This Lyrical Novel About the Power of Community
No one wants to feel powerless—especially not Lily, a Filipina and Puerto Rican 11-year-old living in Central Florida.
When Lily witnesses something extraordinary at the start of summer break, she faces a choice: keep her secret buried or trust her loving community with the mystery unfolding in her heart.
Through poetry that spans cultures and continents, Lily learns that grief isn't a weakness to hide but a sacred mystery ready to bloom when nurtured by a safe, loving community (bayanihan) that holds us up when the storms of life try to push us down.
What middle-grade readers will find in If Hurricanes Were Flowers:
- Magical realism woven together with a thread of faith that shows readers how God redeems brokenness and brings hope to those who need it most
- A celebration of diversity, identity, and belonging told through Asian American and Afro Latino characters and experiences
- An interactive experience with "Lily's Little Guide to Poetry," an appendix that turns readers into writers
- Novel-in-verse format that makes reading more accessible through shorter, engaging text
- Fifteen beautiful illustrations that bring Lily's world to life
Children's author and spoken-word artist Quina Aragon's debut novel in verse is a thrilling and bold story that offers readers ages 8–12 hope, healing, and the reminder that no one has to figure out life's hardest parts alone. With If Hurricanes Were Flowers, readers will see that even the fiercest storms can nurture the most beautiful flowers.
CONTENTS
A Note to the Reader
Part 1: If
1. "Where You From?!"
2. Where I'm From
3. My mother's motherland, my father's fatherland
4. Ni de aquí, ni de allá
5. "Don’t give her any trouble"
6. Lola Rosita's
7. Lola's Garden
8. Questions
9. Lola's "Answers"
10. The. . .thing
11. Something's Fishy
12. A Sign?
13. Simple but Not Easy
Part 2: Hurricanes
14. Double Digits (The Best Part)
15. Double Digits (The Worst Part)
16. "In the wink of an eye"
17. When I've seen what I've seen
18. You Know What
19. In the Dark Garden
20. What I'm Gonna Do
21. Pedal and Sweat
22. Ojalá
23. Hurricane Hunters
24. "Remember our talk, OK?"
25. High-Five the Sky
26. The Waiting Game
27. Incorrect Password
28. How to Figure Stuff Out on Your Own
29. Papi's Google
30. Remember the Rest
31. Get to Work
Part 3: Were
32. What Summer Normally Meant
33. Changes
34. Summer, Summer, Summertime!
35. Hurricane Prep
36. I'll Be Ready
37. For the Trash (or) the Plant Pot?
38. Noah Knows EVERYTHING
39. The Face of a Friend
40. Noah Knows Nothing
41. Fix Me
42. The Surprise
43. Me and Mo
44. Favorite Cousin Stuff
45. If I Fail
46. "We're ALL gonna go!"
47. The Boogie Board Queen
48. Regret
49. About as Tall as. . .
50. Lily
51. "Bye, I guess"
52. Mo's Note
Part 4: Flowers
53. Nails
54. An Amador
55. How Mom Met Papi
56. How Papi Met Mom
57. Hurricane Maria
58. I Blackout After Hurricane Maria
59. The School's Counselor Office
60. Church
61. Flags
62. "It's complicated"
63. EVERY CLOUD HAS A SILVER LIGHTNING
64. Brain Storm
65. Super Typhoon
66. I Remember
67. Breathe
68. If Papi were in the room, I'd say
69. If Papi were in the room, he'd say
Part 5: They'd Be
70. Things Papi Used to Call Me
71. Sublime
72.Wish It Were a Sonnet
73. "I need to tell you something"
74. The Bayanihan Painting
75. "Are you ready to hear my story?"
76. 9,000 Miles Away
77. Lola's First Garden
78. "The real question is why?"
79. We Plant Gardens
80. Like Writing Limericks
Part 6: A Little
81. Untitled
82. Rip Current
83. Safe in the Waves
84. Eye (I) of the Hurricane
85. Sinking
86. "Right where you are"
87. To Our Garden
88. "Do you know what flower that is?!"
89. Red Like Love's Bond
90. Hurricane Lillies
91. "What should we name it?"
Part 7: Like . . .
92. If Hurricanes Were Flowers
93. Three Sturdy Palm Trees
94. The Little Things
95. MCO to SJU
96. NOT a LITTLE Surprise
97. Time to Unpack
98. Taking Off
99. Sí de aquí, sí de allá
100. "Here we'll stay"
Appendix 1: Lily's Little Guide to Poetry
Appendix 2: Where to Reach Out
Acknowledgments
BONUS MATERIAL
