First published 2025
Nadine follows three simple rules in her new town: keep quiet, stay invisible, avoid trouble. Her mom is in rehab and soon they'll return to their chaotic life in Chicago. She plans to survive the school year without complications, especially avoiding Francis Pepper, the boy everyone torments. But a class project forces them together to research Centralia, Illinois. Francis was born on the day a massive tornado destroyed the area and killed his mother. The locals call it the Great Tornado of the New Millennium. When Nadine discovers a strange book with instructions for controlling weather, she and Francis uncover disturbing secrets about the disaster. Someone deliberately summoned that tornado to target Francis's family. Now they must figure out who wanted to destroy his life and why. As Nadine breaks her own rules to help Francis, she learns that opening herself to others might be worth the risk.
Genres: romance, mystery, contemporary, young-adult
Vibes: intimate, suspenseful, thought-provoking
Tropes: enemies-to-lovers, found-family
Setting: Centralia, Illinois, Chicago
Period: New Millennium
272 pages · Hardcover · Quill Tree Books
Content warnings: anxiety, depression, mental-illness