CATASTROPHE THEORY

A storm reveals buried secrets and budding romance against a surrealist backdrop.

Vera, once a talented high school soccer star, has lost her vision—and with it, her ability to play—due to a tumor in her pituitary gland. Doctors are hopeful that brain surgery will restore her sight, and Vera and her doting mother, Eliza, must travel from their Tennessee home to Florida for the procedure. It soon becomes apparent that Eliza, an admirer of Salvador Dalí, may have had ulterior motives when selecting a hospital so near the Dalí Museum in St. Petersburg. On the eve of Vera’s 18th birthday, a serious hurricane forces her and others, some strangers and some with deep connections, to take shelter in the museum, which has been built to withstand extreme elements. While they ride out the storm, growth, betrayal, and new relationships—both romantic and familial—reach a fever pitch. A love letter to Salvador Dalí, the story acts as a vehicle to convey his philosophy and detail the finer points of the museum’s building and grounds in addition to introducing a lengthy list of his works. The uneven character development unfortunately leaves some motivations murky. Departing from typical young adult novel norms, most of the alternating viewpoint chapters are written from the adults’ perspectives; Vera is the only significant teen character. Main characters are assumed White.

Like a Dalí painting, rich details permeate this unusual story.