Escaping Tornado Season

The metaphor of surviving a tornado describes 13-year old Allie's life as she deals with the deaths of her father and twin brother, adjusts to a move from Nebraska (in tornado alley) to a small town in northern Minnesota, tries to reach out and understand her emotionally distant (possibly depressed) mother, and refuses to go along with local prejudice against the Ojibwe who life nearby. There are many many issues for the characters in this story, told in poetry form, and written by Julie Williams (her first novel), who spent part of her youth in Minnesota.