The Book of Storms by Ruth Hatfield

I'd heard good things about this book. Book trade magazines had hailed it as one to watch out for, and another journalist said it was the best book she'd read this year. Hmm, I'm not so sure myself. From the first few lines I knew I probably wasn't going to 'get' this book. 'The house is falling, and Danny is falling, knees and elbows crumpling onto the floor' but then 'Danny curls his fingers tightly round the duvet, wanting to pull it over his head'. Hang on a minute, wasn't he just on the floor? Perhaps I'm being a bit picky right at the beginning, but the whole style of writing just jarred a little with me. The story is a bit 'over' imaginative, if I can possibly say that, as it's great to use our imagination in storytelling, but here we're expected to accept the weirdest things. It's like the strangest dream just written out in a book.

Danny's parents are obsessed with storms. Whenever one is approaching, they are out on the top of hills studying them. One night, there's a rather vicious storm, they go out to investigate, and never return. Danny is left alone. He soon discovers that by holding a stick broken off from a tree struck by lightning, he is able to speak with animals, birds, plants and rivers. With their help, he tries to track down the Book of Storms, which he hopes will tell him where his parents are, if indeed they are still alive. However, Sammael, a creature from another world, is the one that called the storm to make them disappear, and he wants what Danny has - the stick, and also wants to stop him from getting the Book of Storms.

I found it rather hard to read and understand, I felt nothing for any of the characters. One of the characters, a cat, just seems to disappear and be forgotten for a lot of the story. Was I supposed to read a bit deeper into the meaning? Does Sammael stand for something that I'm completely missing? I'm afraid I'll find it hard to recommend this one.