‘The Storm’ takes teen readers on a wild, wet ride

Science is an interesting thing.

It can tell you why the sky is blue and your cat isn't; why you kinda resemble your great-grandpa, if you squint; and when's the best time to go moon watching. Fascinating stuff, right? But what if, as in the new novel "The Storm" by Virginia Bergin, you were the science experiment?

The rain had killed everybody that Ruby Morris knew.

Or did it? She couldn't be sure if the mutant germs inside the water had only taken her friends, her mother, step-father and baby-brat brother, or if it had killed her father, too. After all, the rain was deadly, but not completely: A few people, including that nerd, Darius Spratt, were smart enough not to get wet.

But Darius was gone now, as was the food and water Ruby had left — and her hair, which she'd shaved off because she couldn't wash it anyhow. Her baldness enhanced the bruises and broken nose she'd gotten from a car wreck that happened while she was looking for … well, for anything. Home, mostly.

But on her way there, she found something unexpected: her old frenemy, Saskia, who'd stolen almost every boy Ruby ever liked. Ruby wasn't exactly happy to see Sask.

Except that Saskia accidentally got her foot wet, someone hacked it off to save her life, and Ruby couldn't just let her bleed to death so she took Sask to the army camp, though Ruby sensed that doing so was dangerous. She'd been there before, had seen the fence and the guards with guns, and she knew it wasn't a good place. But they had medicine, so it was a good place for Sask.

And there at the army camp — there was Darius Spratt! He was alive, had found a job "crunching numbers" for the army, and he assured Ruby that she'd be OK — but once again, the nerd didn't know what he was talking about.

Nobody was safe in the army camp — especially Ruby, and especially after the army learned something surprising about her. She had to escape, but secrets would definitely go with her.

The army wasn't about to let that happen…

So did you read last years' "H2O" by Bergin? If not, stop right here and read it first. If you don't, very little in "The Storm" will make sense.

If you're ready for this sequel, though, here's what to expect: a screaming ride filled with loops and turns that make your stomach do flip-flops and your heart pound. You can look forward to turning pages so fast they practically rip as Ruby learns her strengths — in more ways than one. You can expect to be practically tied to this book and when it's over, you can expect to want more.

But will you get more? Hard to say, but there is a nice tease at the end of this book, one that'll keep teen-and-up readers hanging from a pretty high cliff. And if that's what you like in a book, then reading "The Storm" isn't rocket science.

View publishes Terri Schlichenmeyer's reviews of books for teens and children weekly.