The Handbook for Lightning Strike Survivors: Summary and book reviews of The Handbook for Lightning Strike Survivors by Michele Young-Stone, plus links to an excerpt from The Handbook for Lightning Strike Survivors and a biography of Michele Young-Stone.

When lightning strikes, lives are changed. BECCA On a sunny day in Chapel Hill, North Carolina, eight-year-old Becca Burke was struck by lightning. No one believed her—not her philandering father or her drunk, love-sick mother—not even when her watch kept losing time and a spooky halo of light appeared overhead in photographs. Becca was struck again when she was sixteen. She survived, but over time she would learn that outsmarting lightning was the least of her concerns. BUCKLEY   In rural Arkansas, Buckley R. Pitank’s world seemed plagued by disaster. Ashamed but protective of his obese mother, fearful of his scathing grandmother, and always running from bullies (including his pseudo-evangelical stepfather), he needed a miracle to set him free. At thirteen years old, Buckley witnessed a lightning strike that would change everything.   Now an art student in New York City, Becca Burke is a gifted but tortured painter who strives to recapture the intensity of her lightning-strike memories on canvas. On the night of her first gallery opening, a stranger appears and is captivated by her art. Who is this odd young man with whom she shares a mysterious connection? When Buckley and Becca finally meet, neither is prepared for the charge of emotions—or for the perilous event that will bring them even closer to one another, and to the families they’ve been running from for as long as they can remember. Crackling with atmosphere and eccentric characters, The Handbook for Lightning Strike Survivors explores the magic of nature and the power of redemption in a novel as beautiful and unpredictable as lightning itself.

Media Reviews

Publishers Weekly Young-Stone tells parallel stories that hurdle storm after storm headlong into one another. ... [She] is a very fine writer who has created a host of endearing losers... What she does best is portray the incredulousness of the unlucky.   Library Journal Starred Review. It's not often that this reviewer regrets a book's ending, but that's what happened here. The sense of melancholy, tempered by the resilience and heart of the characters, makes this ripe for Oprah or fans of Elizabeth Berg or Anne Tyler.   Booklist Starred Review. Young-Stone's luminescent debut ... will live on in readers’ minds long after they reach the end of this powerful, beautiful novel.

Recent Reader Reviews

Rated of 5 by Jodie A. (Corpus Christi, TX)
The Handbook for Lightning Strike Survivors
I really enjoyed reading this book. The characters were unique and interesting. The storyline held my attention. I also liked the way the author mixed in the facts about lightning. The only criticism I have is that every once in a while I got...   Read More

Rated of 5 by Cindy A.
Surviving the Ravages of Life
Young-Stone uses spare prose to tell the stories of her characters, which seems appropriate for telling the lives of Becca and Buckley, who do not have much magnanimity in their lives. Unfortunately, I did not find them very likable in spite of my...   Read More

Rated of 5 by WDH (New Port Richey, FL)
Easy to Read
There were a lot of coincidences between the characters, places and times in this story that were almost too coincidental for belief. I chose to go with the flow of the story and not over-think the coincidences and ended up really liking the book....   Read More

Rated of 5 by Maria P. (Washington, DC)
Lightning Life
Somehow it seems that this book was a lightning strike survivor. The characters live, die and survive only to face the wildness of nature, human and non. Compassion is not often seen, yet seems to arrive in the heart of strangers. There is a...   Read More

Rated of 5 by Patricia S. (Yankton, SD)
stuck by lightning
From the last lightning strike to the electrifying climax, Michele Young-Stone’s debut novel The Handbook for Lightning Strike Survivors captures the reader and refuses to release its hold. Young-Stone deftly weaves two parallel stories,...   Read More

Rated of 5 by Daniel A. (Naugatuck, CT)
The Handbook for Lightning Strike Survivors
For the record, I am not a lightning strike survivor, but I still enjoyed reading the book; it was simply amazing. I learned many facts about lightning that I never knew before. I thought the "Where are they now?" segment was a nice touch....   Read More

...16 More Reader Reviews

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