Excerpt from The Handbook for Lightning Strike Survivors by Michele Young-Stone, plus links to reviews, author biography & more

Becca pulled the towel from her head and dropped it on the kitchen floor. She went upstairs to her room to paint a picture of a girl getting struck by lightning. She was certain that her father was in the kitchen pointing at the wet towel and waiting for someone to pick it up. Later, when he'd gone, she'd come back downstairs and the towel would still be there. It wasn't his responsibility to clean up after them.


Excerpt from
The Handbook for Lightning Strike Survivors

An estimated 80% of people struck by lightning are men. This is not, as you might think, because men are too stubborn to come in out of the rain; rather, it's because men tend to engage in outdoor sports and professions more than women.

Regardless of a victim's gender, doctors and scientists concur that the surviving victim needs support from family and friends to recover.

Immediate effects include cardiac arrest and brain damage. Chronic effects include anxiety disorders, memory loss, stiff joints, numbness, and insomnia. For years following a strike, the victim might feel tingling throughout his body. Because it's often difficult for a victim to describe what happened, it's important that there is a support group to listen.

Excerpted from The Handbook for Lightning Strike Survivors by Michele Young-Stone. Copyright © 2010 by Michele Young-Stone. Excerpted by permission of Broadway, a division of Random House, Inc. All rights reserved. No part of this excerpt may be reproduced or reprinted without permission in writing from the publisher.