Cyclone By Eden Cronin Analysis

In the remarkable novel, “Cyclone,” by Doreen Cronin, twelve-year-old Nora has been counting down the days to ride the one and only Cyclone roller coaster at Coney Island. Not only does the ride, Cyclone, have its swirls and steep falls, but it is incredibly old, making it all the scarier for Nora. She decides that she doesn’t want to face it alone and tries to persuade her favorite cousin, Riley, to join her. Riley refuses, so Nora feels as though she has no choice, but to blackmail her by threatening to tell her mother one of her deepest secrets. Despite Riley’s fear of heights and really, really big fear of roller coasters, she agrees and accompanies Nora on the ride, not knowing that from that moment on her life will be forever changed.
Once they got off, the both of them felt as though they accomplished life, but before celebrating, Riley had a stroke on the spot. Nora couldn’t feel worse. She not only blackmailed her, but feels like she was the cause of her stroke. If they never would have gone on the ride, then it never would have happened. Just as she thought she accomplished life, it was shredded apart and now both her and Riley’s world felt like it was coming to an end. Nora comes to find out that Riley is unable to speak, paralyzed, and can’t exactly remember what happened. Because Riley can’t share that her life is ruined, since Nora blackmailed her and forced her into doing something she really didn’t want to do, Nora is not sure whether to feel relieved of Riley’s condition or to feel terrible because now her cousin, best cousin in the world, is in the hospital and won’t ever be the same again. This story is mainly about how Nora comes to terms with what she did. She goes back and forth between how she feels about the situation as she watches Riley uncomfortably lay in the bed of a hospital. As Riley’s stay extends, she expresses her feelings of both sorrow and guilt. The author emphasizes the meaning of support, family, and bonds throughout the story by using Nora’s situation. Since the characters, especially Nora and Riley, have their own personality, background, and secrets, it makes the story that much better.