An Analysis Of Eric Walters's Safe As Houses

The novel Safe As Houses by Eric Walters is overall a suspenseful, extremely eventful and crazy retelling of true events occurring during a traumatic hurricane in 1954. The book tells the story of how 13-year-old Lizzie Hardy, and her neighbours David and Suzie McBride were faced with severe aftermath of Hurricane Hazel, and how they worked together to get to safety. As the storm gets worse the children must think quickly and wisely. Soon the phones go dead, the power goes out, and they lose all contact with the outside world. Before the children know it, freezing water is flooding their house, and their neighbourhood is being destroyed right before their eyes. Although Safe As Houses features young children, the novel is intended for young …show more content…
He especially displays this though the character Lizzie Hardy. While she is left in charge of her neighbours she tries to keep her cool but like any other person, she’s getting more and more worried as the storm gets worse. When she finds out she will be staying the night at her neighbours, the reader sees she is worried when in her thoughts she says, “I put the phone down and took a deep breath, trying to chase away the butterflies. I didn't want to sleep here tonight. I didn't even want to be here right now” (Walters 39). Lizzie’s character specifically shows the emotions while in this situation, and easily lets the reader to know how the storm was beginning. In addition to Lizzie’s character, Walters also informs the reader by giving an in depth description of what the storm was actually like. Near the end of the novel when Lizzie gets a better view of the storm she describes it by saying, “Mostly what I saw was water—foaming, bubbling, raging water everywhere. In the water there were so many things being slammed around. Pieces of wood, furniture, and from what I could see, a dead cow. We were in the very middle of the angry river, and I couldn't even see the banks of either side” (Walters 111). This description only scratches the surface of what the storm was actually like, but it gives the reader a very good idea of what was happening. Eric Walters is a very …show more content…
The first text that this novel can connect to is the book Rain Tonight by Steve Pitt. The novel is based on the main character; Penny Doucette and her experience with Hurricane Hazel. Plus, it just so happens that Penny Doucette is the girl Eric Walter’s dedicated Safe As Houses to. Penny, and her parents, along with their elderly neighbour end up clinging to the roof of their house as they watched the house next door float away on the swollen Humber River during the aftermath of Hurricane Hazel. Similar to Penny, the children in Safe As Houses also watch houses being stolen by the raging storm. Near the end of the novel Lizzie narrates, “The Van Dyke house began to turn again. The house gained speed…And then despite the roar of the river, just before the house disappeared around the bend in the river, I thought I heard a scream”(Walters 129-130).This quote shows that the characters from both books had the same type of experience, because both texts were written about the same event. The second text that the novel Safe As Houses connects to is the movie “Home Alone”. Both texts don't share the same genre, but they do share the same idea. The whole plot of “Home Alone” is that the protagonist, 8-year-old Kevin Mcallister is left home alone to protect himself. Although he is faced with different situations than the children in Safe As Houses, the texts still share