Review by New York Times Review
ten years have passed since Americans were glued to their televisions, watching the catastrophic results of Hurricane Katrina. Yet much of the drama happened after the storm pummeled New Orleans. For readers too young to remember, three new books revisit those troubled days and offer a clear view of that notorious storm's impact. Explaining the complicated series of events that took place during the hurricane and in its aftermath is no easy feat, but Don Brown's graphic nonfiction account, "Drowned City: Hurricane Katrina and New Orleans," accomplishes the task with strong results. Gritty watercolor illustrations in somber colors project the cloud of despair hanging over the Crescent City, and brief bits of dialogue in speech bubbles support the facts that Brown lays out in a brisk, straightforward tone. One harrowing scene shows a couple escaping to their home's attic. When the rising water catches up with them, they scratch a hole through the roof with a knife. We see others who weren't so fortunate. Brown doesn't hold back in showing how the government failed in its responsibilities. Although he credits the Coast Guard and local heroes with rescuing thousands, much of his book addresses the sloppy handling of the evacuation by people in charge at all levels. In an early illustration, a railroad employee says: "We offered ... to take evacuees out of harm's way. The city declined." Below that is a short but profound sentence: "Five trains leave New Orleans empty." This book could almost make its point on the powerful illustrations alone, but Brown's precise language secures the historical details in an unforgettable way. Brown is the author and illustrator of two other nonfiction graphic historical accounts, the much praised "The Great American Dust Bowl" and "America Is Under Attack," about Sept. 11, 2001. Like those earlier books about national catastrophes, "Drowned City" delivers a brave treatment of important and uncomfortable details. Don't look for a happy ending here. Brown hints at the recovery that eventually got underway, but the book's deeper intent is clearly understood: to show that the damage wrought by Hurricane Katrina's arrival in New Orleans went beyond the destruction caused by high winds, rains and flooding. HURRICANE KATRINA DID, of course, have an after-story. Two new novels take young readers on emotional journeys that convey what it's like to lose your home, your family life and your city, then discover your way back. The return may be welcome, but it's not without cost or alteration. Reesie, the main character of "Finding Someplace," by Denise Lewis Patrick, lives in the New Orleans Lower Ninth Ward. When the story opens, she eagerly awaits her 13th-birthday celebration, where she plans to debut a dress she created. The timing couldn't be worse. News of Hurricane Katrina's approach causes many of Reesie's neighbors, including her best friends, to leave New Orleans. Her police officer father's loyalty to his job and city influences his decision to stay. Her mother wants the family to flee to safety. Their polarized views cause friction between Reesie's loving parents. Through spare dialogue and small gestures, Patrick skillfully develops these characters along with others. Yet she never forgets it is Reesie's story. The hurricane brings on more changes than the devastation of Reesie's home. In the hours surrounding Katrina she experiences a first kiss, discovers her elderly neighbor's surprising past and learns that a storm can bring out the best or worst in people. Patrick is the author of many books for young readers, including the well-received story collection "A Matter of Souls." She lives in New Jersey, but was born in Natchitoches, La. In an author's note she mentions taking a drive through the Lower Ninth Ward and discovering that her aunt's newly renovated home sat next door to an empty lot where a house once stood. What she saw seems to have inspired her keen attention to building Reesie's world. In "Finding Someplace," she unfolds a complicated situation with a simple story line. Through Reesie's emotions we see the unrest created by Katrina and, eventually, her realization that a hurricane might demolish a house but it doesn't have to destroy a family. TAMARA ELLIS SMITH'S first novel, "Another Kind of Hurricane," begins with two fractured lives. Told from various points of view, the story belongs to Henry in Vermont and Zavion in New Orleans. Henry's grief over his best friend's recent death is mixed with guilt. Smith reveals why, gradually unveiling moments of the fateful day his friend died. Down South, Zavion is still coming to terms with his own grief over the death of his mother. His free-spirited artist father offers little comfort. The boys live worlds apart, and at first readers may question how their stories connect. Patience pays off. Henry's tale begins when he takes a marble from his friend's coffin. The marble was a lucky token exchanged, back and forth, between the two. In New Orleans, the arrival of Hurricane Katrina sets Zavion's story in motion. Through a series of circumstances the marble travels from person to person, eventually causing the boys to meet. When they do, readers may wonder if the journey is fueled by serendipity or magic. Henry believes retrieving the marble will hold the answer to his feelings of guilt over his friend's death. Zavion thinks paying back a debt will resolve his turmoil. The hurricane's outcome isn't glossed over. Smith takes her time showing the struggle and desperation New Orleans citizens experienced. Through Zavion, we learn how hunger may cause people to steal and how being turned away from safety at gunpoint can cover them with a veil of hopelessness. Even so, "Another Kind of Hurricane" is not dependent on Hurricane Katrina to steer the story. Grief is the driving force. With all its destruction of property and dishevelment of lives, and the rebuilding that eventually followed, Hurricane Katrina was bound to make its way into literature for all ages. These three books show young readers that when life as we know it is interrupted, sometimes we do more than survive. We come out stronger on the other side. KIMBERLY WILLIS HOLT won a National Book Award for her novel "When Zachary Beaver Came to Town." Her new book, "Dear Hank Williams," is set in Louisiana.
Copyright (c) The New York Times Company [August 9, 2015]
Review by Booklist Review
Living in the Lower Ninth Ward of New Orleans, Teresa (Reesie) Boone plans to spend her thirteenth birthday party debuting a special dress she made she aspires to be a fashion designer and relishing neighbor Miss Martine's coconut cake. Even the worry of Hurricane Katrina can't dampen her excitement, especially since her father insists it's just another regular storm. By the time they realize it's a real threat, it's too late to evacuate. With both parents trapped at work, Reesie spends her birthday holed up with Miss Martine; and as the storm rolls in, the power goes out, and the water rises. Patrick captures Reesie's terror in ways young readers will relate to not just her fear of the dark and the flooding but also of being separated from her parents and responsible for her own rescue. The aching loss of the aftermath Reesie's lingering guilt over losing important possessions at the evacuation center; her difficulty processing the bigness of the destruction; the financial and marital problems engulfing her parents is sensitively portrayed.--Hutley, Krista Copyright 2015 Booklist
From Booklist, Copyright (c) American Library Association. Used with permission.
Review by Publisher's Weekly Review
New Orleans native and aspiring fashion designer Reesie Boone is consumed with excitement about her approaching 13th birthday, but Hurricane Katrina preempts her plans. Reesie's family didn't anticipate the storm's severity and evacuate; separated from her parents and older brother, Reesie sticks with Miss Martine, an elderly neighbor who turns out to have had an intriguing life. Patrick (A Matter of Souls) builds absorbing tension as Katrina's effects worsen-"It felt as if the only life left in New Orleans was there, on top of this little house on Dauphine Street." In the aftermath of the storm, Reesie's parents disagree about the safety of the city, and Reesie and her mother leave town to live with relatives in New Jersey. When Reesie returns to New Orleans for Christmas, it's not the same place she left. Reesie's determination-both to achieve her own dreams and to take care of those close to her-shine in this intimate look at the impact of a devastating natural disaster and the commitment of those dedicated to rebuilding. Ages 8-12. Agent: Jill Corcoran, Jill Corcoran Literary Agency. (Aug.) © Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved.
(c) Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved
Review by School Library Journal Review
Gr 4-6-Reesie Boone's been looking forward to her 13th birthday for a long time. As her big day approaches, people are focused on a hurricane warning, and everyone's leaving New Orleans. Reesie's family is staying put despite evacuation warnings; her father is a policeman and can't miss work. Hurricane Katrina hits while Reesie is at the neighbor's house picking up her birthday cake. Rising water forces everyone in the house up to the attic, where they chop a hole through the roof and are picked up by a rescue boat. That's just the beginning of Reesie's trouble. Her mother can't forgive her father for putting his job before his family, and takes Reesie back to her hometown in New Jersey, where she must process the trauma she's gone through as well as the loss of her home and everything she owns, and living apart from her father. Patrick does an superb job conveying the way Hurricane Katrina impacted families in New Orleans. Though important lessons can be learned from the book, the narrative allows readers to discover them organically. The pacing of the book mirrors the build up of the storm, starting out slowly, and picking up momentum. The nearly yearlong span helps readers understand that traumatic experiences take time to process. Patrick excels at creating believable, multigenerational communities. Main and secondary characters are profoundly impacted by their experiences during the hurricane. Reesie's character intentionally evolves from a protected, fairly self-involved young teen to a complex character recovering from depression and shock. Though Reesie lives through a national disaster, something most readers will not have experienced, her voice and concerns are authentic and relatable. VERDICT A powerful read for middle grade readers already familiar with the hurricane or those learning about it for the first time.-Juliet Morefield, Multnomah County Library, OR © Copyright 2015. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
(c) Copyright Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
Review by Horn Book Review
Plenty of local texture adds to the veracity of this story about the Boone Family, who wait out Hurricane Katrina in New Orleans, are rescued, and begin re-building their lives in New Jersey. The narrative focuses on thirteen-year-old Reesie Boone, who dreams of fashion school, through the turmoil. Patrick's novel is a true-to-life portrait of one family's post-disaster recovery. (c) Copyright 2016. The Horn Book, Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
(c) Copyright The Horn Book, Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
Review by Kirkus Book Review
Anticipation, fear, excitement, and dread coalesce as a girl's 13th birthday collides with a terrible force of nature: Hurricane Katrina.Teresa Arielle Boone is a high-spirited girl living in the 9th Ward of sultry New Orleans. In this summer of 2005, Reesie can't wait to celebrate her upcoming birthday. However, upon overhearing tourists discuss a hurricane that has devastated parts of Florida, disbelief and fear bubble up inside Reesie. Now the storm is heading for New Orleans. When Reesie's parents argue over whether or not to leave town to avoid the storm, she feels shaken, yet she's still determined to prepare for her party. Readers will feel the twinned pulls of elation and apprehension. The anticipation is palpable. So is the desperate, futile hope that everything will be all right. When the storm finally hits, Lewis slams readers and Reesie alike with an impact that reverberates long after the skies have cleared. Reesie has inherited her Ma Maw's style as well as her sewing machine. She's a girl with dreams and ambition who can't imagine being derailed by anything, and readers will understand her aching vulnerability as she confronts a force even she can't control. Patrick builds to the climax beautifully and delivers a character who puts readers in the moment. A perfect storm of suspense and fine character building. (Historical fiction. 8-12) Copyright Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.
Copyright (c) Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.
