About the Book:
Ten-year-old Louis Daniel hates it when Mama treats him like a baby. But when Hurricane Katrina blows through the Gulf Coast on a fateful August night, followed by broken levees and rising floodwaters threatening New Orleans, Louis feels like a little kid again. With no time to gather their belongings save Louis s beloved horn Daddy leads the family from their home and into an unfamiliar, watery world of floating debris, lurking critters, a winsome black-and-white dog, and desperate neighbors heading for dry ground. Taking shelter in the already-crowded Superdome, Louis and his parents wait and wait. As the days pass, the electricity goes out, the air conditioning dies, the bathrooms are closed, and people around them begin to bicker as they run out of food and water. When Daddy fails to return from a scouting mission within the Dome, Louis knows he is no longer a baby. It s up to him to find Daddy, with the help of his prized cornet.My Comments:
I've heard it said that while the effects of Katrina were felt throughout the city after the storm, during the storm, those most effected were the poor, and therefore, the African-Americans. This story shows that in pictures. While those of us with reliable transportation and money for hotel rooms were generally far away when Katrina hit, the poor, like the family in this story, stayed behind. After the storm the waters rose and people were forced from their homes with little but the clothes on their back. The Superdome was the shelter of last resort and after a couple of days without electricity, it wasn't very pleasant.
For those of us from New Orleans, Katrina is something we'll never forget, whether we spent it safely in Atlanta or were miserable in New Orleans. If you are looking for a book to show your children what it was like without getting too graphic or too political, I think you'll like this book. Grade: B+
I'd like to thank the publisher for making a review copy available via NetGalley.
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