A Storm Called Katrina by Myron Uhlberg illus. by Colin BootmanLouis Daniel and his parents must quickly leave the house after the levee breaks. The family makes their way to the Superdome. The only thing Louis takes his is trumpet. Readers see the storm through the eyes of 10 yr old Louis and the author does an excellent job of capturing his voice. Much of the story takes place at the Superdome. After the family gets separated, Louis knows just what to do to find his father.
This is a wonderful story about hurricane Katrina. Rather then shy away from the harsh realities of the storm, Uhlberg uses a soft hand to describe what happened. At the center of the story is the family, Bootman's art highlights this point. The illustrations are good and complement the story. The only thing I'd change about is the unimaginative title. Though once I started reading I forget all about it.
This would pair well with A Place Where Hurricanes Happen by Renee Watson. Both stories are about Katrina but are very different.
3 comments:
Read this at ALA this year, where I met the author. I really loved that his focus was on family, but I also appreciated the way he brought the topic of pets into play as well.
"Soft hand" is a great way to describe the author's treatment; nothing is too graphic for young readers, but I think it'll help them get some perspective on an event that happened when they were too little to understand it, even though it's still affecting people here in the city six years later.
I admit I teared up a little when I read this book, because Louis's trumpet is very important to the plot, and if he hadn't brought it...
Well, read it yourself and see!
Thanks for the review, Doret!
Tere - The focus on the family was one of my favorite parts of the story.
And I loved the determination Louis's face when he goes to play his trumpet at the end.
Hello mate, great blog
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