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Summary
Summary
A moving fictional story about the effects of Hurricane Katrina on the people of New Orleans, as seen through the eyes of a ten-year-old boy. A must-have for introducing this historical event to children.
Louis Daniel hates it when Mama treats him like a baby. But when Hurricane Katrina blows through the Gulf Coast, Louis feels like a little kid again. With no time to gather their belongings―except Louis's beloved horn―Daddy leads the family into an unfamiliar, watery world of floating debris, lurking critters, and desperate neighbors.
Taking shelter in the already-crowded Superdome, Louis and his parents wait...and wait. Conditions continue to worsen, and when Daddy fails to return from a scouting mission within the Dome, Louis knows he's no longer a baby. It's up to him to find his father―with the help of his prized cornet.
Award-winning author Myron Uhlberg highlights resilience and hope throughout this sensitively portrayed fictional story based on the real events of Hurricane Katrina. Colin Bootman's dramatic illustrations enhance the warmth and strength of the young narrator's family as they work through the tragedy.
Author Notes
Myron Uhlberg is the award-wining and critically acclaimed author of several children's books. Uhlberg is the first-born son of two deaf parents. His first language was ASL (American Sign Language). After graduating from Brandeis University, he served as a paratrooper in the 82nd Airborne Division. He then spent the next forty years in the garment industry. His first book was published when he was sixty-six years old. He has appeared on NPR's Talk of the Nation and was featured in the Ken Burns documentary film, Jackie Robinson. He lives in California.
Colin Bootman was born in Trinidad but moved to the United States at the age of seven. A graduate of the School of Visual Arts in New York, he has illustrated numerous books for children, including Almost to Freedom, a Coretta Scott King Illustrator Honor Book. He lives in New York.
Reviews (4)
School Library Journal Review
Gr 3-5-Louis Daniel, a 10-year-old African American boy named for famed New Orleans musician, Louis Daniel Armstrong, always keeps his cornet close at hand. When Hurricane Katrina strikes in 2005 and the levees break, Louis Daniel's father finds a floating piece of porch to ride upon. Keeping an eye out for 'gators, Louis paddles with a broom and the family moves through murky brown water and floating debris. Everything from a fake Christmas tree to a disturbing "pile of clothes" and a black and white dog float by. They take shelter in the airless, stinking, crowded, and chaotic Superdome. When his mom and he are separated from his father, Louis saves the day with his cornet. Narrator Brandon Gill gets the voice just right as the young boy's panic and frustration escalate in Myron Uhlberg's realistic fictionalized account (Peachtree, 2011) of a city overwhelmed by water and chaos. An author's note following the story provides the horrific statistics of the third most dangerous storm in U.S. history. Have the book available so students can peruse Colin Bootman's realistic oil paintings. Sure to provoke thoughtful discussions, this audiobook can also be used during weather units.-Lonna Pierce, MacArthur Elementary School, Binghamton, NY (c) Copyright 2012. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
Publisher's Weekly Review
The pair behind Dad, Jackie, and Me turn their attention to the harrowing events of Hurricane Katrina as seen through the eyes of a fictional child. Ten-year-old Louis Daniel is African-American and a horn player like his idol, Louis Armstrong. He goes to bed during a fierce storm and awakens to encroaching water. Bootman's dramatic oil paintings and the boy's first-person narration provide realistic immediacy as the boy's family makes its way through their flooded neighborhood on "a piece of someone's porch that was floating by." Uhlberg hints at the death toll: "[M]y broom hit a pile of clothes. Mama covered my eyes. 'Don't look, Baby,' she said. But I couldn't help looking." The dark-hued, realistic illustrations create a somber mood that refuses to lift even when the family finally reaches the Superdome. The boy's shiny cornet, saved from floodwaters, figures prominently in the family's experience at the chaotic stadium, giving comfort and continuity. Readers are in for a deeply personal and sometimes uncomfortable look at a disaster whose ramifications are still being felt. The book concludes with author notes and several photographs. Ages 7-11. (Aug.) (c) Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved.
Kirkus Review
A heartrending story of a New Orleans family's experience through Hurricane Katrina.Ten-year-old Louis Daniel goes to sleep hugging his brass cornet close as the winds of Hurricane Katrina begin to howl and rattle the house. In the morning, the family realizes that the levee has broken, and the water is quickly rising. They begin to make their way through the wreckage to the promised safety of the Superdome, with Louis Daniel and his mother riding on a piece of someone's porch as his father pulls them along past a plastic Christmas tree, an eager puppy that they cannot rescue and something that is probably a body in the water. The family makes it to the Superdome, but they eventually find themselves separated. Louis Daniel is sure he has to do something to find his father, but what? And what will happen to the family after they leave the Superdome? And to the friendly dog Louis had to leave behind in the rushing waters? Bootman's gorgeous paintings bring out the resilient character of the city even as he depicts the devastation it suffered. However, it is through the body language and the emotion in the faces of the mostly African-American cast of characters he creates that Bootman most precisely articulates what it was like to live through such a harrowing experience.Simple, affecting prose and intricate, inspired paintings make this one worth sharing for sure. (author's note).(Picture book. 9-12)]] Copyright Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.
Booklist Review
*Starred Review* A boy blowing a horn on a flooded street is the evocative cover image of this stirring book, which tells one family's story of Hurricane Katrina. Ten-year-old Louis Daniel listens to the howling wind. His parents think the storm will blow over until it doesn't, and then they have to escape their home. Grabbing his most important possession, his cornet, Louis and his mother ride the high water on a detached porch pushed by Louis' father. Along the way, Louis spies a little terrier floating on a plank. They can't take the dog along, but Louis doesn't forget him as make their way through the flood, finally arriving at the Superdome, where they're told they'll be safe. Once inside, though, they disappear into an inky, stinky arena, where men fight over water bottles. Daddy leaves to look for food and then can't find his way back to his family, but Louis plays his coronet, and the music leads his father to him. In a simple yet powerful ending, the storm has passed, and while others board buses to get out of town, this family stays. The juxtaposition of the understated text and muscular artwork works well. Blues, grays, and browns predominate Bootman's acrylic paintings, which use heavy brushwork to evoke both the force and emotional impact of the storm. A memorable addition to the growing number of books about Hurricane Katrina, this offering personalizes a national tragedy. Information about the storm is appended.--Cooper, Ilen. Copyright 2010 Booklist