From School Library Journal
Grade 8 Up—Feeling crowded out of his mom's Chicago apartment following her remarriage, 16-year-old Miles goes to live with his dad in New Orleans. He's only been there for two months when Katrina hits. Attempting to flee the city on Sunday with Uncle Roy, who, like his dad, is a jazz musician, they take refuge in the Superdome after their car breaks down. With this "ripped-from-the-headlines" premise, Volponi effectively portrays how too many people in one space with too little food, supplies, and basic services quickly deteriorates from mere displacement to human suffering on a massive scale. Threats, extortion, violence, and fear escalate, fueled by the massive storm, culminating in the people's infamous chant, "We need help." They are finally herded outside on Tuesday, after the storm has passed, only to stand for hours in the sun without water while awaiting buses to Houston. Miles and his dad jump a fence to escape, making their way to see what remains of their apartment. Fighting together to confront looters intent on stealing a jazz club's piano cements their previously conflicted relationship. An epilogue briefly relates their journey to a new beginning in Seattle and eventual return to New Orleans, months later, to rebuild. A sprinkling of common vulgarities realistically punctuates the fast-paced story of unprecedented unease in the Big Easy.—
Joel Shoemaker, Southeast Junior High School, Iowa City, IA Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.
In the wake of his mom’s remarriage, Miles moves to New Orleans to be with his father, a professional musician, who lives and breathes jazz. Miles, who has always resented his father’s single-minded devotion to music, focuses on making his new school’s varsity football team and dreams of someday playing a championship game in the Superdome. That dream becomes a nightmare when Miles, Pop and his uncle Roy must seek refuge there from the advancing storm that will become Hurricane Katrina. Volponi pulls no punches in his visceral depiction of the horrors that New Orleans’ black residents experienced in a place that became, he suggests, an appalling combination of homeless shelter, war zone, and slave ship. The effect of this experience on Miles’ troubled relationship with his father seems a bit programmatic, and an epilogue feels tacked on to bring closure. Yet Volponi’s passionate outrage is palpable, and his infectious indignation will surely invite much reflection and discussion. Grades 7-12. --Michael Cart
