Sugarcane Academy: How a New Orleans Teacher and His Storm-Struck Students Created a School to Remember (Harvest Original) [Paperback]

Michael Tisserand (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: July 2, 2007 | Series: Harvest Original

Hurricane Katrina devastated New Orleans, taking lives and livelihoods and displacing thousands. Because the hurricane struck at the beginning of the school year, the city’s children were among those most affected. Michael Tisserand, former editor of the alternative cultural newspaper Gambit Weekly, evacuated with his family to New Iberia, Louisiana. Then, rather than waiting to find out when—or if—schools in New Orleans would reopen, Tisserand and other parents persuaded one of his children’s teachers, Paul Reynaud, to start a school among the sugarcane fields.

So was born the Sugarcane Academy—as the children themselves named it—and so also began an experience none of Reynaud’s pupils will ever forget. This inspiring book shows how a dedicated teacher made the best out of the worst situation, and how the children of New Orleans, of all backgrounds and races, adjusted to Katrina’s consequences.

(20070801)

Editorial Reviews

Review

PRAISE FOR THE KINGDOM OF ZYDECO

"Exhaustive . . . riveting . . . The Kingdom of Zydeco is a back-road trip well worth making." —LOS ANGELES TIMES BOOK REVIEW

"An important book for anyone with an interest in life, American music, Southern culture, dancing, accordions, the recording industry, folklore, old dance clubs in the weeds, fortune tellers, hoodoos or shotguns."—E. ANNIE PROULX

(20070315)

"This wonderful memoir manages to do what a flood of news-reporting could not: see the tragedy of Katrina through the eyes of children. I was touched by the depth of feeling that wells from these pages, and I was heartened by the resilience and courage of these Children of the Storm. Katrina impressed itself indelibly on a generation of New Orleans children, and Tisserand makes the complexity real through the story of his own children and that of their friends in exile. The story of The Sugarcane Academy, an improvised one-room school in a sugar-cane parish in south Louisiana, will be one of the lasting books of our tragedy."

(Andrei Codrescu, author of New Orleans, Mon Amour 20070715)

"Through his personal account, the experiences of (Bookpage 20070801)

"Michael Tisserand knows more about life in New Orleans than anybody else I know. Sugarcane Academy is a poignant, well-written and awe-inspiring non-fiction saga of Louisiana citizens coping with Katrina''s wrath. Highly recommended."

(Douglas Brinkley 20070729)

"When journalist Michael Tisserand and his family found themselves escaping the maelstrom of Hurricane Katrina, he turned his investigative eye on the aftermath as his family and others helped create a one-room schoolhouse for evacuee children. This true story of how determination, faith, and a sheer force of will allowed learning and hope to blossom in the office space that became the only public school open in New Orleans."

(FamilyCircle.com 20070819)

"Writing with the same warmth and humanity that distinguished his ASCAP Deems Taylor Award-winning The Kingdom of Zydeco (1998), Tisserand offers tender, revealing profiles of Reynaud, his fellow volunteer teachers and others affected by the evacuation...Inspirational and heartwarming." (Starred Review)

(Kirkus Reviews 20070708)

"The contrast between the hopefulness and ingenuity of the parents,students and teachers who created the school and the despair of downtrodden bureaucrats and volunteers who, in Tisserand''s gentle telling, established policies and protocols that become roadblocks to spiritual and physical regeneration is huge."

(Susan Salter Reynolds LA Times )

"Every so often a remarkable tale of human resiliency comes our way. It is especially moving when that saga enables vulnerable children to overcome adversity. Sugarcane Academy is a story that needed to be told. The contents of its pages open our eyes to how a disaster in New Orleans can bring forth creativity and empathy that we all need to emulate."

(Mel Levine, M.D. author of A Mind at a Time )

"With his sharp eye for detail and his abundant heart, Tisserand paints a devastating portrait of the toll exacted by Hurricane Katrina, particularly on the children. Simple, compelling, and quietly dramatic, Sugarcane Academy is both eulogy and commencement -- a tribute to the endurance of the human spirit."

(Mike Sager, Writer-at-Large Esquire )

"A testament to the teachers who supported Katrina''s children, Sugarcane Academy reminds us all that heroes hold small hands on field trips, clean paint brushes, and sing morning songs."

(Phillip Done, author of 32 Third Graders and One Class Bunny )

"This book delivers insightful anecdotes on the incredible misfortune Katrina wrought. But it also embodies the spirit of the people who rose from the floodwaters and dared to plant seeds of hope in the sugarcane fields."

(Southern Living Magazine )

"A slender but appealing book...[about] a remarkable teacher named Paul Reynaud, the sort of person who has a gift for understanding children''s wants and needs..."

(Charles McGrath The New York Times Education Supplement )

"[Tisserand''s] ''Sugarcane Academy: How a New Orleans Teacher and His Storm-Struck Students Created a School to Remember'' is that seemingly impossible thing -- a gentle, hopeful tale about the displaced and the small Cajun town where they landed...It''s an Oprah-worthy story sure to resonate with young urban parents...Quiet and powerful."

(The Oregonian )

"Heartwarming...The story of Sugarcane Academy is as inspiring as it is moving and sometimes sad, and as much a reflection on the resilience of children and dedicated teachers as it is on the hardships faced by everyone displaced by the storm."

(Times Picayne (New Orleans) )

From the Back Cover

"A testament to the teachers who supported Katrina's children, Sugarcane Academy reminds us all that heroes hold small hands on field trips, clean paint brushes, and sing morning songs." --Phillip Done, author of 32 Third Graders and One Class Bunny: Life Lessons from Teaching
 
As floodwaters from Hurricane Katrina surged at their heels, fleeing New Orleanians had their minds more on safety than whether their children would be missing school. But when a group of evacuee parents who settled in New Iberia, Louisiana, realized they would not be returning home quickly, they set about reconstructing their families’ lives. And so they turned to beloved New Orleans schoolteacher Paul Reynaud, whose fierce determination and unwavering spirit transformed an abandoned office into a one-room schoolhouse. This is the story of Sugarcane Academy: twenty-five students, their devoted parents, an inspiring teacher, and the boundless power of learning.
 
“This wonderful memoir manages to do what a flood of news-reporting could not: see the tragedy of Katrina through the eyes of children. The story of the Sugarcane Academy, an improvised one-room school in a sugarcane parish in south Louisiana, will be one of the lasting books of our tragedy.”  --Andrei Codrescu, author of New Orleans, Mon Amour: Twenty Years of Writings from the City
 
Michael Tisserand is the author of The Kingdom of Zydeco, which won the ASCAP Deems Taylor Award for music writing. He served as editor of Gambit Weekly, the alternative newsweekly of New Orleans. He lives in Evanston, Illinois.
 

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Product Details

• Paperback: 184 pages
• Publisher: Mariner Books; 1 edition (July 2, 2007)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0156031892
• ISBN-13: 978-0156031899
• Product Dimensions: 7.8 x 5.3 x 0.6 inches
• Shipping Weight: 5.6 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.6 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (8 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,247,286 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Surprising and wonderful..., July 11, 2007

By 

Erica "Erica" (Los Angeles, CA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Sugarcane Academy: How a New Orleans Teacher and His Storm-Struck Students Created a School to Remember (Harvest Original) (Paperback)

Idly thumbing through the stacks at my local indy the other day, I stumbled across this little gem. Initially the New Orleans and Katrina related subject matter drew me in. As much as has been said, there is still so much more that hasn't. An almost endless litany of stories both sorrowful and uplifting spill continuously from the flood waters all over this country.

Oddly, I wasn't sure if the theme of education, and the power it bestows to rise above, would indeed hold my attention. It's a reality, sure, but is it engaging?

Uh huh.

This story is *both* sorrowful *and* uplifting. It's spare. It's real. It tells an intimate, nuanced, and unfamiliar story of a very familiar tragedy. Maybe you didn't live in the Ninth Ward or St. Bernard Parish, but what if it was still your city? Maybe you got out, your house damaged, but not destroyed. Maybe there was somewhere to go. Someone with whom to stay.

Living in New Orleans, that could've been my situation, or that of those I care for. Not utter ruin. Not the heartrending images you saw on television every night, but devastation nonetheless. Lost jobs, lost lives, lost children. How do you help them find center, when you've lost your own? How do you explain the pulse of suffering on TV, the radio, papers when it all represents the people and places you loved?

This isn't just a story about a school. It's a story about selfless care, survival, and a community's ability to rise above with aide of, and nurture for the resiliency of youth.

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars An excellent read, June 19, 2007

By 

L. Beatty (New Orleans, La.) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Sugarcane Academy: How a New Orleans Teacher and His Storm-Struck Students Created a School to Remember (Harvest Original) (Paperback)

I am from New Orleans and a friend handed me this book. "Thought you might like it." I read it all night long in one sitting. It's a sad, scary, exhilarating, thoughtful, dramatic, uplifting book. I am sure I can come up with more adjectives if pressed. The story is a first-person account of evacuating Hurricane Katrina; realizing home is gone and the magnificent educator who kept a community united. Any parent, teacher and/or New Orleanian should read this splendid tale.

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars inspirational story, September 4, 2007

By 

preferredshares "preferredshares" - See all my reviews

This review is from: Sugarcane Academy: How a New Orleans Teacher and His Storm-Struck Students Created a School to Remember (Harvest Original) (Paperback)

Great teachers can contribute so much to society and yet literature too rarely captures and celebrates this form of greatness. Katrina was a terrible storm with terrible consequences, which will be with us for decades, and yet here emerges a story that gives hope and inspiration. Without this tragedy and this book about one facet of the complicated story, we would not have seen into the world of these children and thier wonderful teacher, Paul Reynaud. We would not have had this privilege to see this example of greatness in education--without Paul, these children would not have had as vivid, life-improving, memories and lessons. "Celebrate that which you want to see more of" is a favorite adage which the author does an excellent job of fulfilling. Michael Tisserand shows, from the inside, dozens of enjoyable vignettes with subtle and not so subtle consequences. As so many schools are failing our children, here is an example of success which i believe you will enjoy.