DROWNED CITY: HURRICANE KATRINA & NEW ORLEANS (graphic novel) by Don Brown


Published in August of 2005 by HMH Books for Young Readers.

Written and illustrated by Don Brown

Sibert Honor Medalist
Kirkus' Best of 2015 list
School Library Journal Best of 2015
Publishers Weekly's Best of 2015 list
Horn Book Fanfare Book 
Booklist Editor's Choice.
The story of Hurricane Katrina has been told many ways in many different formats but this graphic novel by Don Brown is undoubtedly one of the more powerful re-tellings. The powerful combination of the simple text combined with the simple, sad drawings of this tragedy work together to move the reader.
There is no main character to the book, just a simple re-telling of the story, starting with the birth of the storm, continuing on with the multiple mistakes leading up to the flood, the horror that followed and finally following on to the re-building of the city. 

From time-to-time an unknown person will speak directly to the reader, such as when a FEMA employee says, "When I have a nightmare, it's a hurricane in New Orleans." At another point, a train conductor stands on any empty train platform next to his train and says, "We offered...to take evacuees out of harm's way. The city declined." It turns out that all of these quotes are real quotes from real people that are endnoted in the back of this graphic novel.

This is well worth your time and a portion of the proceeds are donated to Habitat for Humanity.

 I rate this graphic novel 5 stars out of 5. Excellent.

 As of the date of this review, this graphic novel was being sold for $12.58 on Amazon.com. Check here for current pricing: Drowned City: Hurricane Katrina and New Orleans.

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