The story: In August 2005, a gust of wind in Africa turns first into a tropical storm, then into a monster: Hurricane Katrina, which roared over Florida, then the Gulf of Mexico, and became a true killer storm when it made landfall over the city of New Orleans. This is the story of what happened--and what didn't--in the aftermath of the storm that obliterated the Big Easy.
June Cleaver's ratings: Language G; Violence G; Sexual content G; Nudity G; Substance abuse G; Magic & the occult G; GLBT content G; Adult themes (government incompetence; death by natural disaster) PG; overall rating G.
Liz's comments: This is not a "graphic novel" in the usual sense: while it is a story told in cartoons, it's non-fiction and so not a novel at all. Although simply written and illustrated, it's powerful in its presentation of Hurricane Katrina both in terms of the storm and in terms of its social implications. Thankfully, Brown doesn't turn it into a racist rant; rather, the pictures tell their own story of government incompetence on both the local and federal level, and of regular folks reaching out to help one another during a time of great need (although of course, there were other who weren't helpful in the least). Even though I was old enough to be paying attention when this piece of history happened, this book put all the pieces together in a way that random news articles and photographs really didn't (at least for me). For kids looking for basic information on the storm and its fallout, this is a good choice.
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