As Hurricane Ike, following Gustav and Hannah, continues to unleash its fury over the Gulf Coast, the devastation wrought by hurricanes is front page news for some, and a life threatening reality for others. In his young adult novel, Hurricane Song (Viking, 2008), Paul Volponi takes the reader to New Orleans during and immediately following Hurricane Katrina.
Sixteen-year-old Miles decides to move to New Orleans to live with his jazz musician father after his mother remarries in Chicago. Miles joins the football team and gradually adjusts to living with his father, who frequently puts music before all else. Then Katrina slams into New Orleans, and Miles, his dad and uncle attempt to flee the city by car. Instead, they wind up in the superdome, and as services and supplies dwindle and conditions deteriorate, they cope with the looting, violence, chaos and hunger. Volponi pulls no punches in this raw story of survival. Music is the balm that quells the storm and lifts the spirits of the main characters in this slim but powerful novel. (Christie, The Loft)
