Drowned City

Brown, Don. (2015). Drowned City: Hurricane Katrina & New Orleans. New York, NY: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt.

Awards: 2016 Great Graphic Novels for Teens
Grade Level: 6+
Lexile Level: GN920L

Summary: On August 2005 Hurricane Katrina hits New Orleans with waters 25 feet above normal and 121 MPH winds. More than a million people evacuate, but many have no money or transportation to flee. People struggle to find shelter in attics, roofs, some make it, but many don't. While survivor's wait for the slow reaction of the government, they fight infested waters, billions of mosquitos and gnats, foul odors, and lack of food and water. Temper's rise and the city gets looted. The aftermath takes 1,400 lives and hundred of thousand survivors are spread across the country. By 2012, only 80% of the residents return, and slowly New Orleans is builds itself up.

Reader's response: Don Brown's non-fiction graphic novel explains the series of events that took place during and after Hurricane Katrina. His illustrations paint the panic and despair of the city. The illustrations alone can recount the tragic events, but Brown's detailed choice of words in his dialogue speech bubbles support the facts. There are many harrowing scenes through out the novel, like a couple using a knife to make a hole to escape through the attic and a hopeless hospital working without electricity.

Lesson Ideas: Social Studies: Government/Social Welfare
                       Geography: Natural Disasters
                       Language Arts: Point of View


Get Graphic: The World in Words and Pictures

Don Brown's Official Website
                     

Other Young Adult novels to commemorate Hurricane Katrina: