“My name is Zane
Dupree. I need to warn you right
now, there’s some really gross stuff in this book, and I’m not talking about
make-believe gross like plastic poop and vomit, but stuff so awful it made a dog
hide his nose….”
Zane and the Hurricane. This book was so good it terrified me. I thought I knew all about
Hurricane Katrina and the devastation it had caused. Like many others, I had watched the news reports and read
the stories about the aftermath of the hurricane and flood. But never could I have imagined the
utter despair, fear and courage the survivors, those that remained in New
Orleans, had to go through in their quest to find help.
Zane is a 12 year old from New Hampshire. He and his dog, Bandit (or Bandy for
short) were on vacation in New Orleans, meeting his deceased father’s grandmother
for the first time. Then Katrina
hit. Then the flood came. In
Zane’s effort to survive he is helped by the kindness of strangers willing to
share what little they had managed to save from the flood. Unfortunately Zane
also witnesses the truly ugly side of human nature, actions brought about by
fear, racism, and ignorance.
I cannot wait to share this book with my students. Zane’s story will prompt many
questions. Questions that will not
have easy answers, maybe no real answers.
But truly, aren’t those the best books? Books that make us
question? Books that make us
think? Books that make us decide
that maybe it’s time we do something to make the world a better, more
accepting, place for all.
Zane’s story will be with me for a long, long time.
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