Synopsis
Hurricane Katrina is raging and you are inside the Superdome!
Miles has only lived in New Orleans with his dad, a musician, for a few months when Hurricane Katrina hits. Father and son haven't exactly been getting along. Miles is obsessed with football; his dad's passion is jazz. But when the storm strikes, they're forced to work through their differences to survive a torturous few days in the Superdome.
Paul Volponi, known for writing books that capture the pulse of urban life in New York City, creates a gripping hour-by-hour portrayal of what life was like for those left behind once the floodwaters began to rise.
KLIATT
Miles had always dreamed of going to the Superdome, but as a football player—not as a refugee from Hurricane Katrina. Along with his jazz musician father and his uncle, Miles must cope with the horrific conditions there as the storm hits, and afterward—not just the crowds, the noise, and the heat, but the lack of food and supplies and the menacing guards, as well as gangs vying for turf, shaking people down and threatening worse things to come. Music offers one way to escape, but in the end Miles's dad, worried about what's happened to all the city's jazz joints he knows and loves so well, sees a chance to break out and takes it—and Miles goes after him. This powerful tale of the evolution of the relationship between a boy and his father, played out against the devastation caused by the hurricane, is a quick but indelible read. The power of the storm and the hellish conditions in the Superdome are vividly and succinctly described. Readers will empathize with Miles as he attempts to do the right thing in extraordinary conditions, and acquits himself like a man. Reviewer: Paula Rohrlick