One of my boys picked up Zane and the Hurricane, by Rodman Philbrick, because it was on the 2015-2016 Bluebonnet award list (an award given annually by the Texas Library Association). It looked so interesting that I stole it from him (he was taking too long to read it).
Zane and the Hurricane was a sweet middle grade novel about hope in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina. A boy, Zane Dupree, was visiting New Orleans when the hurricane hit, and he experiences the terror of the winds, the loss of electricity, and the massive flooding.
I loved it, like I knew I would.
Here are three things I enjoyed most about it:
The characters. Zane was a wonderfully drawn character who had a unique way of thinking and speaking. The other characters were just as well-developed as he was.
The true-to-life events. In the author’s note, Philbrick says that everything Zane experienced happened to at least one of the survivors of Hurricane Katrina. I loved that he used real-life events to weave a story that was so engaging. It was entertaining, but it was also educational, teaching children about the power and horror of natural disasters—and an important part of our history.
The similes, metaphors, and descriptions. Zane had a unique way of seeing the world, as I mentioned above, and that really came through in the book. Take this description of Zane’s great-grandmother, whom he’s visiting in New Orleans:
“The truth is, when me and Bandy first get off the plane and this old lady is waiting there with her two canes, one in each fist, I’m kind of scared of her. She’s so wicked old and the canes look like weapons. Like hitting sticks. This really ancient lady, small and hunched with her hitting sticks. Her skin like the skin on milky hot chocolate when you blow across the top, all wrinkled and folded back on itself. Even her perfume smells like old flowers or something.”
And here is one of my favorite similes:
“One of the cops makes the mistake of saying, ‘It’s only a dog, lady.’ And this woman glares at him like she’s the sun and he’s an ice cube about to melt. “
My son got the book back and is now reading it, too. I think he loves it at least as much as I did.
The above is an affiliate link. I only recommend books that I personally enjoy. I actually don’t even talk about the books I don’t enjoy, because I’d rather forget I ever wasted time reading them. But if you’re ever curious whether I’ve read a book and whether I liked or disliked it, don’t hesitate to ask.
