Don Brown is the award-winning author and illustrator of many picture book biographies. He has been widely praised for his resonant storytelling and his delicate watercolor paintings that evoke the excitement, humor, pain, and joy of lives lived with passion. School Library Journal has called him "a current pacesetter who has put the finishing touches on the standards for storyographies." He lives in New York with his family. Visit him online at booksbybrown.com and on Instagram @donsart.
Drowned City: Hurricane Katrina and New Orleans
by Don Brown
eBook
(NOOK Kids)
$6.99
-
ISBN-13:
9780544673052
- Publisher: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt
- Publication date: 08/04/2015
- Sold by: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt
- Format: eBook
- Pages: 96
- Sales rank: 256,189
- File size: 87 MB
- Note: This product may take a few minutes to download.
- Age Range: 12 - 17 Years
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Kirkus’ Best of 2015 list
School Library Journal Best of 2015
Publishers Weekly’s Best of 2015 list
Horn Book Fanfare Book
Booklist Editor's Choice
On August 29, 2005, Hurricane Katrina's monstrous winds and surging water overwhelmed the protective levees around low-lying New Orleans, Louisiana. Eighty percent of the city flooded, in some places under twenty feet of water. Property damages across the Gulf Coast topped $100 billion. One thousand eight hundred and thirty-three people lost their lives. The riveting tale of this historic storm and the drowning of an American city is one of selflessness, heroism, and courage—and also of incompetence, racism, and criminality.
Don Brown’s kinetic art and as-it-happens narrative capture both the tragedy and triumph of one of the worst natural disasters in American history. A portion of the proceeds from this book has been donated to Habitat for Humanity New Orleans.
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The New York Times Book Review - Kimberly Willis Holt
Explaining the complicated series of events that took place during the hurricane and in its aftermath is no easy feat, but Don Brown's graphic nonfiction account…accomplishes the task with strong results…This book could almost make its point on the powerful illustrations alone, but Brown's precise language secures the historical details in an unforgettable way…Drowned City delivers a brave treatment of important and uncomfortable details.Publishers Weekly
★ 05/25/2015Brown follows The Great American Dust Bowl (2013) with the story of the hurricane that destroyed New Orleans. He traces the sequence of events that left the flood levees breached and the city flooded with “a disgusting stew of oil, seawater, feces, rubber tires, foul linen, house paint, shattered lumber, and rot of all kinds.” It’s a grim, heartrending account. Thousands were stranded in venues utterly lacking in supplies or facilities. The crucial question of why the city’s African-American community suffered disproportionately is not dealt with on its face, but Brown’s artwork reflects the city’s diversity, and he recounts the victims’ indignities and outrages with deep sympathy. The author quotes President George W. Bush’s fulsome words for the head of FEMA—“Brownie, you’re doing a heck of a job”—then observes, “The President’s praise confuses many Americans.” Lively, dynamic sketching gives the artwork a sense of urgency and immediacy. It is as important to tell the story of a nation’s failures as it is to record its triumphs, and this is a crucial contribution. Ages 12–up. Agent: Angela Miller, Miller Agency. (Aug.)
From the Publisher
* "An excellent chronicle of the tragedy for a broad audience; children, teens, and adults will all be moved."—Kirkus, starred review * "Lively, dynamic sketching gives the artwork a sense of urgency and immediacy. It is as important to tell the story of a nation's failures as it is to record its triumphs, and this is a crucial contribution."—Publishers Weekly, starred review
• "Emotionally resonant, this outstanding title will appeal to graphic novel and nonfiction readers alike."—Booklist, starred review
• "This astonishingly powerful look at one of America's worst disasters is a masterful blend of story and art."—School Library Journal, starred review
• "If a book's power were measured like a storm's, this would be category five."—Horn Book Magazine, starred review “This book could almost make its point on the powerful illustrations alone, but Brown’s precise language secures the historical details in an unforgettable way...‘Drowned City’ delivers a brave treatment of important and uncomfortable details.”—The New York Times Book Review
Children's Literature - Erika Clark
What arises as an ordinary wind in Africa evolves into an unforgettable hurricane in the Americas, acclaimed by meteorologists as Hurricane Katrina. By the time the storm passes Florida as a category one hurricane, and travels through the Gulf of Mexico, heading straight for Louisiana, it is growing and gaining strength. When the calamitous category five Katrina’s gusty winds hurl into the city of New Orleans, most people have evacuated the city. The rest of the scared, stubborn, and simply stranded must face the dangers of what is to come—broken levees quickly swelling the city with water. Many families seek safety on their roofs or via floatation devices as a way to row to safety. However, some are not as fortunate. Police officers fled their posts, seeking their own refuge rather than helping those needing them. The Louisiana Department of Wildlife and Fisheries and the Coast Guard step in with rescue efforts. Even more courageous are the everyday people sail their own boats and save both neighboring friends and strangers. This graphic story is highly recommended for reader with a natural curiosity to know the unspoken details of the infamous Hurricane Katrina. Author/artist Brown respectfully illustrates the cause of the storm and the hardships and heartaches of its aftermath in this wonderful comic. Readers who enjoy this selection will also love other titles by Brown, such as “The Great American Dust Bowl.” Reviewer: Erika Clark; Ages 12 up.Kirkus Reviews
★ 2015-04-15Following the stellar The Great American Dust Bowl (2013), Brown tells the story of Hurricane Katrina and its impact on New Orleans, beginning with "a swirl of unremarkable wind" in "early August, 2005" and ending with the observation that "By 2012, only 80 percent of New Orleans's residents had returned." Artwork with the high quality of early Disney animation—strongly drawn figures against electrically charged watercolor backgrounds—seamlessly co-tells a dramatic tale with text that ranges from simple, factual sentences to quotations from an extensive collection of books and media. The text and artwork clearly reveal two separate but inextricably connected horrors: devastation caused by a high-category hurricane and the human responsibility that lay behind the nightmarish scenarios. The book is fast-paced and hard to put down, sequential panels used to perfect advantage. A couple is shown in rising water in their home, scratching a hole through their roof to safety. Later, a crowd of 15,000 waits, without supplies, in a fetid convention center, for impossibly slow help to arrive. "Mayor Nagin is never seen there." The final frame of that series depicts a woman on her knees, crying out, "Help us!" In addition to quoting and contextualizing such now-infamous sayings as, "Brownie, you're doing a heck of a job," the book pays homage to the heroism of many, both professionals and volunteers. An excellent chronicle of the tragedy for a broad audience; children, teens, and adults will all be moved. (source notes, bibliography) (Graphic nonfiction. 12 & up)