DROWNED CITY: HURRICANE KATRINA & NEW ORLEANS by Don 
Brown.  New York:  Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, 2015. 96p. ISBN: 
978-0544157774 hc. $18.99.  Gr. 6-12   JUV NF

Don Brown is known for his graphic novels that use illustration to bring
emotion to his stories of disaster, while pointing out the cause of each event.
They are informational and dramatic, taking readers right into the geographic 
location of each story. This book was surprising in its illustrative detail of 
New Orleans before the storm, and the devastation that Hurricane Katrina 
left behind.  Brown makes readers feel like they were there with hurricane 
survivors who were suffering and crying for help.  Readers share the outrage 
about how long it took for help to arrive, and the buses that should have been 
there to transport people, and the empty trains that left the city.  So many more 
could have been saved if government officials had made preparations for 
everyone to leave the city, whether they had money or not.  This book is 
recommended for young adults as some the illustrations of looting and dead 
bodies are not suitable for younger children.  If you want to read more books by
Don Brown, try THE GREAT AMERICAN DUST BOWL (2013).

Mary Koshorek, Librarian Assistant, Spies Public Library, Menominee, MI