Product Description
When Miles’s mother remarries, Miles decides to move to New Orleans to be with his father. But he and his father are very different—Miles’s dad lives for jazz, while Miles’s first love is football. Then Hurricane Katrina hits, and the two must seek refuge in the Superdome. What would normally be a dream come true for a football fan, this safe haven turns into a nightmare when the power fails and gangs take over. And when his father decides to rebel, Miles must make a choice that will alter their relationship— and their lives—forever. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (6)

Courtesy of Teens Read Too
Gold Star Award Winner!

Miles has been living in Chicago with his mother and has recently moved to New Orleans to live with his father. His father left the family years ago to play jazz music. Miles knows that his father's life is his music, but when his mother remarried and the family in Chicago increased by three kids, he knew he had no choice. Taking a chance on his father seemed like the only way to go.

So far, the two months father and son have spent together haven't been all that great. Miles is looking forward to playing football and maybe even making the varsity team at his new school. Unfortunately, he knows he probably won't see his dad at any of his games. His dad can't even remember that it's football Miles plays and not basketball.

When news that a huge hurricane is heading toward New Orleans reaches them, Miles, his father, and his uncle pile into the car with the idea of heading toward Baton Rouge and higher ground. The traffic is terrible, and the car soon overheats, leaving them stranded on the highway. As the storm gets closer, their only option is to follow the rest of the evacuees to the shelter at the Superdome.

In the several days Miles and his family spend at the Superdome, the storm batters the exterior of the massive building while the interior suffers from a "storm" of its own. When tired, frightened people are crowded into a facility not equipped to handle the situation, there are bound to be problems. In those few days, Miles experiences horribly unsanitary conditions, watches as thugs threaten, beat, and steal from innocent people, and sees death and suffering no person should ever have to witness.

Most of us watched the drama of Katrina unfold on our TVs, but Miles's experience brings us the reality of the actual storm and those first days afterward. Sadly, many are still suffering and trying to recover years later. Everyone should read this book as a reminder that our country reacted poorly in the early stages of the disaster, and even at this late date, not enough has been done to help rebuild the lives of so many.

Reviewed by:Sally Kruger, aka "Readingjunky"

Adults and teens alike
Hurricane Song is a story about a father and son in New Orleans during Hurricane Katrina.I picked this up off the new books display at the local library and wow.This is a difficult book to read, but one that I imagine will become more popular as we move on from Hurricane Katrina.

Miles is living with his dad, a jazz musician, in New Orleans when Katrina hits.They evacuate to the Superdome when their car breaks down on the freeway out of town.Their experiences in the Superdome are absolutely horrific.I found myself having to put the book down sometimes because it was so difficult to read.Powerful and important, I can see this becoming a part of high school or college reading in the future, when the pain from Katrina isn't so fresh.

Be aware, this is not a middle grades book.It is definitely YA, due to language and the things that Miles and his family experience.I would even recommend this to adults, due to the power of Volponi's descriptions of this national, natural disaster.

Hurricane Song with get into your soul
The Hurricane Song by Paul Volponi.Hurricane Song is a novel about a boy and his father and the hell they went through during Hurricane Katrina. The author was eerily accurate and had to have researched well because this story, while a work of fiction, could very well be true.

A chilling novel about a horrible chapter in our history
Once again Mr. Volponi creates a fast paced story that will engage readers.

Miles cannot stand living with his mother and his new stepfather. The apartment is too cramped, there are too many kids, and Miles has to escape. His mother finally allows him to move in with his father, a man he hasn't seen for most of his life. Miles is only in New Orleans for a few days when Hurricane Katrina hits.

The reader is given a vivid and often painful narrative of what life was like in the Superdome. We see these events through Miles' eyes. He is a frightened, confused young man who struggles to understand the inhumanity that is taking place around him. As always, Mr. Volponi does not shrink away from uncomfortable situations and paints a very realistic vision of what happened during those horrible days inside and outside the Superdome.

This is a very powerful book about a sad chapter in our country's history.

Drops you into the eye of the storm
Hurricane Song vividly drops you in the eye of the chaos that followed-- the nightmarish days and nights we all heard about inside the Superdome.
17-year-old Miles is sent to live with his Jazz musician father in N.O.He has been estranged from his father for most of his life but Miles is yearning to connect with the old man. Unfortunately, Katrina bears down on them a few days after he gets there and they find themselves stranded trying to escape the city. They end up at the Superdome and what follows is all the more harrowing because we know it's based on facts. Volponi puts you right into the stiffling heat and Lord of the Flies madness that took over the city. Like New Orleans, their relationship is severely tested, falls apart but somehow rises from the ashes like the music that beats in the heart of the city. This is a vivid, compelling read, ripe for any teen, but especially for boys. A must read and a true experience that needs to be remembered. Check it out! ... Read more

Book Description

Customer Reviews (4)

a solidly researched story of an under-reported American disaster
This book contains many maps that show the southern end of Florida breaking up and drizzling into the sea in long arcs of sand spits and islands known as the Florida Keys.The southern-most islands rest on the skeletons of coral reefs. The people who live or work in the lower Keys are barely above sea level, even on placid, sunny days.When a hurricane churns through these islands, the difference between land and sea blurs.Sand burns through the chaotic air, stripping the skin off of anyone unfortunate enough to be out in the storm.Islands are overwhelmed by the hurricane's storm surge, and entire buildings are washed into the sea.People drown in their own bedrooms.In 1935, the out-of-work World War I veterans who signed up for the labor camps in the Keys didn't comprehend the way wind and water could overwhelm low-lying islands and those edifices that were built upon them.In the end, they forfeited their lives through ignorance of what this author calls the wrath of the Mayan storm god, Hurakan.

Perhaps because the category five hurricane that swept through the Florida Keys on Labor Day, 1935 came only a few years before World War II, this natural disaster has not been as thoroughly documented as, say, the Galveston hurricane of 1900.Yet it was the first of only three category 5 Atlantic hurricanes to devastate our coastlines through the whole of the 20th Century.This book and William Drye's Storm of the Century: The Labor Day Hurricane of 1935 go a long way toward increasing our knowledge of this devastating storm.

Thomas Knowles' "Category Five:the 1935 Labor Day Hurricane" is part natural history and part political history.Readers will learn why the WW I veterans were in the Florida Keys in the first place, and also why our Government had originally encouraged settlement on these low-lying islands during the Spanish-American conflict.

Presidents Herbert Hoover and Franklin D. Roosevelt faced the same problem as our current Commander-in-Chief, i.e. how to put veterans back to work in the midst of a bad economy. In August, 1935, 696 veterans were working in Southern Florida, the majority on a highway that would connect the various Keys.

After the Labor Day Hurricane had passed through the Keys, only 435 of those veterans could be found among the living, and three out of every five of the civilian residents and tourists had also perished.

At times, this book becomes a bit tedious as it rambles through the pre-hurricane history of the Keys settlers and their families.The vicissitudes of a weather bureau that had to forecast the path of a hurricane without modern tools such as radar and satellite images are also detailed.

Thomas Knowles, a retired college administrator and Navy veteran who was born and raised in Key West, really comes into stride when he draws from eye-witness accounts to describe the horrors that survivors had to endure, both during and after the Labor Day Hurricane.He also reminds us that a similar hurricane could cause even more death and destruction, today.

"Category Five:The 1935 Labor Day Hurricane" is a must-read for residents of the Florida Keys, and a solidly researched story of an under-reported 20th Century American disaster.

Category 5
I have only read a chapter in the book so far as I'm finishing up a few others.It started good and seemed interesting.I cant wait to start reading further!!!!

A hero among heroes
My husband read this book with great interest.He was born and raised in Miami, Fl, and remembers the 1935 Labor Day hurricane as a small child.His father, the manager of a Miami piano store, related a memory to us of that hurricane shortly before his death at 90 years in 1988..He was in his warehouse, which backed up on the Florida East Coast (FEC)railroad tracks on the afternoon of September 2, 1935, when the train that was hastily made up to go rescue the 400 WW II veterans from the Matacumbe Keys arrived at the Miami station.He recalled that the train was held at the Miami station for quite a while before finally being released in the late afternoon to rescue the veterans...too late in the afternoon as it turns out.Just as the train finally arrived at the Islamarada station, it was blown off the tracks by the core of the hurricane as it swept over the Key.

His neighbor, J. E. Gamble, the conductor on the would be rescue train, told him several days later, that the fireman of the train, Will Walker, a black man, saved his life by penning him against the bars in the corner of the engine cab as the tidal wave pushed across the key by the eye of the storm swept over them. The fireman's heroic act has gone unrecognized and unrewarded to this day.

This book provided the invaluable background as to why the veterans were in the Keys in the first place. It explained how identifiable individuals' indecision, rather than an "act of God" caused the deaths of so many of our nation's blameless heroes.

Category 5: The 1935 Labor Day Hurricane
This book meant a lot to me as my grandparents, great grandfather, and other family members died in the Labor Day Hurricane that destroyed Matecumbe in 1935.Other surviving family members and friends were also documented. The account of the military veterans who were living in tents in Matecumbe was fascinating as well as the personal stories about the people who lived or were visiting Matecumbe on that fateful day, and were reminiscent of the stories my mother recounted to me over the years.This storm forever changed the fabric of the lives of ones left behind.I highly recommend this book for anyone interested in the history of the Florida Keys. ... Read more

Product Description
September 8, 1900, began innocently in the seaside town of Galveston, Texas. Even Isaac Cline, resident meteorologist for the U.S. Weather Bureau failed to grasp the true meaning of the strange deep-sea swells and peculiar winds that greeted the city that morning. Mere hours later, Galveston found itself submerged in a monster hurricane that completely destroyed the town and killed over six thousand people in what remains the greatest natural disaster in American history--and Isaac Cline found himself the victim of a devestating personal tragedy.

Using Cline's own telegrams, letters, and reports, the testimony of scores of survivors, and our latest understanding of the science of hurricanes, Erik Larson builds a chronicle of one man's heroic struggle and fatal miscalculation in the face of a storm of unimaginable magnitude. Riveting, powerful, and unbearably suspenseful, Isaac's Storm is the story of what can happen when human arrogance meets the great uncontrollable force of nature.Amazon.com Review
Reading in his signature dispassionate style, narrator EdwardHerrmann brings an eerie calm to this powerful chronicle of thedeadliest storm ever to hit the United States--a huge and terriblydestructive hurricane that struck land near Galveston, Texas inSeptember of 1900. Author Erik Larson re-creates the events leading upto the disaster in astonishing detail, tracing the thoughts andactions of Isaac Cline, a scientist with America's burgeoningU.S. Weather Bureau. Cline's unwavering confidence--"In an age ofscientific certainty one could not allow one's judgment to beclouded..."--blinds the meteorologist to the deadly onslaught about tobe unleashed. Herrmann's calculated performance reflects the impendingdoom and dangers inherent to an unquestioned and absolute faith inscience. (Running time: 5 hours, 3 cassettes) --George Laney ... Read more

Customer Reviews (287)

Chilling and horrifying
I was so anxious to launch into the excitement of the hurricane that I was impatient with the politics of the weather bureau and the "interruption" by the historical facts of weather forecasting.But once the disaster struck and claimed so many lives needlessly, all this information helped to bring out in full disgusting light the crime shared by the weather bureau and Isaac himself.This is a history of weather and an account of a horrific storm that supposedly, according to science, could never happen; but most of all it's an aching expose about the tragic cost of human pride on many levels and its effects on the lives of an unknowing and trusting public.Oh, the folly of man.Have we learned anything?

Reading for 2nd time
This is such a great book that I am reading it for the second time.The book is not only a spellbinding true historical story, but the book's author relates the events in a manner that few authors are able to achieve....he is a really great writer...and I am "taking notes" on his writing style.The 1900 Galveston hurricane was one of the most historic weather events in US history.Add to that the fact that I have spent many vacation hours in Galveston, which makes the story all the more personal to me...I really enjoy this book, and the authors writing style!Highest recommendations...not many that I will reread but this is one.

Fascinating!
I have always been intrigued by the hurricane that hit Galveston in 1900, and thought this book took an interesting angle -- the tragedy told through the life of the man who thought it could not be.This book was an easy and compelling read, artfully weaving together the life of Isaac, the culture and spirit of Galveston at the time, and the nature and destruction of the hurricane that hit the city.It was thrilling, suspenseful, and hardly read like a non-fiction account -- more like a good fiction novel or true crime book.I read the entire book in two days!Great if you want an introduction to the event or if you just want to read about it from a new angle.

Isaac's Storm: A Man, a Time, and the Deadliest Hurricane in History
Erik Larson is an incredible writer.The ability to take actual incidents and wrap a secondary story throughout that holds your attention to the very end is a true gift.I hope he continues writing, and quickly, as I finished 3 of his books in 2 weeks!

Larson Is a Master
This is the third Larson book I have read and each has been excellent. Each deals with a scientific advance and rapid changes in America as the 20th century begins.As I read the book I began thinking of how far we have come in understanding weather.I read this book against the background of the New Orleans Super Bowl victory made me think of Katrina.I wondered if we really had improved that much.I have tried to read Brinkley's book on Katrina and will now try again with this book in my mind.in 1900 there was bureaucratic infighting that cost lives.Remind anyone to Katrina.

I have recently read the Big Burn which also deals with a natural disaster during the same period.The stories are strikingly similar. ... Read more

Product Description
Hurricane Katrina shredded one of the great cities of the South, and as levees failed and the federal relief effort proved lethally incompetent, a natural disaster became a man-made catastrophe. As an editor of New Orleans’ daily newspaper, the Pulitzer Prize—winning Times-Picayune, Jed Horne has had a front-row seat to the unfolding drama of the city’s collapse into chaos and its continuing struggle to survive.

As the Big One bore down, New Orleanians rich and poor, black and white, lurched from giddy revelry to mandatory evacuation. The thousands who couldn’t or wouldn’t leave initially congratulated themselves on once again riding out the storm. But then the unimaginable happened: Within a day 80 percent of the city was under water. The rising tides chased horrified men and women into snake-filled attics and onto the roofs of their houses. Heroes in swamp boats and helicopters braved wind and storm surge to bring survivors to dry ground. Mansions and shacks alike were swept away, and then a tidal wave of lawlessness inundated the Big Easy. Screams and gunshots echoed through the blacked-out Superdome. Police threw away their badges and joined in the looting. Corpses drifted in the streets for days, and buildings marinated for weeks in a witches’ brew of toxic chemicals that, when the floodwaters finally were pumped out, had turned vast reaches of the city into a ghost town.

Horne takes readers into the private worlds and inner thoughts of storm victims from all walks of life to weave a tapestry as intricate and vivid as the city itself. Politicians, thieves, nurses, urban visionaries, grieving mothers, entrepreneurs with an eye for quick profit at public expense–all of these lives collide in a chronicle that is harrowing, angry, and often slyly ironic.

Even before stranded survivors had been plucked from their roofs, government officials embarked on a vicious blame game that further snarled the relief operation and bedeviled scientists striving to understand the massive levee failures and build New Orleans a foolproof flood defense. As Horne makes clear, this shameless politicization set the tone for the ongoing reconstruction effort, which has been haunted by racial and class tensions from the start.
Katrina was a catastrophe deeply rooted in the politics and culture of the city that care forgot and of a nation that forgot to care. In Breach of Faith, Jed Horne has created a spellbinding epic of one of the worst disasters of our time.


From the Hardcover edition. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (29)

Good story,Bad narrator!
We had heard bits and pieces of this storybeing read on NPR (National Public Radio) and really looked forward to listening to the entire story.

The narrator for the copy we purchased was awful ~ there were so many mis-pronounced words, it was almost unbearable to listen to.

Next time, either get a "local" to narrate or make sure that the narrator knows how to pronounce all of the cities, streets, and local references correctly.

Thanks, Diane

an intense look and the human damage from Katrina
While I would've liked to see move overview of this American tradegy, following the lives of these real people during harrowing times was amazing

New Orleans-comprehensive coverage
This book is a smashing account of the disaster in New Orleans. In spite of being "just another" account, it's a real life, gripping drama that you cannot put down. So readable, the drama unfolds with people and circumstances that are unbelievable to the rest of us who could only find facts from news account. Read it; you'll never be the same.

hard read
this book is all over the place. I was on page 58 and realized I haven't really learned anything or following any concrete story.
The Great Deluge is much better

A Lesson About America
For many of us, watching the events following the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina unfold on our TV screens in August of 2005 was an eye-opening experience.The lasting images of Katrina victims on our TVs telling us of their misery and suffering, while the government seemingly did nothing to intervene, sparked national outrage.In all, Katrina left 1,100 people dead, damaged thousands of residences, crashed the city's water and sewerage infrastructure, took out electricity and mail service for months, and left four-fifths of the city of New Orleans - seven times the size of Manhattan - underwater.A tragedy on this scale hadn't struck the United Stance since the San Francisco earthquake, and the victims we watched on the news - stranded at the Superdome or Convention Center or the highway out of town - represented a small fraction of the estimated 250,000 New Orleans residents left homeless by Katrina.In "Breach of Faith," author Jed Horne, a reporter for the local New Orleans paper who was awarded a Pulitzer Prize for his contribution to the paper's coverage of Katrina, helps explain why this tragedy occurred and what it says about us as a country.Through a series of stories - stories, he says, of heroes, rogues, dreamers, and doers - Horne promises to "provide a lesson for America about itself."

In fact, these stories are the heart of "Breach of Faith."There is the story of the social service worker watching as chaos descends at the Superdome.There is the story of the New Orleans resident who returns to his family's home after Katrina to find an X, code for dead, marking the family house, and the story of his struggle for months fighting FEMA bureaucracy to recover the remains of his father for a proper burial.There is the particularly affecting story of the doctor at the city hospital, serving the poorest of New Orleans residents, as the hospital waits for a week to be evacuated, all the while hearing the sound of helicopters rescuing patients from New Orleans' other, richer hospitals.There is the story of the former levee board president, boating across the drowned city and finding his biggest surprise to be the city's utter silence - no police, no firemen, no one.And then there is the story of the local paper's photographer, who also notes the utter lack of help, the utter lack of government presence whatsoever.A fellow photographer takes the famous picture of the woman who will become a Katrina icon as she slumps to her knees, wrings her hands, and begs, "Help Us."

"Breach of Faith" isn't just the story of Katrina victims, but also of this silence, this utter lack of help for the city of New Orleans.It is the story of the FEMA director who is more concerned with finding a dogsitter and making dinner plans than the suffering on the ground in New Orleans.It is the story of the Homeland Security chief who tells the American people that Katrina was unprecedented and couldn't have been anticipated when, in fact, the whole scenario had not only been anticipated but simulated in a disaster drill just a year earlier.It is the story of insurance companies not honoring Katrina victims' policies but instead leaving coverage up to the federal government, prompting a lawsuit joined by staunch conservative Senator Trent Lott.It is the story of the Army Corps of Engineers who did such a poor job of constructing levees to protect the city from floodwaters that one scientist compared it to "putting bricks on Jello-O."And it is the story of President Bush, strumming on his guitar in San Diego as all this misery is taking place.Three days after Katrina hits, during his plane trip back to Washington, DC, Air Force One flies over New Orleans, leaving a lasting image of Bush in the clouds, peering out the windows to steal a glance at one of the worst disasters in American history from far above.

Through these stories, Horne puts the reader in New Orleans and provides us with a deeper understanding of this man-made disaster, dispelling media myths and explaining the complex series of events that contributed to cause this disaster.Although structuring his book through these stories is somewhat flawed - it is difficult to keep track of the characters and the second half of the book loses steam in focusing on the technical rather than the personal stories of Katrina - Horne succeeds in showing that Katrina is not just a New Orleans story, but rather it is an American story.These are stories of people anyone can relate to - people like us, in situations that could happen to any of us.But ultimately the lesson about America Horne promised readers is unclear."Breach of Faith" begins and ends with the story of Patrina Peters.At the beginning of the book, the 43-year-old mother living in the Lower Ninth clings to a mattress with her daughter, certain that they will both be killed by the floodwaters.Fortunately, they are saved, then dropped off at the Superdome and eventually displaced to a bland upriver town.At the end of the book, Peters decides she misses New Orleans and her church too much and must return - her faith has not been breached.Like Patrina Peters' story, though, the story behind "Breach of Faith" is unfinished, for we as readers are left to wonder, is Peters' faith justified?Will she make it in New Orleans?According to an article in The New York Times, it is up to us as Americans to determine the fate of New Orleans: will we contribute the funding and vision necessary to rebuild this great city, or will we let it die?This part of the story -- the true lesson about America -- has yet to be written.
... Read more

Product Description
Natural and man-made disasters are becoming more commonplace in children's lives, and this touching free-verse picture book provides a straightforward account of Hurricane Katrina. In alternating voices, four friends describe their lives before, during, and after the storm and how, even though the world can change in a heartbeat, people define the character of their community and offer one another comfort and hope even in the darkest hours.
Adrienne, Keesha, Michael, and Tommy have been friends for forever. They live on the same street—a street in New Orleans where everyone knows everybody. They play together all day long, every chance they get. It's always been that way. But then people start talking about a storm headed straight for New Orleans. The kids must part ways, since each family deals with Hurricane Katrina in a different manner. And suddenly everything that felt like home is gone.
Renée Watson's lyrical free verse is perfectly matched in Shadra Strickland's vivid mixed media art. Together they celebrate the spirit and resiliency of New Orleans, especially its children. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (1)

A Wonderful Must Read Debut
This is the story of four friends, Adrienne, Keesha, Micheal and Tommy, who live on the same New Orleans street.

I thought the first picture book that dealt with hurricane Katrina would focus on the hurricane. I am glad I was wrong, I like this much better.
The reader gets to know the four friends and their community before Katrina . The connection will stay long after the hurricane is gone, as the friends and their community are coming back together.

Waston's free verse is beautiful she makes the four friends as real as they can be. Strickland helps to bring the friends, the storm and New Orleans alive with her illustrations. Watson and Strickland have come together to create a lovely picture book.

Michael
Cars are turned upside down
and the street sign is floating in the water
Daddy tells us to get to the attic
as fast as we can
I take Jasmine's hand and I hold it tight.
like big brothers do.
She's too scared to look out the window
but I'm not

I look out the window
and I see the whole block swimming in water
Furniture, clothes and toys are swirling in the flood
Roofs are crumbling and windows are shattering
Big winds have come and trees are breaking
And all I can see is more water rising
So I look away and I squeeze Jasmine's hand
real tight because now I am scared too.

I probably should not have shared the whole verse, (but I love it) I also know the text without the illustrations is only half the story. You definitely want to see whole picture, its gorgeous and filled with emotion. This is one of those picture books, that I appreciate more each time I look at it. And I can't stop looking.
... Read more

Product Description

outside, the wind is howling.
it is a monster shrieking to get inside.
outside, the rain is a solid wall of water.
everything is dark.
everything is destroyed.
everything is gone....

Customer Reviews (6)

Very authentic characters and a gripping story
Every once in a while, I pick up a lighter book for younger readers.I do this for two reasons, first because that's just what I'm in the mood for, and second, because I am always looking out for books to recommend to my kids.This book satesfied both reasons.

I won't bother giving a synopsis of the plot, as many others have done that better than I could.But what I liked most about this book was it's authenticity.I lived in Guatemala for a year, and this book captured the culture of life in a small Latin American village perfectly.Reading this story brought back fond memories.

I also liked the fact that the book didn't pull any punches when it came to the sheer horror of this type of event.

Over all, I highly recommend this book to any reader age 10+.

Teacher Approved
I purchased this book to use with my Reading class and read it when it arrived. It should fit the bill. It is both reader friendly and should keep the attention of my class.

A powerful can't-put-it-down story
Jose is a very believable boy, forced to see things he'd rather not see, to cope with a situation adults would shrink from--because there is no one else to turn to and others are depending on him.A harrowing story--made all the more gripping by the fact that, while the characters are fictional, the background is real.Terry Trueman does an incredible job of making us feel we are right there.

A terrifying story based on a real disaster
Thirteen-year-old Jose Cruz has been in La Rupa, Honduras his entire life. The tiny village of 56 people holds everything and everyone familiar to him. He lives in a comfortable house with his mom and dad; older brother and sister Victor and Ruby; younger siblings Juan, Maria and Angela; and beloved dog Berti. He goes to the International School, where he learns in both English and Spanish, and in his free time enjoys playing soccer with his friends. He also always keeps an eye out to catch sight of the colorful parrots that live in the trees on top of the hillside above the village. But in 1998, a category five hurricane hits Honduras and changes everything.

Hurricane Mitch strikes land in a fury of rain and wind. Jose has never experienced anything so scary in his life. To make matters worse, his father and older brother and sister are out of town making deliveries, and his faithful dog is missing. Jose knows he must stay brave and strong to help his mother take care of the younger kids. He tries to think what his father and admired older siblings would do, and has to dig deep for courage because the situation grows even worse.

The torrential downpour of rain causes a mudslide and buries half of La Rupa in seconds. Many of the villagers are killed, and the survivors are left with the heavy burden of worry and sorrow, and without shelter, food or fresh water. Jose doesn't know what happened to his dad, older siblings, or even his dog. He prays that they are safe and will return soon, but fears the worst. Knowing that if they were home they would be working hard to help the village, Jose pitches in where he can. He helps to dig for survivors, and then the dead; shares his house with the homeless; searches for food and water; and offers to go for a doctor when his little brother gets sick. He tries to be brave, but inside he's terrified. Will Honduras ever be the same? Will his family ever heal?

Terry Trueman is no novice writer, and his talents prove themselves in this terrifyingly realistic story based on the true disaster of Hurricane Mitch. Jose and his family are fictional, but the nightmares they and their neighbors endure are very similar to the real ones the Honduran people experienced in 1998. With Trueman's moving story and admirable characters, readers will be able to sympathize with and feel for these individuals. They may even learn from Jose how to dig for strength to face their own potential scary situations in life.

--- Reviewed by Chris Shanley-Dillman, author of FINDING MY LIGHT and THE BLACK POND

Book
Well I have to say this was a pretty good book. I actually cried some. But,thats just me, Still I highly recomend this book. ... Read more

Product Description

Product Description
Newlyweds Molly and David are only sixteen and eighteen years old when they head west.But they work hard, and at first their new life is full of promise, especially after a baby is born.Then disaster strikes and David must journey to find work, leaving Molly to face the prairie winter alone, in this gripping novel by the daughter of Laura Ingalls Wilder.

... Read more

Customer Reviews (6)

A real gem! Should be required reading!
This is such a beautifully written book - I have recommended it to others and each one who has read it has adored it.I've always loved Laura Ingall Wilder's books and was reading about her on Wikipedia the other day, when I read the entry on Rose Wilder Lane and was intrigued.I took out this book and Old Hometown from the libary and am hooked - they are beautifully written and evocative books.What a wonderful storyteller!Let the Hurricane Roar really does give you an idea of what the pioneers and their wives went through - her descriptions of the wife's plight were especiallymoving and took away any self-pity I might ever feel for a bad day at home!

Knowing the history helps
R.W. Lane was a writer LONG before her mother ever picked up a pencil. While The previous reviewers found Let the Hurricane Roar to be very similar to the LIW books, there is a reason. R.W. Lane based her novel on her grandparents' experiences in homesteading. (It's not surprising, then, for people to find similarities....) What is surprising to most people is the fact that the Little House Series was virtually unpublishable in its original form -- until Ms. Lane edited her mother's very basic manuscripts, giving them style, flow and poise. Her own career ended up suffering terribly from this devotion to her mother. I found Hurricane to be vastly superior to the LIW books (which should rightly be credited to RWLane, as well); the content, pacing and structure were far better developed, as were the characterizations. Brilliant depiction of the trials of homesteading on the plains.

Let The Hurricanr Roar
this story is really intresthing. it is just like on the banks of plum creek. i dont understand why they traveled west. But molly is the only 1 watching the baby while david travel back west to find a job i dont now why she and the baby didnt go with him.

I loved the book
This is a good book but if you are expecting it to be written in the style of Laura Ingalls Wilder's series, you have a surprise coming. Rose Wilder Lane is a good writer, but in an extremely different style from that of hermother...

This book is great!
This is a really good book, and although it's similar to books written byLaura Ingells Wilder, it's not that similar.Even though the characterslive in a house very much like the one described in 'On The Banks Of PlumbCreek,' it is most like 'The Long Winter.'Even though it is similar tothese two books, it doesn't matter because except for a few minor things,it is completly different from the original Little House Books. ... Read more

Product Description
The great hurricane of 1928 claimed 2,500 lives, and the long-forgotten story of the casualties, as told in Black Cloud, continues to stir passion. Among the dead were 700 black Floridians—men, women, and children who were buried in an unmarked West Palm Beach ditch during a racist recovery and rebuilding effort that conscripted the labor of blacks as latter-day slaves. Palm Beach Post reporter Eliot Kleinberg has penned the gripping and tragic tale of 1928’s killer hurricane from dozens of interviews with survivors, diary entries, accounts from newspapers, government documents, and reports from the National Weather Service and the Red Cross. Immortalized in Zora Neale Hurston’s classic Their Eyes Were Watching God, thousands of poor blacks had nowhere to run when the waters of Lake Okeechobee rose. No one spoke for them, no one stood up for them, and no one could save them. With historical photographs and heroic tales of survival and loss, this book finally gives the dead the dignity they deserve. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (6)

Gifted writer!
A great story and one that needs to be told and retold so the disgraceful disservice to blacks and poor people of that era doesn't get lost as time goes by.Also wanted to mention what a great and gifted writer the author is... very vivid descriptions and nicely written so you feel he's talking directly to you.Unfortunately there is a fly in the ointment... certainly not at all the author's fault, but rather the fault of the publisher... the book is poorly edited for spelling and grammar errors... shame on you Basic Books... you spoiled the reading just a tad for me, especially towards the end of the book when the errors were more numerous.Get some editors who know their business!Otherwise, I would HIGHLY recommend this book to anyone who loves history, Florida, hurricanes, people, anything!... read it, you'll enjoy it immensely!

Need to Know.Need to Remember.
Hurricanes are part of the natural landscape of Florida.Having not grown up in this state (CA native), I was unaware of the historic frequency of storms and the consequences to so many unassuming souls who fell victim to the times, before technology such as we have on our laptops: timely and accurate information, could have given them a fighting chance.

This book is hugely worth reading.I learned about the "taming" of Lake Okeechobee, and how the consequences of those actions in the 20th century have resulted in a seriously compromised Everglades, which was once a huge wetland ecosystem, now polluted and compromising the entire Florida Bay and its renowned coral reefs.

I learned that the early National Weather Bureau depended on information transmitted from ships in the Caribbean and Gulf of Mexico to learn of formation of storms.Those sailors performed the duties of our present day hurricane hunters.

I learned that it may well have been a single hurricane that took out numerous British ships (18) that provided a chance for the immigrants into this country to win their fight for independence from British rule.

I learned that real estate escalations, "flipping," and crashes have all happened before the present fiasco occurring in Florida at this time.

And most importantly - I learned of the historic treatment of blacks in the deep south, yet despite these incredible sorrows, Kleinberg believes that Florida is the most integrated of all the southern states, which provides some hope for healing of race relations, at least here.

I often feel that it is because of the influx of so many non natives to Florida, that we provide a consciousness that both uplifts and deeply contrasts with historic southern bigotry and racial hatred.

I have come to love Florida, despite the agony of watching each storm approach our lovely state.This book has given me a much better sense of place which I really appreciate.

I have several hurricane books which I recommend: Isaac's Storm (1900 Galveston, TX), The Great Hurricane of 1938 (New England), Holding Back the Sea: The Struggleon the Gulf Coast to Save America (LA, AL, MS, FL).Each book grounds me in the reality of living on the sea.True, "it" may never happen here, but these accounts help me find the energy to prepare for yet another season. (It's day two of the 2007 "Atlantic Hurricane Season" and we have already had 2 named storms.)

Deadly hurricane
The hurricane that struck the West Palm Beach and Lake Okeechobee areas in 1928 was one of the deadliest in history to hit the American mainland - as many as 2,500 people were killed. (In comparison, Andrew, a much stronger hurricane, killed only 15 in 1992.) One reason for this, as Kleinberg points out, is that many of the houses in Florida up to the 1920s merely sat on their foundations and were not anchored down in any way; they were thus easily blown or knocked by water off their foundations and smashed to pieces, killing people trapped inside and casting deadly debris into the winds. Kleinberg does a good job of tracking the storm across the Atlantic (it devastated the Caribbean, especially Puerto Rico) and in capturing the high drama involved in withstanding the storm's fury after it hit the mainland. He plays the blame game to a degree with the weather service for not getting its forecasts totally correct and for overconfidence, but considering the meager technology of the day the service might have done the best it could (except in the humility department). Kleinberg also deals with the cleanup efforts and the role of the Red Cross, both of which fostered racist practices: blacks were often ordered to do much of the cleanup work without pay or even being fed, and the Red Cross was accused of giving 80% of their aid to whites while only 20% went to blacks. What to do with 2,500 dead bodies was a major problem; many of the dead (mostly black) were buried in mass graves or burned on funeral pyres. Some of Kleinberg's assessments show their pre-Katrina bent: perhaps the biggest irony in the book is near the end where he asks "could another 1928 disaster happen" to which he replies "the easy answer is no." So much for that belief. All in all, it's a good account of the 1928 hurricane and its aftermath.

Little Known Hurricane in FL
Very good book and I would definitely recommend it to anyone interested in hurricanes or disasters. This hurricane is not very well know yet the deaths attributed to certainly qualifies it as a major disaster worthy of remembering.I bet most Floridians have never even heard about this event.Hopefully this book will change some of that. The author brings to life the hardships endured by the victims and describes how the disaster came about.

Poorly known tragedy...and portent
I agree with other reviewers that spoke highly of this work.This book is deeply moving in its portrayal of how a natural disaster combined with ineffective governmental precautions, human arrogance, and racial inequity to create an unmitigated human tragedy.The portrayal of people from all across the board is unfettered by political correctness as the author explores the range from poor black laborers buried in mass graves to a reactionary black interest group that tried to discredit the Red Cross, one of the few organizations relatively prepared for this emergency.

The events in this book are made all the more tragic when one realizes that humans have learned precious little from this type of disaster.As the earth warms, whether caused by man or not, the probablility of catastrophic hurricanes reaching our coasts may dramatically increase.And yet we build on coastal land until the water has nowhere to go and we remain haughty in the face of natural power.We also ignore human factors seen in the 1928 storm that linger on in Florida.

I highly recommend reading this book within the context of modern times and possiblilities.Or, try immersing yourself (if you can get past the numerous "typos" in the book) in the world of early Florida settlement.Either way, you will embark on a heart-wrenching experience that will long be remembered. ... Read more

Product Description
Imagine a force that can toss boats around like toys, wash away bridges, and create waves as high as eighteen feet. With fierce winds and torrential rains, hurricanes can do all of these things. They can cause tremendous damage and even change the shape of a shoreline. For centuries people did not know when a hurricane was coming. But now we have new methods to predict when and where these storms will occur. Young readers will learn how hurricanes are formed, how they are named and classified, and what to do if a dangerous storm is on the way.  ... Read more

Customer Reviews (1)

This swirling, fascinating book is an interesting way to learn about hurricanes!
Hurricanes seem to run nilly willy offshore and it is very difficult for even the most seasoned weatherman to predict just where they will end up, but there are many things we do know about them.Hurricanes always start over warm tropical waters when "warm water evaporated and rises into the atmosphere."Once this process starts and the air begins to spiral upward the process is intensified if the temperature of the water is 81 F.Cumulonimbus clouds are formed and become even larger as they absorb large amounts of moisture.The winds begin to pick up and the more they circulate and spin the more intense the situation becomes.When the "speed of the wind reaches 74 mph (119.1 kph), the storm is classified as a hurricane."Time to take action!

The area a hurricane covers can be quite expansive from 100 to 300 miles wide.Most of the hurricane activity that we see begins "over the Atlantic Ocean north of the equator." It is then they start their willy nilly journeys which usually last for about a week.The Saffir-Simpson Hurricane Scale is a predictor that indicates just how strong a storm can be.They range from Category 1 to the extremely destructive Category 5 that New Orleans experienced with Hurricane Katrina.In this book you learn about the particulars of each category, you'll get a glimpse at some devastating historical hurricanes, you'll see how hurricanes are forecasted and tracked, you'll learn about storm watches, hurricane warnings, how to prepare for a storm, and you'll learn some interesting facts.

This swirling, fascinating book is an interesting way to learn about hurricanes.I loved the setup of this book and if you have also read "Tornadoes" by Gail Gibbons you will have a good idea of how nicely she relays important information about nature's wondrous wrath.The first few pages discuss and illustrate how storms are formed.When the storm categories are discussed, you can read about and visual compare the differences.For example, in the aftermath of a Category one you can see the storm in action and when it is done you can see people out picking up the mess and surveying the damage like shingle loss, broken windows and scattered tree limbs.This is not only a fun book to read, but a very informative one! ... Read more

Product Description
August 29, 2005
Peering through the latticed brickwork of The New Orleans police headquarters parking garage, New York Times journalist Joseph B. Treaster is watching the devastating power of a hurricane up close. Packing winds of 118 miles per hour, Hurricane Katrina is attacking New Orleans, uprooting trees, tearing down power lines, and flattening homes. Inside headquarters, phones are ringing off the hook as more and more people, trapped by the rising floodwaters, call for help. But rescue workers cannot leave the safety of the building until the hurricane has passed. From this harrowing vantage point, Treaster is poised to report on what may prove to be the most infamous storm in American history.

But as with all hurricanes, the story of this storm began weeks before, off the coast of North Africa. Treaster details the evolution of the storm as it unfolds in the sky above the Caribbean Sea and is anxiously tracked by the National Weather Bureau in Florida before it strikes. This is a complete behind-the-scenes account of one of nature's most terrifying and fascinating disasters. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (1)

Courtesy of Teens Read Too
I've never had to live through a hurricane. Living in the Midwest, I don't see it happening in the near future, and after reading HURRICANE FORCE I can say that I'm glad! If you've ever wondered about the destructive force of these massive storms, this is definitely the book for you.

Although a large portion of the book focuses on the August 2005 arrival of Hurricane Katrina to the Gulf Coast, references are also made to hurricanes dating as far back as the early 1900's. Chapters are also spent on the work done by the National Weather Service in tracking, reporting, and identifying hurricanes, as well as how NWS strategies have changed over the years.

Maps and photos of actual radar images are prevalent throughout the book, tracking the progress of well-known hurricanes such as Katrina, Rita, and Charley. Photos of horrific damage resulting from these hurricanes, especially that of Katrina, are also shown, making the devastation seem that much more personable.

I would recommend HURRICANE FORCE to anyone interested in hurricanes, Katrina in particular, but also to those looking for more insight on how hurricanes form and what causes them to strike where they do. A highly informative book!

Reviewed by:Jennifer Wardrip, aka "The Genius" ... Read more

Product Description
In this sequel to "Tropical Storm," Dar and Kerry are back and making their relationship permanent. But an ambitious new colleague threatens to divide them --- and out them. He wants Dar's head and her job, and he's willing to use Kerry to do it. Can their home life survive the office power play? Dar and Kerry are redefining themselves and their priorities to build a life and a family together. But with the scheming colleagues and old flames trying to drive them apart and bring them down, the two women must overcome fear, prejudice, and their own pasts to protect the company and each other. Does their relationship have enough trust to survive the storm? Enter the lives of two captivating characters and their world that Melissa Good's thousands of fans already know and love. Your heart will be touched by the poignant realism of the story. Your senses and emotions will be electrified by the intensity of their problems. You will care about these characters before you are far into the story … and you will demand justice be done. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (15)

Only one complaint about this fantastic novel.
Melissa Good's new version of "Hurricane Watch" is wonderful except for one item:this version did not contain Dar's birthday party and Jack arriving with Chino.Did I miss something?These events were in the first edition of the book.Other than that, this new version was even better than version one.Great job of revising a book and making it even better (Stephen King also did this with his book, "The Stand").

Four and one half stars.

Kudos, Ms. Good

Brava!!!
Melissa Goods name should be Melissa Great as this writer is in a class of her own! The story of Dar Roberts and Kerry Stuart captured my heart form the very beginning and now I simply cannot get enough of these two characters. Hurricane watch is the second installment in the series and I gobbled it up as greedily as I did the first. I highly recommend reading the series in order. If you've never read a Melissa Good story start with Tropical Storm. Now, let your fingers run across the keys to the check out! You will NOT be disappointed!!

Oldie but goodie lol
Good beach read. A bit fantastical with youthful wealth & power, but enjoyable never the less.

Even Better the Second Time Around
I'm willing to bet that every fan of lesbian fiction has at least heard of this classic series by Melissa good.With that said, I won't go into detail about the characters or the story. What I will say is this series deserves its place among the best in lesbian literature and should be enjoyed by everyone.I recently read this series for the second time.Although I first read it several years ago, the characters and storyline seemed like old friends and I enjoyed visiting with them again.

Dar and Kerry are obviously based on Xena and Gabrielle.However, Good has given them lives of their own in a modern setting with new adversaries to topple.She has taken them past the bounds of television and allowed them to fully explore the potential of their relationship.Hats off to Melissa Good and the gift she has given this genre.

Very sweet romance
Especially relevant after the last 4 years of hurricanes here in the Sunshine State. A real feel good story whose popularity continues

Populated with endearing characters that have interesting and diverse lives.With it's Florida locales, high-tech careers and personal drama this novel has plenty to offer any reader.I especially enjoyed the character growth of both Dar and Kerry plus those who surround them in their lives. Plenty of intrigue and office politics and romance keep this novel a page turner.

I am so glad to see this terrific story will soon be back in print in a wonderfully edited new edition. This is a substantial story that is ideal for vacation or a long weekend or airplane trip.

This is a novel in a series that has grown to be 7 novels and is still growing. Don't miss any of the titles in the series -

* Tropical Storm
* Hurricane Watch
* Eye of the Storm, 2nd Edition
* Red Sky At Morning
* Thicker Than Water
* Terrors of the High Seas
* Moving Target


From the publishers web site - In this sequel to "Tropical Storm," Dar and Kerry are back and making their relationship permanent. But an ambitious new colleague threatens to divide them --- and out them. He wants Dar's head and her job, and he's willing to use Kerry to do it. Can their home life survive the office power play? Dar and Kerry are redefining themselves and their priorities to build a life and a family together. But with the scheming colleagues and old flames trying to drive them apart and bring them down, the two women must overcome fear, prejudice, and their own pasts to protect the company and each other. Does their relationship have enough trust to survive the storm? Enter the lives of two captivating characters and their world that Melissa Good's thousands of fans already know and love. Your heart will be touched by the poignant realism of the story. Your senses and emotions will be electrified by the intensity of their problems. You will care about these characters before you are far into the story ... and you will demand justice be done. ... Read more

Product Description
Hurricane Anna is coming! Noah and his family are getting ready for the storm. First they board up the windows, then they get supplies for the house, like extra food and batteries. They even fill up the bathtub with water for emergency washing and drinking. Finally, they are as ready as they can be.

When the storm comes it howls like a wolf. Noah watches through a peephole as trees bend, rain shoots sideways, and the roof rattles. By morning, the storm has passed. Noah and his family go outside to look around. Everything is inside-out and upside-down! Noah's mom hopes that no one was hurt, and she says plants will grow back and broken things can be fixed. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (1)

Great Hurricane Book for Kids
What a great book to help children deal with hurricane preparedness. Wonderful illustrations and written with warmth and humor. It also deals with the real fear that a bad storm can be a life changing experience, as it was for the children that went through Charley and Katrina. Having been through a Cat 4 storm, I recommend this book for all children and plan to send a copy to my granddaughter in Maryland. It may be geared to children but adults will enjoy reading it too! ... Read more

Product Description
Describes the origin and nature of hurricanes and ways of staying safe when threatened by one of these dangerous storms. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (2)

Lot of information
Hurricane Watch (Let's Read and Find Out)

My copy doesn't say the level for this book. It seems a bit more detailed than others but it is still easily read and understood. It thoroughly covers AIR, how much it weighs how it moves. There are sketches to accompany the information. Then it gets into hurricanes. There is historical info and maps showing where previous hurricanes have traveled. Then we get into the good stuff. Descriptions of what it is like when a hurricane is coming to your town. The dark sky, the rain and wind. The damage it causes. After that scary stuff it explains how satellites let us know when a hurricane is brewing so we can get out of it's way and prepare for it. Weather planes fly into the storms to give us information we need to help understand hurricanes. If you can't leave your home it tells what kinds of things you will need such as flashlights, battery radio, matches, food and water.

Great book for a young meteorologist
I read this book when I was five years old, and even now (17 years later) I remember what a vividly informative book it was.The author communicates skillfully; the information is not only palatable to a young audience, but presented very engagingly. ... Read more

Product Description
The first book to establish hurricanes as a key factor in the development of modern Cuba, Winds of Change shows how these great storms played a decisive role in shaping the economy, the culture, and the nation during a critical century in the island's history.

Always vulnerable to hurricanes, Cuba was ravaged in 1842, 1844, and 1846 by three catastrophic storms, with staggering losses of life and property. Louis Pérez combines eyewitness and literary accounts with agricultural data and economic records to show how important facets of the colonial political economy--among them, land tenure forms, labor organization, and production systems--and many of the social relationships at the core of Cuban society were transformed as a result of these and lesser hurricanes. He also examines the impact of repeated natural disasters on the development of Cuban identity and community. Bound together in the face of forces beyond their control, Cubans forged bonds of unity in their ongoing efforts to persevere and recover in the aftermath of destruction. ... Read more

Product Description
Imagine standing at the center of a Roman coliseum that is 20 miles across, with walls that soar 10 miles into the sky, towering walls with cascades of ice crystals falling along its brilliantly white surface. That's what it's like to stand in the eye of a hurricane.In Divine Wind, Kerry Emanuel, one of the world's leading authorities on hurricanes, gives us an engaging account of these awe-inspiring meteorological events, revealing how hurricanes and typhoons have literally altered human history, thwarting military incursions and changing the course of explorations. Offering an account of the physics of the tropical atmosphere, the author explains how such benign climates give rise to the most powerful storms in the world and tells what modern science has learned about them. Interwoven with this scientific account are descriptions of some of the most important hurricanes in history and relevant works of art and literature. For instance, he describes the 17th century hurricane that likely inspired Shakespeare's The Tempest and that led to the British colonization of Bermuda. We also read about the Galveston Hurricane of 1900, by far the worst natural calamity in U.S. history, with a death toll between 8,000 and 12,000 that exceeded the San Francisco earthquake, the Johnstown Flood, and the Okeechobee Hurricane combined.Boasting more than one hundred color illustrations, from ultra-modern Doppler imagery to classic paintings by Winslow Homer, Divine Wind captures the profound effects that hurricanes have had on humanity. Its fascinating blend of history, science, and art will appeal to weather junkies, science buffs, and everyone who read Isaac's Storm. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (8)

Excellent resource for understanding hurricanes & other weather events
I had the good fortune to attend an event hosted by our local parish on climate change. The speaker was Professor Emanuel of MIT, who also wrote several books geared towards a public audience. I bought one book at that talk, which summarizes the main thrust of his talk about climate change. It is a short book, easy to read and focused on what research is available and how to compare the different results being published.

I liked his talk and book so much that I was inspired to look him up on the internet and discovered this other book, Divine Wind. This book integrates his professional expertise in regards to hurricane formation with a rather poetic and historical approach to that subject. I am finding it a very interesting and informative book and highly recommend it to all. With climate change making itself felt more and more in changing and intensified weather conditions, it helps to understand the forces building in our atmosphere.

God Bless,

Divine Wind
Excellent science plus beautiful art and interesting poetry/prose. I was impressed and fascinated. I wish he could update it with Katrina and Rita.

Based on Looks
I ordered this book as a gift.They had requested it so I feel certain that the content was what they wanted and I cannot rate it.My rating is based on the appearance of the book.The cover did not look brand new.It looked as if it had been in the sun somewhere or something.The pages themselves were better, but I was disappointed.

One Of The Original Hurricane Hunters Comments!
As an original member of the 53rd Weather Recon. Sqdn of the USAAC and who has flown in B-17's & B-29's into Hurricanes in the early 1940's, I felt alive as I read Kerry's Divine Wind.I have complimented Kerry on this excellent work that covers History, Poetry and Science.This book is a must for everyone, particularly those living on the Eastern Seaboard of the USA. All of us living on Planet Earth need to know about the forces of nature and Divine Wind educates us about Hurricanes--Thanks to the expertise of Kerry Emanuel!

Great Book!
Being a Hurricane Katrina victim I found this book to be quite informative and interesting.The scientific aspect of it is a bit technical, but it related to my current Biology course and it's always nice to come across a real-world application of something you're studying in class.I've also discovered some interesting facts regarding the history of hurricanes, although I was a little disappointed to find there was practically nothing about the Last Island Hurricane which, to my surprise, is a piece of history that has been largely ignored. ... Read more

Product Description
One hundred years after the hurricane of 1900 devastatedGalveston, Texas, it remains the most deadly natural disaster in United Stateshistory. Although many heeded the warnings of local weatherman Dr. Isaac MonroeCline, numerous others did not. More than 6,000 souls perished.Shortly after the storm, author Nathan C. Green set out to sharewith the world the Story of the 1900 Galveston Hurricane . Forthose who had lost their lives, he would become their voice; for those who hadsomehow miraculously survived, he would become their chronicler. To furthermemorialize the events of the Galveston Hurricane, Pelican has reprinted Dr.Isaac Monroe Cline's Storms, Floods and Sunshine: AnAutobiography ($25.00), which it first published in 1945. ... Read more

Product Description

Customer Reviews (22)

terrific read reviewed bya crank
This is a terrific book that keeps you on the edge of your seat. I found my way to it after reading the stellar reviews in The New York Post and The Washington Post.Everyone I've talked to who remembers the hurricane vouches for the details as a nearly perfect job of reporting and a story told most skillfully.I am stumped by the negative review posted here but see that this reviewer has written negatively about everything else that he or she reviews. It is a disservice to this book and sounds like he or she might be in cahoots with the author of the othertitle on the subject. If you want a gripping account of this major hurricane told through the lives of the people who experienced it, this is your book.

So interesting!
I had to keep reading to finish it quickly and see what happened!I savored it, too, though.Very well written.

The 9-21 Disaster
On Wednesday September 21, 1938 the Great Hurricane hit eastern Long Island, Providence, and the New England states. Fishing fleets were destroyed along with houses and 700 people. The tide was high under a full moon. Fifty-foot waves hit the shore so hard that it registered on a seismograph in Alaska. Cherie Burns reconstructed this even from newspaper reports, survivor testimony, and archival sources. Is such a disaster possible again? Yes, but weather forecasting should give a warning (p.6). A mature hurricane is the most powerful event on earth. But GH38 seems to have been censored from memories (p.3). It was the strongest and most destructive storm to ever hit New England. The 15 chapters tell the story of the people who experienced this natural disaster. There is an Index but no Table of Contents. "GH38's loss of lives and property damage total exceeded San Francisco's earthquake and fire of 1906 and Chicago's fire of 1871" (p.212).

The Great Depression affected people's lives with wide-spread unemployment. New England textile mills suffered from competition in the South. Chapter 2 describes the times. [I think that "Yankee trait" (p.19) of restraint and lack of ostentation goes back a few centuries to the Puritans.] Watching storms was a pleasurable pastime (p.21). Accurate predictions can reduce the loss of life (Chapter 3). Chapter 4 and 5 tell of people's lives at that time. The Great Gale of 1815 destroyed every tree on Napatree Point (p.46). Some heeded the signs of bad weather (pp.48-49). A red sky in the morning is a warning. There had been only two major hurricanes during 300 years (p.54). High winds announced the arrival of the storm (p.57). GH38 struck eastern Long Island at 3PM then swiftly moved to hit the mainland. The rainfall measured 10 to 17 inches over the next several hours (Chapter 8). This super tropical storm quickly intensified (p.75). The storm surge of sea water killed most people (p.76).

Chapter 9 tells of people's activities during the high water and winds. So does Chapters 10 through 12. Chapter 13 describes the flood and destruction that hit Providence. Downed power and telephone lines isolated people. Flood waters spread everywhere, like a menace in a horror-film (p.163). Fallen trees blocked roads and sidewalks, flying debris caused injuries. The fire in New London Connecticut was visible in Providence (p.173). The fast-moving hurricane departed as quickly as it arrived (Chapter 14). The newspapers reported the death and destruction (pp.179-180). Chapter 15 has more stories from the survivors. Some bodies were found weeks later, some were never found (p.191). Many died from exposure (p.197). Hundreds of millions of trees were uprooted (pp.201-202). 9,000 homes and buildings were totally destroyed, 15,000 were damaged (p.205). Fishing communities were nearly wiped out (p.206). The Weather Bureau was criticized for its failure to report the hurricane (p.207). GH38 wasn't big news for most of the country (p.208). The Weather Bureau improved its forecasts (p.212). Homeowner's insurance was rare (p.213), many lost homes were never replaced. [Could the forgetfulness of this disaster be explained by a need to keep tourists coming?]

Beach reading
I took this book on vacation in Maine to read it at the beach.I know there were a lot of errors (typos too), but I enjoyed it anyway.It was light reading while relaxing in the sun by the water and being thankful I wasn't in my hometown, Warwick, Rhode Island, back then.The American Experience DVD on the 38 Hurricane is an excellent follow-up.

An unheralded disaster
What lessons do we learn from ferocious weather? This planet is our home and our playground and it's easy to forget that we're at the mercy of the elements -- until Mother Nature throws us a hard ball like the Great Hurricane of 1938. Thundering into Long Island, Connecticut and Rhode Island, this great storm devastated homes, farms and commercial areas. Hundreds of thousands of trees were blown down, transportation and essential services were disrupted, and seven hundred people lost their lives.

Author Cherie Adams sets the scene: 1938 is poised between the Great Depression and the start of World War II. The front-page stories are focusing on the annexation of Czechoslovakia's Sudetenland region by the Third Reich. Weather prediction is slow and unreliable, so nobody worries that the inside pages of the newspaper are predicting high winds and heavy rain.

The eastern coastal regions are enjoying the last weeks of nice weather along the shore. In comes the hurricane, with an exceptional forward speed of 60 miles per hour. Whatever difference warning might have made, there is no warning and the winds, rain and solstice-swelled storm surge wreck everything in their path.

Adams' weather scenes are vivid and her statistics at the end are quite awesome. Her sources are letters, newspaper stories and other written reports, as well as whatever eyewitness accounts are available so long after the event. She presents the human side of the disaster in strobe-like jumps from one "character" to another, never developing any of them fully so that they blur into a confusion. Some stand out--the wedding party, the schoolboy in a new suit, the cameo appearance of actress Katharine Hepburn--but most are like too many snapshots of strangers in someone's old album.

I'm not sure what I wanted from this book. A better understanding of life in 1938? Meteorological context? Most of all, probably, insight into the strength of character that helps individuals survive a cataclysmic loss. I came away feeling that I would have done better to re-read Sebastian Junger's "The Perfect Storm," or even--reaching back to 1977--"Condominium" by John D. McDonald. Or the best idea of all, one might find the original stories, articles, memoirs, and read them in the writers' own words.

I listened to an unabridged audio presentation of this book so did not have the benefit of any maps or photos, of which I understand from other reviewers there were too few. The book shows intensive research and the writing is effective, though the organization is not what I would have preferred. Three stars.

Linda Bulger, 2008 ... Read more

Product Description
New York Times bestselling author Karen Harper takes readers into the eye of the storm, where two parents fight to rescue their children from the overwhelming menace of a hurricane.

With lashing rain and brutal winds bearing down on them, residents of southwest Florida prepare for evacuation. But Julie Minton cannot leave. Her fourteen-year-old daughter, Randi, left home earlier that morning to go out on a Jet Ski with Thad Brockman, a boy Julie barely knows. Now Randi and Thad are missing -- and the hurricane that hours ago was just another routine warning has turned toward shore.

With local law enforcement absorbed in emergency response measures, Julie has only the help of Zack Brockman, Thad's father. Together they begin a race against time to find their children -- but first they must battle not only Mother Nature, but an enemy willing to use the danger and devastation of the storm for their own evil ends. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (16)

Thrilling Ride!

Ms. Harper writes a fantastic suspense story. I was on the edge of my seat. There was tension of all kinds and yet nothing seemed out of place. I loved how clean it was and not bloody, gory, or full of sex. It was a nice change of pace and the characters were well detailed. I felt like I was in the midst of the book. I love reading the credits to see how much help they had and it showed how important she felt it was to seek out help to write an accurate story line.

Julie is a woman I canrelate to with being a mom. She truly cared for her daughter even though it didn't always show. Running a resort for cutters kept her busy. She had help in her friend Kaylin to run the resort. Kaylin is tested by the emotions of Randi gone as well as helping the girls and not returning to her old ways of cutting to deal with the stress. Zach is a tough guy but even he is stressing out. He doubts finding the kids alive but won't stop looking. With his SEAL training, it may just be the one thing that would save the kids.

This book was very good! I was impressed with how well paced it was and with the diversity of characters. I would definitely read more of this author's work. I'm not sure what problems people might have with this writing style, but give it a try. I hope the rest of her work is just as good if not better. I am definitely happy with how it all played out.

Have you ever ridden a hurricane
Ms. Harper's suspense thriller lived up to all expections of her usual writing style.As a native Floridian who has survived many hurricanes her descriptions were accurate and on point.The only thing I missed was a more vivid desciption of the surprises and horrors of the aftermath.

I thoroughly enjoyed the novel and would recommend it to any Floridian.

I have read the other negative reviews and find many of their comments baseless.

BORING!!!
This was the first Karen Harper book I have read and it was so boring. I skipped pages and pages to just find out who were the bad guys and get to the end of the book. I am not sure if I would read another Karen Harper book. Thank goodness this was passed on to me and didn't waste my own money on it. Don't bother reading this one.

Disappointing
My first Karen Harper book was Inferno and I liked it so thought I would try another.Big Mistake! Mostly I couldn't stand the heroine, Julie. She is absolutely annoying (the woman never shuts up) as are most of the female characters in the story. Julie is the ultimate know it all. You have a Navy Seal trained for rescue and our Miss Julie isn't going to listen to him because he took off once without her. Boo Hoo! Then the next portion of the book becomes the liberated female who needs no man even if he is a Navy Seal to help her. She is so dumb it's unbelieveable. Zach is trained in rescue and Julie hasn't a clue and had no business out in the storm but the author is trying to make her the macho rescurer. Then our Navy Seal becomes a wimp!Oh lets get real. The whole book is just annoying. I finally quit reading and tossed the book aside because I reached a point I could care less about the characters or how it ended. I don't know whether to take the chance on another of KH's books.I do see good reviews on some of her books but this one was just annoying. There was no depth to any of the characters.

Hurri-can't
To get one thing straight, right up front - there is nothing really *wrong* with this book - the writing is good enough, the *main* characters are mostly developed OK (although all the women main characters are so neurotic that I just wanted to smack them), and the premise seemed like one that would provide plenty of suspense.But it didn't - provide suspense, that is.Honestly, I just didn't care.I can read a book of this length in about 5-6 hours, if properly motivated and, to give a bit of a comparison, I have spent over a MONTH trying to force my way through this one.I finally just gave up and said ENOUGH.

The basic idea is that Julie Minton and her daughter Randi have moved to Florida, down into the Keys, where Julie has opened up a center for girls who are "cutters" (that is, they cut themselves obsessively in order to help make themselves feel more in control of themselves and their lives), where she and her friend Kaylin spend a couple weeks with each group of girls to help them curb their impulses and turn them toward more positive actions.Kaylin is a former cutter, which turns up as a plot devise later on.Randi has a crush on Thad, who is the son of Zach Brockman - who, ironically enough, Julie had a bit of a crush on when she was younger, but upon which she was not allowed to act because her family was rich and Zach was "beneath" her.At any rate, Randi gets to ride with Thad on a Jet-Ski and they go missing.Right before a big-ol' hurricane is due to come up.

At this point we are hurriedly introduced to a dizzying array of characters who are mostly not developed enough for us to differentiate between them - or, who are developed by the use of clichés.To add to the confusion, Julie stumbles upon a couple murders, and finally a ransom note.We are left as befuddled as the characters - more so, since we have no idea who these people are!Were the kids kidnapped?If so, why? Were they witnesses to a drug deal?Is it to force Julie to sell out the ancestral home?Or were the kids just in an accident on the Jet-Ski and forced to hole up on one of the 10,000 Islands of the Keys?Or did they maybe just run away to New York or New Jersey?By this time, honestly, I didn't even care.The only reason I kept going as far as I did was simple stubbornness.Do yourself a favor - don't waste your time like I did.

... Read more

Product Description
This remarkable true story begins in a Brooklyn ghetto when a group of Canadians meets Lesra (Lazarus), an illiterate black teenager who wins their hearts. They end up bringing him to Toronto to help with his education, and while learning to read, Lesra finds a copy of Rubin "Hurricane" Carter's The Sixteenth Round. It was a book destined to change Lesra's life forever, and the lives of his adopted family.

Rubin Carter, the subject of Bob Dylan's song "Hurricane," was a number one middleweight boxing contender who had been wrongfully imprisoned after a white jury found him guilty of the murder of three whites in 1966.A huge public outcry followed the publication of The Sixteenth Round in 1974, culminating in a retrial, which was a virtual reenactment of the original travesty, with Carter receiving the same triple life sentence.

Moved by Lesra's passion, his adopted Canadian family contacted Carter and reinvigorated the legal battle. The inspiring relationship that ensued forms the heart of Lazarus and the Hurricane--a riveting legal drama, fast-paced murder investigation, and above all, a moving account of hope, humanity, and the indomitability of the human spirit. Amazon.com Review
In 1979, Lesra, a 16-year-old African American boy from an impoverished Brooklyn neighborhood, befriended three thirtysomething Canadians in the borough on business. The boy, whom the Canadians flew to Toronto to visit them, had led a life so far from the comforts of nature that he stumbled trying to walking on a lawn. Charmed by the exuberant and obviously intelligent Lesra (Lazarus), and aware that without decent health care, a safe environment, or an education he would have little or no hope of success in his dangerous neighborhood, this exceptional group of people invited him to live with and be educated by them. Lesra thrived under their watch--but the story of Lazarus and the Hurricane is only beginning.

After finally being taught to read, at age 16, Lesra immerses himself in The Sixteenth Round, the autobiography of Rubin "Hurricane" Carter. The African American prizefighter was tried and convicted in 1966 for murders he didn't commit (the book's title refers to his bouts with the legal system as he tries to get himself exonerated). Lesra and his Canadian "family" pursued both a cause and a friendship with Carter that would transform all of their lives. The Canadians are active but not particularly distinct personalities in this book--a group of do-gooders who don't want too much credit. And Lesra, though he is finely described in early chapters, also falls away from the center of the story once Carter comes into view, for the Hurricane is a centrifugal force that cannot be ignored. Widely read and sensitive, but also pleasure-loving and intensely vital, Carter is the reason readers will be unable to forget this story. And they shouldn't. As Carter revives his fight with the support of his new friends and generous lawyers, working through a byzantine maze of court rulings and appeals, the shortcomings of America's legal and prison systems are made painfully clear. The compelling, bittersweet story in Lazarus and the Hurricane should be a call to action. --Maria Dolan ... Read more

Customer Reviews (20)

Best book I have ever read
This is the best book that I have ever read. What a devastating, yet inspiration story all at once. The tragidy that society placed on minority groups in the past has to be told and this is told so eloquently. This is a must read for every man, woman, and child in our society today. We must never forget the past so that we do not go there again. This tragedy should never be repeated. The story of what life is all about is in this book. It will touch you like no other book has before.

Good Story ...Told Not So Well
I really enjoyed the Ruber Carter biography The 16th Round. Carter is an amazing writer and he has an amazing life story. I figured this book would be sort of a follow up to his book taking us from incarceration in the end of 16th Round to freedom in Lazarus...
Instead of getting to the story like Carter was able to the authors of this book felt the need to give a over done bio on Lesra Martin, who would come to befriend Carter. While it seems their intentions were positive for this kid they tend to paint his pre Canada picture as almost insulting this poor kid because of how he talked and acted, and I found the actual presenting his dialogue in supposed Brooklyn slang to be slightly distracting, and we could have done without the language lesson in "Black English"
Sadly after this intro to the character of Lesra they really fail to mention him much after the story gets going. Lesra is lost to countless stories of trips to see Carter in prison and legal insight.
The authors who are not Americans seem to almost take enjoyment in bashing the American legal system. They offer a very uneducated assumption based point of view on facts and issues I feel they had little understanding of. And while personally I feel Carter was not guilty of the crimes, the authors paint Carter as a tragic hero you should feel bad for, however that is by far over shadowed by theirself-righteous telling of the legal battle in which they take the light that is supposed to be on Carter and apply it to them. They seem to want to have the reader view them as these people who are so good hearted and do everything to aide Carter so well that you can't help but love them.

This book is good to get more facts but if you are looking for a follow up to Carter's story it's not here, this is instead an undiverse retelling of Carter's legal battle, less from the point of view of legal experts and more so that of "crusaders" who were out to see Carter free.
I respect what they helped do for Carter but find the way they recall the story to be offensive and at times selfish.

Fair treatment of two great stories
This book is not as well-written as some of the other books out there, but the stories it tackles are certainly interesting.

Rubin Carter, the brash young boxer turned local cop fall-guy, has a heartbreaking story that begins the moment he is taken in for questioning in a murder that he didn't commit, and ends years later, when he is finally exonerated as an older man.

Lesra has an even more heartbreaking story; as a pre-teen, he is in a prison of his own, the prison of a miserably poor life in the ghetto that has deprived his good genes of achieving their potential.

The book tracks the arrest and imprisonment of Carter, and the story of Lesra as he is taken in by a group of Canadian liberals who wish to give him a better chance at life. To me, the story of Lesra was even more interesting than the story of Carter. The most compelling scenes in the book happen when Lesra begins to adjust to his new lifestyle, and to transform from a physically stunted, uneducated boy into a sensitive and articulate young man. It gives pause to anyone who has ever said that those who live in poor urban America just need to work a little harder if they want to get out. The book makes the argument that the environment of the ghetto is so harmful that just being born and raised there creates a version of you that is almost incapable of rising above the more obvious obstacles.

Young Lesra becomes interested in Carter after reading his book, and he and his guardians become involved in trying to achieve justice for Carter. After a long and trying bureaucratic battle, they finally help to free Rubin Carter, whose innocence could not be questioned by anyone remotely acquainted with the facts of his case.

As much as I liked the stories, the writing was not very good, and often impaired my enjoyment. The fact that the authors are Lesra's Canadian friends is treated rather awkwardly, and characterizations of all of the main characters is pretty subjective, with the kindest possible spin given to every harsh word or action.

This contributes to a feeling that the authors are not being completely honest about the story; it's not that I think they're lying, but rather that they aren't willing to evaluate everything with a critical and objective eye. In one sense, the most important sense, the idea of six comparatively wealthy do-gooders taking a boy out of the ghetto and then taking the ghetto out of the boy is noble and uplifting. But another way to look at it, as a group of meddlers playing God with a human guinea pig, is never really addressed. It kind of reminded me of My Fair Lady in some ways. It's not that I disagree with the wonderful gift that they have given to Lesra; it's just that I think there's more to the story of how they came to decide to do that particular good act.

Overall, I do recommend this book because it has a lot to say, and to prove, about race relations and injustice in America. The unveiling of the corruption of those who sought to have Carter imprisoned is absolutely and unequivocally shocking. The difficulties that the innocent Carter encounters are just disgusting; he's not an innocent man in prison seeking to establish his innocence, but rather an innocent man in prison whose innocence is well-documented, and who can't seem to get anyone to listen, despite resources and national attention well beyond what most prisoners have. Lesra is equally exemplary of another serious problem; how can we expect good citizenship from America's urban poor when their environment is so suffused with negativity and animalistic treatment, 24 hours a day and seven days a week? The pull-themselves-up-by-the-bootstraps argument never seemed so hollow.

Inspiring Lives
Two stories in one book, the first part about a young man named Lesra (short for Lazarus) and then the full history of Rubin Carter known as the Hurricane, a black American framed for a crime he never committed and wrongfully imprisoned.A third influence which shadows both stories is a group of people known as the Canadians, their motivations are not revealed to the reader yet without the actions taken by these Canadians the stories with happy endings told in this book would not have been possible.

Lesra was 15 when he was hired to work at a lab in Brooklyn as part of an government funded summer program for inner city youth, it was there that he met a group of Canadians who were working at the lab on a research project.He was invited to visit them later for a weekend in Toronto and they were shocked at the appalling state of his education, though in high school he was unable to read or write and had an extremely limited vocabulary, didn't know how to read a map and had never run on grass.Lesra moved in with them in Canada and they took over his education, Lesra eventually went to university and his whole story of being rescued from a ghetto life and realizing his full potential in a different environment is uplifting.

As Lesra is discovering whole new worlds through books he comes across, "The Sixteenth Round" by Rubin Carter, and Lesra begins writing to Rubin in prison.The group of Canadians become involved with the Hurricane and the rest of the book is devoted to the freeing of Rubin Carter, the incredible amount of work it took and the history of Carter's case in the courts of New Jersey.

Though the book was engrossing there is too much left hanging, mainly what is the motivation of the Canadians and who are they really?Also the title is somewhat misleading as we don't hear much about Lesra except at the beginning.Finally, if it is true as suggested in other reviews here that Rubin was having a love affair that went on for several years with one of the Canadians, then that would most certainly be a glaring omission giving quite a different view of the same story.

Inspirational Story
This story is an inspiration.The idea that good can win over evil.That the poor and uneducated will be taken in and educated and the wrongly accused will be freed is a very nice idea.While I'm sure that many of the gritty details of have been over looked or glossed over, I believe that adds to the inspirational value of the book.Afterall, if this story did not have a happy ending Rubin Carter would still be in jail and we would have all forgotten about him long ago. ... Read more