Hollis Williams, his three siblings, and their disabled grandmother choose not to evacuate their New Orleans' Ninth Ward home as Hurricane Katrina approaches. Once water floods into the house, they move to the sweltering attic to escape it. It keeps rising, though, and from there they progress to the roof, where they ride out the storm and watch helicopters come and go. Jonas leaves to help a stranded neighbor but doesn't return. Then a police cruiser boat takes Gee, who has been without her insulin, but Hollis, Leta, and Algie are left behind. Through a series of events, they are finally rescued but end up in a West Virginia shelter. Dragon portrays Hollis as a strong, courageous 11-year-old, though her past-tense third-person narrative does get bogged down in places. A good first-person companion choice would be Rodman Philbrick's Zane and the Hurricane (2014).

A family's ordeal during Hurricane Katrina and its aftermath is told from the perspective of eleven-year-old Hollis, who lives with his grandmother, Gee, and his three siblings, in New Orleans' Ninth Ward. His grandmother, a diabetic, puts little faith into what she deems exaggerated hurricane warnings and, having little money and an unreliable car, she decides that the family can ride out Katrina at home. The novel describes the family's preparations for the hurricane, their fears as it worsens, and their retreat to the roof as water pours into their home. There are vivid scenes of detritus floating in the water as Hollis is caught in wire while swimming toward another family to offer them help. Readers will understand the resilience Hollis and his younger sister embody as they wait, with five-year-old Algie, for their own helicopter rescue just as the house collapses. Chaos and confusion reign as families like Hollis's are split up and transported all over the country. Hollis, Leta, and Algie are bussed to a shelter in West Virginia before being re-united with Gee, who has been hospitalized in Memphis, and with their elder brother, Jonas. The importance of united families is emphasized through the children's desire to see the father who had left them when their mother was dying.There are episodes where the plotting is weak, but the novel presents a detailed account of what it was like to live through Katrina for younger teens.Hilary Crew.