A Place Where Hurricanes Happen

On a blue-sky August morning in New Orleans, four neighborhood kids swap jump-rope rhymes by oak-lined Jackson Square—until news crackles of Hurricane Katrina, and their city of brass bands becomes a maze of rooftop rescues and National Guard boats. Through pulse-quick free-verse, these children of New Orleans chart a roller-coaster year: wind that rips porch swings free, floodwater that swallows schoolbooks, and long nights in Houston shelters where Environmental Justice and Health Equity feel as distant as the Superdome lights. Yet they also chronicle grandmothers ladling gumbo for strangers, teachers rebuilding classroom libraries from cardboard boxes, and second-line trumpets that turn grief into marching power—proof that community can outplay catastrophe. With each stanza they ask who decides which levees stand tall and which neighborhoods stay submerged, nudging readers toward tough talks on policy, race, and readiness. One unresolved ache hangs over the final trumpet trill: when the next storm swirls off the Gulf, will we safeguard every child’s right to come home? Tap the blue ➕ to Save to List for later inspiration, or hit the bold arrow to Learn More and connect your classroom, youth group, or congregation to this kid-eyed testament of survival and hope.