This new graphic (comic book style) novel about the people who faced Katrina propels the reader onward as a nightmare unrolls. The author follows several real people of all colors and ages as they meet the storm. Each decides to go or to stay, and later to return or relocate. No decision is perfect.
Leo and Michelle evacuate to Houston, a nightmarish nine hour drive, leaving behind Leo's beloved fifteen thousand comic books.
Denise, an acerbic social worker, is a sixth generation New Orleanian. She and her family attempt to relocate to Memorial Baptist Hospital, then eventually make it to the convention center. There is little water and no sanitation, but in a departure from what we've all heard, it's the gangsters who provide help by looting stores to bring water, and by keeping order.
Abbas and Darnell are friends who team up to protect Abbas' small grocery and deli. They will finally cling to a rooftop as Darnell's asthma worsens.
Kwame is a pastor's son who's entering his senior year in high school. His father's church will soon drown, and he will finish high school in California.
Dr. Brobson throws a hurricane party in his elegant French quarter home. Later he offers volunteer help for weeks.
Neufeld, who spent three weeks as a volunteer in Biloxi, tracks the storm slowly as the deluge occurs. His drawings are as beautiful as they are dreadful. He follows not only the storm but also the relocation and rebuilding of each life. For Leo, it's getting his comic book collection started again by donations. For Denise, it's being able to return to New Orleans after a bitter time in Baton Rouge. But as she says, it's not over yet, because, “we're not all home.”
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