  | Full Text Reviews: School Library Journal - 02/01/2017 Gr 7 Up—In August of 2005, Evangeline Riley is starting her junior year of high school in Bayou Perdu, LA. While many kids in her school talk about how they cannot wait to escape small-town life, Evangeline cannot imagine leaving her fairy tale—like surroundings. The daughter of a fisherman, Evangeline has inherited her father's passion for the sea. She feels most at home on the family's skiff, exploring the hidden treasures of the deep bayous. During one of her sojourns, Evangeline comes to the rescue of Tru, who has run himself aground. Although the teens are almost immediately smitten with each other, their budding relationship comes to a halt when Hurricane Katrina ravages the Gulf Coast. After Evangeline and her family evacuate, their entire town is pulled into the ocean. Tru and Evangeline do find each other again, but love is hard when one has no home. In the years that have passed since Hurricane Katrina, there have been many stories about the immediate devastation to New Orleans. This tale reminds readers that there were millions of people all over the gulf affected by this tragedy and that for many, the horror of the event was only beginning, not ending, when the skies cleared. VERDICT A compelling novel with a tender romance, this debut is a great choice for teens who appreciated Jewell Parker Rhodes's Ninth Ward or Denise Lewis Patrick's Finding Someplace.—Ellen Fitzgerald, White Oak Library District, Lockport, IL - Copyright 2017 Publishers Weekly, Library Journal and/or School Library Journal used with permission. Booklist - 02/15/2017 *Starred Review* Sixteen-year-old Evangeline Riley has a rich and contented life. Tiny Bayou Perdu, a shrimping and fishing town in Louisiana, offers all she needs: best friends, family, salt air, gumbo, and pure peace when she’s on the water. During a local festival, she meets Tru, a Vietnamese boy she can’t get out of her mind; but shortly thereafter, Hurricane Katrina forces evacuation. Chaos and destruction push them away, as the Rileys seek refuge with an aunt in Atlanta. There Evangeline feels lost and restless, craving home and the familiar, while her family struggles to rebuild their lives. When she and Tru discover they attend the same high school with other Katrina “refugees,” they forge an unbreakable bond. However, life remains unstable for them both, and when Evangeline’s family is given a FEMA trailer back home, not everyone in the Riley family wants to return. O’Sullivan’s debut novel excels in its expressive language and the use of place: a colorful home, a city that contrasts with the one Evangeline lost, and the aftermath of the storm that destroyed almost everything she holds dear. Told in a strong, purposeful voice filled with controlled emotion and hope, the impact of Katrina on families is as compelling as Evangeline’s drive to regain her sense of self and belonging. - Copyright 2017 Booklist. Loading...
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