If you’re a fan of comics and graphic novels but think those that tell real-life stories will be tedious, consider giving them another look. More and more, illustrative storytelling is helping to shed light on events that make history and affect change, and biographical works effectively share the backstory of society’s change-makers throughout history (think Joan of Arc or Mother Teresa, both of whom are wonderfully depicted in graphic novel form).
Consider picking up this one from the library’s collection:
Brown, D. (2015). Drowned city: Hurricane Katrina and New Orleans. New York: Houghton, Mifflin, Harcourt
As Hurricane Katrina bore down on the Gulf Coast 11 years ago, I sat at my grandfather’s funeral in a small central Mississippi town while the trees bent low from tropical storm-force winds moving north after landfall. That night my relatives and I sat around a lone candle in my Uncle Forrest’s cabin long after the power had gone out. We thought Hurricane Katrina was going to rip the roof off. Scary stuff.
As I opened this graphic novel’s first pages, those experiences came rushing back. Its true-to-life depiction of what went on in the days that followed the hurricane is haunting –- dangerous rescues; floating bodies tied to stop signs with rope by rescue and recovery workers in New Orleans’ flooded streets; chaos in the city’s sheltering places.
The author deliberately chooses images and narrative that are hard to see and to read.
The illustrative style reminds me of what I might find in a Roald Dahl children’s book, sans the humorous characters. This is real-life tragedy on paper (or on a screen, whichever you prefer). Either way, once you read it, you will be better educated about the devastating effects of poverty and the seriousness of natural disasters.
Those two revelations alone can make you a better-informed reader, not to mention a more compassionate one, too.
Image caption: Don Brown wrote and illustrated Drowned City: Hurricane Katrina and New Orleans, a haunting look at what happened to that city a little more than 10 years ago when the hurricane of the century bore down on it.
