Press
Library Journal
Neufeld, Josh. A.D.: New Orleans After the Deluge. Pantheon. 2009. c. 208p. bibliog. ISBN 978-0-307-37814. $24.95.
CURRENT EVENTS
July 15, 2009
Hurricane
Katrina brought devastation to millions of lives, including seven profiled
here. Social worker Denise is penned in at the convention center. Young couple
Leo and Michelle are evacuating and lose most of their possessions to flooding.
Abbas and Darnell stay to guard their convenience store and end up on the
roof. Kwame, the pastor's son, is sent to finish high school in Berkeley,
CA. And Brobson, the doctor with an unscathed French Quarter residence, sets
up a makeshift clinic. The simple and realistic art features color wash in
different tones. Neufeld, who volunteered for the Red Cross after the storm,
originally published his account as a web comic through the storytelling site
SMITH Magazine. "I think a big part of me was swept away in that hurricane,"
admits Denise in this painful documentary of loss, speaking for thousands
still rebuilding their lives. VERDICT An effective and moving
model of comics with a social consciousness; strong language may limit access
to adults in some libraries. — Martha Cornog