alehwax.blogg.se - Mh herlong books

Ultimately the story ends on a hopeful note, but it’s clear that the journey back has not been easy.

A realistic portrayal of how Hurricane Katrina and its aftermath affected New Orleans residents, including living in a disaster relief shelter, coping as a displaced family in a new community, and rebuilding after the storm.

The family’s decision to leave Buddy behind when they evacuate, while unavoidable, is especially heartbreaking with the reader’s knowledge of the hurricane’s devastation.

For example, he mows lawns to pay for Buddy’s food, and when he discovers how much Buddy loves dog biscuits, he forgoes saving for a bicycle to keep supplying them.

Li’l T’s generosity toward Buddy, his three-legged dog, is inspiring.

After about a thousand years, I finally get home.” Herlong has given twelve-year-old Li’l T a convincing voice: “The next day I feel like I can’t hardly sit there in school all day long.

A believable, affecting story about Hurricane Katrina, through the eyes of a likeable protagonist.

If you sound out the word, you get "crisis"-which is exactly what's happening in Ben's life. The collision had taken out part of the name painted on the stern. Byron falls overboard and the storm hits, the Chrysalis has a small collision with another boat that scrapes off some of its paint. He wants to transform, but he feels trapped…almost as if he were a butterfly trapped inside a chrysalis. The wind blew in my face and the sail flowed out behind me like a single giant wing, like I was some kind of mutilated butterfly who could flap around a lot but who would never, ever fly. That tells us-hey, it almost shouts at us with a megaphone-that the boat trip is supposed to be a vehicle for personal change.īut sailing around, Ben doesn't feel like that change is happening. "It's the cocoon stage of a butterfly or moth." (3.7-3.10)

"What is the name of this boat again?" I asked. Let's look at the most obvious clue first: the boat's name, Chrysalis, is a word that seriously connotes change: It's a little ragged, a little banged up, and a lot in need of some loving TLC.Īll of the Byrons can be linked to the Chrysalis, but it's worth noting that the book strongly links the boat with Ben in particular. If the sea symbolizes life, the Chrysalis symbolizes the poor soul who's trying to navigate his way through it.