Sugarcane Academy: How a New Orleans Teacher and His Storm-Struck Students Created a School to Remember

by Michael Tisserand and Dashka Slater

Book Overview

Hurricane Katrina devastated New Orleans, taking lives and livelihoods and displacing thousands. Because the hurricane struck at the beginning of the school year, the city's children were among those most affected. Michael Tisserand, former editor of the alternative cultural newspaper Gambit Weekly, evacuated with his family to New Iberia, Louisiana. Then, rather than waiting to find out when--or if--schools in New Orleans would reopen, Tisserand...

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0156031892
• ISBN13: 9780156031899
• Release Date: July 2007
• Publisher: Houghton Mifflin
• Length: 192 Pages
• Weight: 0.20 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.5" x 5.5" x 7.9"

Customer Reviews

Sugarcane Academy

Great book! Everyone should read it to see how Hurricane Katrina affected the children whose homes and schools were damaged or destroyed.

Personal Journalism

This book works on two levels - it's a touching memoir of a father's own journey, paired with the detailed account a journalist can provide of what happened to his city.

inspirational story

Great teachers can contribute so much to society and yet literature too rarely captures and celebrates this form of greatness. Katrina was a terrible storm with terrible consequences, which will be with us for decades, and yet here emerges a story that gives hope and inspiration. Without this tragedy and this book about one facet of the complicated story, we would not have seen into the world of these children and thier wonderful teacher, Paul Reynaud. We would not have had this privilege to see this example of greatness in education--without Paul, these children would not have had as vivid, life-improving, memories and lessons. "Celebrate that which you want to see more of" is a favorite adage which the author does an excellent job of fulfilling. Michael Tisserand shows, from the inside, dozens of enjoyable vignettes with subtle and not so subtle consequences. As so many schools are failing our children, here is an example of success which i believe you will enjoy.

Surprising and wonderful...

Idly thumbing through the stacks at my local indy the other day, I stumbled across this little gem. Initially the New Orleans and Katrina related subject matter drew me in. As much as has been said, there is still so much more that hasn't. An almost endless litany of stories both sorrowful and uplifting spill continuously from the flood waters all over this country. Oddly, I wasn't sure if the theme of education, and the power it bestows to rise above, would indeed hold my attention. It's a reality, sure, but is it engaging? Uh huh. This story is *both* sorrowful *and* uplifting. It's spare. It's real. It tells an intimate, nuanced, and unfamiliar story of a very familiar tragedy. Maybe you didn't live in the Ninth Ward or St. Bernard Parish, but what if it was still your city? Maybe you got out, your house damaged, but not destroyed. Maybe there was somewhere to go. Someone with whom to stay. Living in New Orleans, that could've been my situation, or that of those I care for. Not utter ruin. Not the heartrending images you saw on television every night, but devastation nonetheless. Lost jobs, lost lives, lost children. How do you help them find center, when you've lost your own? How do you explain the pulse of suffering on TV, the radio, papers when it all represents the people and places you loved? This isn't just a story about a school. It's a story about selfless care, survival, and a community's ability to rise above with aide of, and nurture for the resiliency of youth.

An excellent read

I am from New Orleans and a friend handed me this book. "Thought you might like it." I read it all night long in one sitting. It's a sad, scary, exhilarating, thoughtful, dramatic, uplifting book. I am sure I can come up with more adjectives if pressed. The story is a first-person account of evacuating Hurricane Katrina; realizing home is gone and the magnificent educator who kept a community united. Any parent, teacher and/or New Orleanian should read this splendid tale.