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

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 and other parents persuaded one of his children's teachers, Paul Reynaud, to start a school among the sugarcane fields.So was born the Sugarcane Academy--as the children themselves named it--and so also began an experience none of Reynaud's pupils will ever forget. This inspiring book shows how a dedicated teacher made the best out of the worst situation, and how the children of New Orleans, of all backgrounds and races, adjusted to Katrina's consequences.

Author: Michael Tisserand
Publisher: Houghton Mifflin
Published: 07/01/2007
Pages: 192
Binding Type: Paperback
Weight: 0.40lbs
Size: 7.87h x 5.50w x 0.53d
ISBN: 9780156031899

Review Citation(s):
Kirkus Reviews 03/15/2007 pg. 269
School Library Journal 01/01/2008 pg. 159

About the Author
Tisserand, Michael: - MICHAEL TISSERAND is the author of The Kingdom of Zydeco, which won the ASCAP Deems Taylor Award for music writing. He served as editor of Gambit Weekly, the alternative newsweekly of New Orleans. He lives in Evanston, Illinois.