Finding Someplace (17 page)
Authors: Denise Lewis Patrick
After our visit, my aunt walks us out to the front porch. Children wave to her and shout to each other as they ride the shiny new bikes they got for Christmas. As we drive away, the pavement seems rough and hard for the car to navigate, but we keep going.
I wonder if the families who made this community come alive again have had the same journey. Some, like the fictional Boone family, have returned and worked for years to rebuild their homes and their lives here. It's been rough. It's been hard. Their lives are not exactly the same, but they keep going.
Ten years ago, New Orleansâand the Ninth Wardâwas someplace lost. Like Reesie Boone, it seems this city has discovered where its true strength lies: not in its beautiful buildings, or its great music and food, or even in its ability to come back from such a disaster, but in the people who love it.
âDLP
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Special thanks to Ottyle, Otlisha, Yanada, Jada, my Cherokee Street cousins, all of my East Coast friends for their generosity, and to Christy and Amy for their incredible patience!
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Denise Lewis Patrick
is the author of many books for children and young adults, including
The Adventures of Midnight Son
, the American Girl C
é
cile books, and
A Matter of Souls
, a young adult short story collection. She has worked in publishing as both a writer and an editor, and teaches college courses as an adjunct professor of writing. She is pursuing her MFA in creative writing. Born in Natchitoches, Louisiana, she lives in New Jersey with her family.
deniselewispatrick.com
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Contents
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Copyright © 2015 by Denise Lewis Patrick
Henry Holt and Company, LLC
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The Library of Congress has cataloged the print edition as follows:
Patrick, Denise Lewis.
Finding someplace / Denise Lewis Patrick. â First edition.
pages cm
Summary: The weekend she turns thirteen, aspiring clothing designer Teresa “Reesie” Boone is separated from her family by Hurricane Katrina but, during the horrific storm and its aftermath, begins to find strength in herself.
ISBN 978-0-8050-4716-5 (hardback)Â â ISBN 978-1-62779-423-7 (e-book)
[1. Hurricane Katrina, 2005âFiction.  2. Family lifeâLouisianaâNew OrleansâFiction.  3. African AmericansâFiction.  4. New Orleans (La.)âFiction.]  I. Title.
PZ7.P2747Fin 2015Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â [Fic]âdc23Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â 2015000561
First hardcover edition 2015
eBook edition August 2015
eISBN 9781627794237