Upside Down in the Middle of Nowhere

The book chronicles the bad decisions and misfortune of a family living in the 9th ward of New Orleans that chose not to evacuate, and the devastating effects of Hurricane Katrina. The narcissistic and hateful main character Armani doesn't particularly like white people. Her ghetto language is awful. On the first page, we find the main character talking about her cousins big butt, and how everyone other than her has bad body odor. We have her cousin Tay Tay, and the drunken uncle who abuses her.

When Armani essentially shoves her baby sister Khayla into the filthy cesspool water to try to keep from falling herself (in the knee deep water), you see what a horrible person she is. This book may be appropriate for adults, but I'm not convinced that it's appropriate for younger readers. The author seems to relish talking about dead bodies: dead bodies floating in the water, dead bodies being abused in the super dome, Rarely does the author focus on the good of humanity. She does like to focus on those that acted like animals - caring only about themselves.

The author does unintentionally highlight the fallacy of relying on government to take care of your every need.

Contains some spoilers below.
The book also fails to provide closure. We don't know if Armani's cousin Danisha survives after giving up her seat on the bus for Armani and her sisters. We don't know what happens to Danisha's brother Booger, or her parents who were attacked in the Superdome. We don't even know what happens to her Uncle TBone, although his latest girlfriend Sugar's hat is found in the filthy water.

It is curious that after Armani's father prays for Jesus to protect his family, he is immediately struck by a tree branch. The bleeding and infection are possibly what leads to his death. Perhaps Jesus was telling that George that he should have evacuated the family instead of going ahead with Arman's 10th birthday party.

I'm not sure how a real mother could desert her children with the immature ten year old child Armani in the vile superdome, particularly after stepping over a dead body. I'm not sure why the family didn't have a leash and collar/harness for the dog. Why would you get a dog for your daughter when a hurricane is in the forecast? Why get a dog when you can't take care of what you already have?

Armani doesn't seem happy unless she's trash talking someone who is trying to help her.

It's sad that the family has too many members to fit in the family vehicle. Apparently that is the lame excuse for not even trying to evacuate.

First off, it should be noted that the story revealed in this book is heartbreaking--it is NOT for sensitive readers. The writing kept my attention, and most junior readers will feel the same and probably won't notice the giant elephant in the room when they're reading this book. I just couldn't get past reading the dialect and descriptions of the Black characters, knowing that the author of this book is white. Black stories told through a white lens have a certain ick factor, and this book has loads of it if you know what you're looking for. Specifically, the character of the mother has no depth. The cousin (Danisha) is described early in the book in a way that white people should not be writing about Black people, even if the thoughts are coming from a Black protagonist. I was reading this book to my daughter (without knowing about the author), and when I came to that part early in the book, I decided to put it down and google Julie Lamana because I knew something was off. Even worse, this book was a part of the Black History Month display at our library, which is misleading. I really wish publishers would do better about signing Black authors to tell Black stories. This book stinks of appropriation.

You should

I was in 6th grade when i read this because my humanities teacher recommended it and omg i fell in love with it and couldn’t put the book down! Soooo good!! Finished it in a few hours.

Se lo pidió su maestra en la escuela. Es muy bueno dijo mi hija.

My 13 year old loved this book. He laughed and cried. It was extremely inspirational and he learned so much.

Read this book twice....... it’s DEFINITELY one of my favorites!! ❤️❤️❤️

Perfect for my middle school classroom!!!

Captures your attention from the start. Harrowing and sad but uplifting story of family during awful Katrina.

Very well written and powerful. This book captures the real fear and tragedy of hurricane Katrina and the days that followed. I read this along with my niece for her school project, and at age 11 she was very interested in the story and characters.