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3rd out of 30 books
—
2 voters
Saint Louis Armstrong Beach
by
Brenda Woods
A boy, a dog, and New Orleans' most famous hurricane
Saint is a boy with confidence as big as his name is long. A budding musician, he earns money playing clarinet for the New Orleans tourists, and his best friend is a stray dog named Shadow. At first Saint is sure that Hurricane Katrina will be just like the last one--no big deal. But then the city is ordered to evacuate...more
Saint is a boy with confidence as big as his name is long. A budding musician, he earns money playing clarinet for the New Orleans tourists, and his best friend is a stray dog named Shadow. At first Saint is sure that Hurricane Katrina will be just like the last one--no big deal. But then the city is ordered to evacuate...more
ebook, 144 pages
Published
September 1st 2011
by Puffin Books
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An engaging story, Saint Louis Armstrong Beach by Brenda Woods is about an eleven-year-old who loves music and a neighborhood dog. The ending is somewhat abrupt, and with too many contrivances, but I still enjoyed this story set in New Orleans at the time Hurricane Katrina hit.
Main character Saint endears himself to me, first because of his dream to save up for a clarinet. Mind you, he doesn’t want just any clarinet. His sights are on a L1020 Step-Up Pro Clarinet, which will set him back $1200 b...more
Main character Saint endears himself to me, first because of his dream to save up for a clarinet. Mind you, he doesn’t want just any clarinet. His sights are on a L1020 Step-Up Pro Clarinet, which will set him back $1200 b...more
This is not a perfect book, but it is a very enjoyable one. Saint Louis Armstrong Beach is almost twelve years old, loves to play the clarinet, and loves a shared-among-the-neighborhood (Treme) stray dog called Shadow. His father is a chef in New Orleans, his mother is a social worker at the hospital, and his former best friend MonaLisa (Money) lives next door. This quick read (for middle grade and younger elementary readers) describes his life in New Orleans before and during Hurricane Katrina....more
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Those of us who survived Hurricane Katrina often talk about how hard it is for writers to get the story right. Then again, there are so many hurricane stories and so many different experiences of that August 29 event, depending on where you were, that it's almost impossible to get it right. While this one nails the rising anxiety in the city of New Orleans as a tropical storm that becomes Hurricane Katrina heads toward the city, I wish the author had spent as much time describing the during and...more
The Deal: Saint Louis Armstrong Beach is a little boy with a big name to live up to. Like his Grandaddy Saint and his other namesake, Louis Armstrong, he has the music in him. Nothing makes him happier than busking for tourists, dreaming of one day affording his dream clarinet, and playing with "his" dog, a neighborhood stray named Shadow. His former best friend MonaLisa is growing up too fast and refuses to talk to him anymore, which would hurt even if he didn't have a crush on her. When anothe...more
Saint Louis Armstrong Beach plays his clarinet in the streets of New Orleans, earning cash for his dream clarinet and to fulfill his dream of studying at Julliard. Things are going well for Saint. His best friend is speaking to him. The palm reading that shows a short life line is thought to be false. His father allows the neighborhood dog Shadow to stay in the house. This is all before Katrina. As Saint and his family is preparing to evacuate, Shadow runs off and Saint goes after him unbeknowns...more
I can't recommend this book highly enough. It did everything a good book should. There is a warm, creative main character we care deeply about. He struggles against great odds, and we are with him every step of the way. While this volume is slim, it is packed with so much to sink our teeth into. Hurricane Katrina is coming, and we get to view it from our knowledge of what happened and from the characters' lack of that insight. It's done beautifully. One of my favorite things about this book is t...more
Saint Louis Armstrong Beach (yep that is his name) is a musically talented young man in New Orleans. He lives with his chef father and social worker mother in Treme. Saint plays his clarinet for tourists in the French Quarter and is saving up to buy a new clarinet. He has adopted a stray dog named Shadow. He and his family closely watch the progress of Tropical Storm Katrina has it heads towards New Orleans and turns into a hurricane. As they get ready to evacuate things start falling apart. His...more
Saint is endearing. I love his tenacity and commitment to his music (dreams of attending The Juilliard School) and his loved ones (dog included).
I can't help but compare this novel to "Ninth Ward." The major differences are that Saint has a traditional family and the author (Woods) doesn't give much merit to the ideas of magic and voodoo. There are no ghosts. This is a more straightforward story that lends itself to serving as a great tie-in to a discussion of hurricanes, especially Hurricane K...more
I can't help but compare this novel to "Ninth Ward." The major differences are that Saint has a traditional family and the author (Woods) doesn't give much merit to the ideas of magic and voodoo. There are no ghosts. This is a more straightforward story that lends itself to serving as a great tie-in to a discussion of hurricanes, especially Hurricane K...more
His name really is Saint Louis Armstrong Beach. Saint after his grandpa, Louis Armstrong for a middle name and Beach as his last name. Saint LOVESNew Orleans. He loves the music and food. His Dad is a chef at a local restaurant and his Mom is a social worker at one of the hospitals. Someday, he will be a musician.. At age 12, he already earns money by playing clarinet for the tourists. He's saving the money he earns to buy an even better clarinet.
It's August 2005 and tropical storm Katrina migh...more
It's August 2005 and tropical storm Katrina migh...more
Saint Louis Armstrong Beach is not a destination, but the name of a boy growing up in New Orleans with his parents and his trusted sidekick, Shadow--the neighborhood dog. Saint has a passion for the clarinet and with Shadow's help he raises money for a new clarinet by performing on the streets. It's August, 2005 and Hurricane Katrina is on its way to change their lives forever. The characters and setting of this book are very real and believable. I felt the ending of the book was a bit rushed--p...more
“Saint Louis Armstrong Beach,” by Brenda Wood (Nancy Paulsen-Penguin 2011) is the title and the name of the sixth grade protagonist—a budding musician. He earns money playing his clarinet on the street in New Orleans. As Hurricane Katrina approaches, no one is much concerned. They’ve weathered hundreds of hurricanes. Saint Louis is detained in the city by his love of a dog named Shadow.
Once you get to this point in the story, you won’t be able to put it down. So this one, I’d advise you read fa...more
Once you get to this point in the story, you won’t be able to put it down. So this one, I’d advise you read fa...more
A Katrina story from the perspective of a young boy who has a family with the means to evacuate, but circumstances get in the way. New Orleans shines through the eyes of Saint. He loves the city as much as he loves his music, his family and Shadow, his dog, and he shares that with the reader. This is a city where neighbors help neighbors, where musicians mentor newcomers, where Saint is so completely at home. This makes us feel Katrina's sting all the more keenly when she strikes, once again in...more
Saint Louis Armstrong Beach lives in New Orleans with his parents. Saint's a natural clarinetist and he earns money playing on the Quarter for tourists. This was before Hurricane Katrina. The novel opens with Saint talking about his before and how the after keeps getting better. Saint begins his story with his best day pre Katrina, which was one week and two days before it hit.
The novels strengths lies in Saint's voice. Woods does an excellent job with it, along with Saint's relationship with hi...more
The novels strengths lies in Saint's voice. Woods does an excellent job with it, along with Saint's relationship with hi...more
A sweet and hopeful story, but slightly uneven. The author spends a great deal of time exploring Saint's relationship with his next door neighbor and crush, Money, who never reappears after leaving for a family wedding right before Katrina.
While the introduction addresses that Saint's life is divided into three parts, before, during and after Katrina, the bulk of the book addresses his life before, little on the during and two scenes on after.
All and all this feels like a rough first draft of...more
While the introduction addresses that Saint's life is divided into three parts, before, during and after Katrina, the bulk of the book addresses his life before, little on the during and two scenes on after.
All and all this feels like a rough first draft of...more
This book was so much less than it could have been. A boy stays behind during Hurricane Katrina to find his lost dog. However, the beginning has little to do with the hurricane, and given how short it is, less time should have been spent on a fight he had with his friend, who leaves the action 2/3 of the way through and never reappears once the hurricane finally arrives. This kid was also extremely annoying. The voicing of most of the characters was off and felt cliched. The hurricane seemed to...more
I read this book after my son did, and it is a very gripping, very lovely tale of a boy named Saint Louis Armstrong Beach - great name, huh? - and his dog and their ordeal during Hurricane Katrina. Lots to ponder here - the central character and his force of personality, the commitment that people have towards their family, city, and neighbors, the scary portrait of hunkering down in an attic during the height of that devastating storm. Yes, it's written for upper elementary/early middle schoole...more
A very sweet, simple character-driven book about a boy living in New Orleans through Hurricane Katrina. The lead-up was not particularly exciting, but it gets sort of interesting once Katrina hits, giving the reader a bird's eye view of the storm. However, the aftermath of Katrina and its devastation are not explored, which I feel is important for younger readers to really understand the tragedy. Also, the character has a weird premonition that he shouldn't go to the Super Dome, which seems to c...more
A lot of Hurricane Katrina's nitty gritty details were spared, but I think it was just enough for the intended age group to get a cursory feel for what such disasters might be like to experience. This book is poignant, yet relatable, with a perfectly wrought plot. Kudos to Woods for being able to weave the harrowing true facts into a novel that somehow delights at the same time with its inspirational themes of humanity, community, family, and the intrepid nature of New Orleans culture. A favorit...more
Saint plays his clarinet in the Quarter, hoping to earn enough to buy one of the best instruments out there. Set in the days around Hurricane Katrina, we get a strong sense of Saint's life before the storm. His relationship with his parents and community is very well developed. For all of the set up though, the storm is fast and fleeting, leaving little feeling of how incredibly devastating and frightening the storm was. The story ended up feeling rushed, when the real storm and its aftermath wa...more
Saint loves playing the clarinet. He plays it for tourists in New Orleans to earn money for a new clarinet and for his future at Julliard. Life isn’t all easy though, he has taken to a stray dog that his father will not allow him to adopt and his best friend has outgrown him, now spending her time partying with the cooler, older kids. As Hurricane Katrina approaches, Saint and his family are not that concerned since it is expected to miss New Orleans, as the days progress, the tension builds and...more
I really enjoyed this story about Hurricane Katrina from the perspective of Saint Beach and I think it could be a good way for kids to begin thinking about what it would be like to go through a disaster. Some of the language may be problematic in my school. I also was bothered by Saint's interest in helping people only if he received money for it as well as the lack of discussion about his poor choices regarding Shadow the dog and disobeying his parents. The ending felt a bit rushed as well, I w...more
This was a great book. It is a modern African American tale by an African American Author, that isn't preachy or full of over the top civil rights stuff. It was just a nice, pleasant read about a boy struggling to survive in New Orleans during Hurricane Katrina. I can see how reading this book aloud to an elementary school class could spark a lot of discussions about weather forecasts and how Hurricanes are tracked. I really enjoyed reading this book and I intend to share it with my students thi...more
Very solid story about Katrina time in New Orleans... A little farfetched at times, but an interesting character... My only critique is with the title and cover... A dynamic shot of flood waters would make the book an easier sell and while the character name is cool and makes sense in the story, the cover and title say art deco flick... But a good read in the vein of bud not buddy, quake, surviving the giant wave, and i'd like a sequel.
A solid book about Katrina that just might give those of us who were not directly impacted a sense of just how bad it was. I agree with reviews that the story was uneven in parts. Saint is a good character who while not entirely engaging does not get on one's nerves. He's just a good, sweet kid in love with music and trying to grow up.
Would defintely recommend for 5th/6th grade classes looking to combine reading with social studies.
Would defintely recommend for 5th/6th grade classes looking to combine reading with social studies.
As if Hurricane Katrina didn't offer high enough stakes on its own, Saint, the seventh grade protagonist, deals with crushes, long term goals, claiming a stray dog, escaping the hurricane, rescuing an elderly diabetic neighbor, and separation from his family. Trust me, those are serious situations but the story offers a compelling read of Saint's navigation of these threats in a way that both entertains and informs.
Saint is an eleven year old boy living in New Orleans when Hurricane Katrina hits the Gulf and changes the life of the residents forever. He is a normal kid going about his business, the music business, playing to earn money for a new clarinet. Like other kids, he has his friends, his Mama and Pops, and his dog Shadow. This takes place a few days leading up to and a few days after the storm, and is a good introduction to the devastation of Katrina, without being too heavy.
Title is full name of young boy (12-ish) who recounts the not-so-good events during the week leading up to and during Hurricane Katrina in 2005. Saint is a musician living in Treme, New Orleans, who stays behind during the evacuation to search for the stray dog he helps care for. Was prepared for this to be brutal and hard-to-read but it was a really focused, approachable look at a little slice of life. Nicely done!
This is a quick read about an 11-year-old boy who survives Hurricane Katrina, despite making some poor decisions as he tries to find his lost dog. Parts of the plot were a bit weak and I didn't feel as emotionally caught up in the hurricane sections as I had expected to be - still, I thought Saint's narrative voice was wonderful and he was a very endearing character.
Saint loves music, his family, and a skittish dog he has named Shadow. Through Saint, a clarinet-playing street musician, readers get a glimpse of New Orleans life pre-Katrina. When forced to evacuate, Saint refuses to leave Shadow behind, a decision that lands him in the middle of the storm and its devastating aftermath. My favorite SSYRA book so far!
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