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Finding Someplace
FOR USE IN SCHOOLS AND LIBRARIES ONLY. When Hurricane Katrina hits her New Orleans community on her 13th birthday, aspiring fashion designer Reesie takes refuge with an elderly neighbor and faces the daunting challenge of rebuilding her family home. By the author of The Adventures of Midnight Son.
224 pages, Library Binding
First published August 4, 2015
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February 21, 2018this book was pretty good even though it was about hurricane Katrina
March 9, 2016
A very good book for kids, but a little schlocky for this adult reader. Still, the characters rang true and I wouldn't hesitate to recommend it to young readers who enjoy realistic fiction.
April 17, 2017
I loved this book! This was another book that was selected for my classroom book clubs and it is easily my favorite one! Reesie is ready to celebrate her birthday when Hurricane Katrina hits, throwing her party plans out the window and scattering her family as they try to survive the aftermath of the storm. The second part of the book shows Reesie and her family dealing with the aftermath of Katrina as they prepare to move back to New Orleans. Lovely book!
October 20, 2016
This book is wonderful. Now, it is definitely written for a younger audience but I loved it. Finding Someplace paints a picture of Katrina and the aftermath that seems so personal and so raw, I had trouble putting it down. I found myself holding my breath at the end, waiting for the emotional hammer to strike. This is an important book to share with students about such a disastrous and damaging event. I love that this book made everything feel human and personal. That is probably the best way I can describe this book: it is human. It is raw, it is powerful, and it left a mark on me. These are all amazing things to find in any book.
January 29, 2017
Size benimle ilgili ufak bir bilgi;
A S L A e-book okuyamıyorum.
Kitap elimde o kadar süründü ki, ne zaman başladığımı hatırlamıyorum bile. Yine de ne kadar ara vermiş olursam olayım karakterleri, hikayenin akışını, hikayeyi unutmadım. Kimi yerlerinde gözlerim doldu, kimi yerlerinde gülümsedim ama genel olarak kitabı çok sevdim.
A S L A e-book okuyamıyorum.
Kitap elimde o kadar süründü ki, ne zaman başladığımı hatırlamıyorum bile. Yine de ne kadar ara vermiş olursam olayım karakterleri, hikayenin akışını, hikayeyi unutmadım. Kimi yerlerinde gözlerim doldu, kimi yerlerinde gülümsedim ama genel olarak kitabı çok sevdim.
April 1, 2021
Wow! Great book! I was looking for a good middle grade read about hurricane Katrina. I also have Ninth Ward and Upside Down in the Middle of Nowhere, but after reading reviews, I decided to start with this one. This author does a great job including many aspects of the disaster without being too graphic for young readers. I love all of the characters. She covers the beauty of New Orleans before the storm, the varying reactions to the idea of evacuation, the storm, the rising water, the elderly, death, the madness at the super dome, and people trying to find each other in the aftermath. I especially liked the post storm part of the story, the PTS that survivors were dealing with, the fact that some left and some stayed to rebuild. It was a hopeful story. I recommend it for grades 3rd-8th.
April 27, 2018
After I just went off complaining about books set in New Orleans, I picked up this fictionalized account of a girl who spent her 13th birthday on the roof of her neighbor's house waiting to be rescued from Katrina's flood waters. This book is GOOD. Probably the best "Katrina book" geared towards youth. Middle schoolers now do not remember Katrina, if they were even alive during it, but they were still touched by it, grew up hearing their family talk about it, feel the fear of it. Denise Lewis Patrick does an amazing job at really showing the polarizing fear it brought to those who stayed and those who didn't, while setting it so firmly in an-easy-to-cliche town without making me cringe. Really showed the "characters" who live here and make it the city it is, without turning anybody into a caricature. Oh and of course, I cried.
July 16, 2017
"Finding Someplace" by Denise Lewis Clark is a wonderfully told realistic-fiction novel about a family putting their lives back together after Hurricane Katrina destroys their home and city. This novel is a touching story about finding your place in this world and how people can come together during difficult times. If you're interested in finding out what the meaning of "home" really is, then check out this book!
August 10, 2015
Originally posted here at Random Musings of a Bibliophile.
Finding Someplace by Denise Lewis Patrick tells the story of a girl experiencing and recovering from Hurricane Katrina. It is one of several books to come out in the past couple years that tell a similar story, but it is my favorite that I've read so far.
Reesie is enjoying the days leading up to her 13th birthday, but as the day draws closer her beloved city of New Orleans seems to be under the growing threat of Hurricane Katrina. Her mother wants them to leave. Her father doesn't believe in leaving the city due to chances of a little high wind. However, he agrees that maybe Reesie should leave her party with her aunt and uncle for Baton Rouge. But then her parents decide to cancel her birthday party. As the storm draws ever closer, Reesie is increasing danger. Her mother, a nurse, and her father, a policeman, are both at work leaving Reesie alone. She goes to a neighbor's house to wait out the storm. But there is no waiting out the water when the levy breaks and the Ninth Ward begins to flood. Fortunately Reesie and Miss Martine have the clear headed help of one their friends and are able to make it to the roof of the house. Rescued and taken to the Superdome, Reesie must try to find her mom and dad. Reuniting with her parents is just the first in a long series of steps to Reesie's finding her way back to a safe secure place.
Reesie is an easy heroine to like. She is so full of life and enthusiasm. She is artistic and creative, designing and making her own clothes. The Boone family is a close one. Her brother spends his hard earned summer money on new shoes for Reesie just before returning to college for the year. Her parents are loving and supportive and work hard for their kids. Reesie's friends and neighbors show a true sense of community too. Patrick does an excellent job of establishing multiple characters and their connections to each other in a short amount of pages while making them all feel real. Miss Martine is a particularly wonderful character who gives Reesei more than just a place to fell safe and not alone during a hurricane. (I want to read a book all about her younger years.)
I enjoyed getting to see the neighborhood through Reesie's eyes. Patrick does an excellent job of bringing all of New Orleans with its unique sights and culture to life while also establishing the neighborhood feel needed to make the story specific to the Ninth Ward work. I liked how the story developed and how it had that heightened rushed feel of an actual disaster. Characters develop relationships quickly and are just as quickly separated. The portrayal is realistic without being emotionally manipulative. There are emotions abounding in Finding Someplace but they feel organic to the story and characters. I also enjoyed how the ending showed the hard road to recovery but was full of hope for the future.
A quick read through of the synopsis makes this sound a lot like last year's Upside Down in the Middle of Nowhere. It also centers around a protagonist surviving Katrina on her birthday. If I were told I had to choose one, I would choose Finding Someplace. The New Orleans Patrick presents feels more real and the characters just jumped off of the page for me. Finding Someplace is also shorter and easier to read, but covers far more. There is an actual real look at the recovery from the disaster, the psychological effects, and stress and strain both cause on a family unit.
Bonus: Unlike all the other Katrina books I've read there is no dog. Patrick is able to tell an emotional tale without throwing potential of animal death in there to strike fear in the hearts of her readers. Thank you, Ms. Patrick.
I read an ARC made available via Edelweiss by the publisher, Henry Holt & Co. (BYR). Finding Someplace is available August 4th.
Finding Someplace by Denise Lewis Patrick tells the story of a girl experiencing and recovering from Hurricane Katrina. It is one of several books to come out in the past couple years that tell a similar story, but it is my favorite that I've read so far.
Reesie is enjoying the days leading up to her 13th birthday, but as the day draws closer her beloved city of New Orleans seems to be under the growing threat of Hurricane Katrina. Her mother wants them to leave. Her father doesn't believe in leaving the city due to chances of a little high wind. However, he agrees that maybe Reesie should leave her party with her aunt and uncle for Baton Rouge. But then her parents decide to cancel her birthday party. As the storm draws ever closer, Reesie is increasing danger. Her mother, a nurse, and her father, a policeman, are both at work leaving Reesie alone. She goes to a neighbor's house to wait out the storm. But there is no waiting out the water when the levy breaks and the Ninth Ward begins to flood. Fortunately Reesie and Miss Martine have the clear headed help of one their friends and are able to make it to the roof of the house. Rescued and taken to the Superdome, Reesie must try to find her mom and dad. Reuniting with her parents is just the first in a long series of steps to Reesie's finding her way back to a safe secure place.
Reesie is an easy heroine to like. She is so full of life and enthusiasm. She is artistic and creative, designing and making her own clothes. The Boone family is a close one. Her brother spends his hard earned summer money on new shoes for Reesie just before returning to college for the year. Her parents are loving and supportive and work hard for their kids. Reesie's friends and neighbors show a true sense of community too. Patrick does an excellent job of establishing multiple characters and their connections to each other in a short amount of pages while making them all feel real. Miss Martine is a particularly wonderful character who gives Reesei more than just a place to fell safe and not alone during a hurricane. (I want to read a book all about her younger years.)
I enjoyed getting to see the neighborhood through Reesie's eyes. Patrick does an excellent job of bringing all of New Orleans with its unique sights and culture to life while also establishing the neighborhood feel needed to make the story specific to the Ninth Ward work. I liked how the story developed and how it had that heightened rushed feel of an actual disaster. Characters develop relationships quickly and are just as quickly separated. The portrayal is realistic without being emotionally manipulative. There are emotions abounding in Finding Someplace but they feel organic to the story and characters. I also enjoyed how the ending showed the hard road to recovery but was full of hope for the future.
A quick read through of the synopsis makes this sound a lot like last year's Upside Down in the Middle of Nowhere. It also centers around a protagonist surviving Katrina on her birthday. If I were told I had to choose one, I would choose Finding Someplace. The New Orleans Patrick presents feels more real and the characters just jumped off of the page for me. Finding Someplace is also shorter and easier to read, but covers far more. There is an actual real look at the recovery from the disaster, the psychological effects, and stress and strain both cause on a family unit.
Bonus: Unlike all the other Katrina books I've read there is no dog. Patrick is able to tell an emotional tale without throwing potential of animal death in there to strike fear in the hearts of her readers. Thank you, Ms. Patrick.
I read an ARC made available via Edelweiss by the publisher, Henry Holt & Co. (BYR). Finding Someplace is available August 4th.
June 15, 2016
1) My rationale for selecting Finding Someplace as part of my culturally diverse text set is because it fits in with an overall 'theme' – an African American woman as a main character or primary focus for the book. Finding Someplace tells the story of a young African American girl named Reesie Boone, who is on the verge of her thirteenth birthday when Hurricane Katrina hits New Orleans, where she and her family live. Through a series of ordeals after becoming separated from her family, Reesie survives the storm with a wise, elderly neighbor woman (also an African American) and the two spend time getting to know one another. Reesie gets to know her neighbor (Miss Martine) and about her previous life as a writer and semi-celebrity. The two women (later joined by another couple) weather the storm together and persevere. Reesie and her family are eventually relocated when the storm is over and she is forced to adapt to her new surroundings after losing her home, her friends, and everything she had grown accustomed to about her life in New Orleans. She is a strong, Black, female character that readers of all ages can relate to.
2) One connection that I made was text-to-world. Many people read about and saw news stories related to Hurricane Katrina but will never know what it was like to experience it first hand. Finding Someplace tells the story of what happened during Hurricane Katrina from the perspective of a young girl, as well as how she and her family put their lives back together.
3) Bloom’s Questions:
a. Remembering: Where does the story take place and what major event is occurring?
b. Understanding: Explain why the story has the title Finding Someplace. What is the significance of this title?
c. Applying: Think about Reesie being separated from her family in the middle of Hurricane Katrina. What would you have done if you were in her place?
d. Analyzing: What is the relationship between Miss Martine and Reesie in the story?
e. Evaluating: If you were in the position of Mrs. Boone (Reesie’s mother), would you have made the same decision – to leave New Orleans for New Jersey – or would you stay in your home?
f. Creating: What do you predict will happen to the Boone family after their trip back to visit their destroyed home in New Orleans?
Patrick, D. L. (2015). Finding someplace. New York, NY: Henry Holt and Company, LLC.
2) One connection that I made was text-to-world. Many people read about and saw news stories related to Hurricane Katrina but will never know what it was like to experience it first hand. Finding Someplace tells the story of what happened during Hurricane Katrina from the perspective of a young girl, as well as how she and her family put their lives back together.
3) Bloom’s Questions:
a. Remembering: Where does the story take place and what major event is occurring?
b. Understanding: Explain why the story has the title Finding Someplace. What is the significance of this title?
c. Applying: Think about Reesie being separated from her family in the middle of Hurricane Katrina. What would you have done if you were in her place?
d. Analyzing: What is the relationship between Miss Martine and Reesie in the story?
e. Evaluating: If you were in the position of Mrs. Boone (Reesie’s mother), would you have made the same decision – to leave New Orleans for New Jersey – or would you stay in your home?
f. Creating: What do you predict will happen to the Boone family after their trip back to visit their destroyed home in New Orleans?
Patrick, D. L. (2015). Finding someplace. New York, NY: Henry Holt and Company, LLC.
July 15, 2017
Hurricane Katrina stories are hard for those of us who survived the storm to read. In this chapter book, Reesie Boone watches as Hurricane Katrina and her thirteenth birthday arrive at the same time. The story begins on August 21 as life is pretty normal except for Reesie's excitement about her sewing and her approaching big day when she becomes a teenager. When circumstances cause her to be separated from her family, Reesie takes refuge in the house of her elderly neighbor, Miss Martine. After the waters rise, they head to the attic and then the roof and are eventually rescued. As her father stays in the city to try to help out, Reesie and her mother fly to New Jersey. The author gets right the feeling of panic associated with the hurricane and its aftermath as well as the long journey to recover the city and its residents experienced. Everything that was considered normal became abnormal, and vice versa, and it is not an exaggeration to say that life was never the same. The decisions that the Boones face about what to do in the future--whether to return and rebuild in New Orleans or whether to move on to someplace else are very real decisions that its citizens faced. After all, it is human nature to want to belong to someone or someplace.
December 7, 2015
This is a solid middle grades novel about surviving Hurricane Katrina. I thought a lot about Eggers' _Zeitoun_, probably because that story brought alive New Orleans and Katrina more than my gatherings from the news back in 2005. This novel is much simpler, and it's not fair to compare them because they respectively reach very different ages and because I am not the intended reader for this one. I liked that Reesie was honest about her feelings, that she was observant of people and events around her, and that she learned to carry her sense of place around with her, and to lean into the complex people who love her. The thread of her fashion design interest wasn't expertly handled throughout; it fell off at various points and surprised me when it popped back in. But it's a great realistic, historical novel to hand to a middle grade reader who wants to understand Katrina or who wants a story of a girl coming into her own.
September 9, 2015
Thirteen year old Reesie lives in the Ninth Ward in New Orleans with her parents. Both of her parents, a policemen and a nurse, are working when the storm hits and because of a series of unplanned events, Ressie is stranded with neighbors. Patrick's description of events captures the tension and uncertainty of that time period and gives the reader a sense of what it must have been like for residents. The characters are fully developed, helping the reader understand the thinking that was behind some of the decisions made that day.
The second part of the book focuses on what is left behind. Some residents leave for a short time, some never come back. Homes are destroyed, families and friends scattered, and much has been permanently lost. A powerfully written story that will be hard to put down and will leave the reader with much to ponder.
The second part of the book focuses on what is left behind. Some residents leave for a short time, some never come back. Homes are destroyed, families and friends scattered, and much has been permanently lost. A powerfully written story that will be hard to put down and will leave the reader with much to ponder.
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January 22, 2015A great story of family, endurance, and finding out what "home" really means. Wonderfully told. Reesie felt very real to me and all I wanted to do was go and hug her and protect her and tell her that everything will work out in the end. And Miss Martine? What a fab lady!
May 16, 2015
It made me tear up, so it gets four stars instead of three.
May 4, 2015
A good read-alike for those who enjoyed Upside Down in the Middle of Nowhere or Zane and the Hurricane.
October 26, 2015
This book tackles both the survival of Hurricane Katrina and the process of rebuilding your life after disaster.
March 31, 2025
3.2 stars
a darker middle grade about surviving a hurricane, and than surviving life after; though not much is horrible about it, nothing was quite amazing ether, overall a just "okay" book.
the writing is solidly okay. its nothing special, but for a middle grade of this scale, it does what it needs to, well enough. the dialogue is a little unnatural feeling in parts, is about the worst i can say. the characters are fine, at best sweet and at worst slightly unnatural. the romance and parental conflict subplots are okay, perhaps a little rushed. really, everything about this book is okay overall, but not much, except how the tragedy of disaster was handled, impressed me much at all.
anything near bad to say is really the pacing. it is very front heavy; the first half of the book is darker and slower paced, and is overall better than the other half. the back is lighter; more a typical slice of life, fast paced but without much to stand on. nothing is really established or has much depth, so the slice of life aspects, and as well most of the second half, fall a little flat. however, i enjoyed the ending; it was pretty good and tied the book together nicely!
did i enjoy it? -yes!
would i read it again? -no
would i have read it knowing what i do after? -50/50
a darker middle grade about surviving a hurricane, and than surviving life after; though not much is horrible about it, nothing was quite amazing ether, overall a just "okay" book.
the writing is solidly okay. its nothing special, but for a middle grade of this scale, it does what it needs to, well enough. the dialogue is a little unnatural feeling in parts, is about the worst i can say. the characters are fine, at best sweet and at worst slightly unnatural. the romance and parental conflict subplots are okay, perhaps a little rushed. really, everything about this book is okay overall, but not much, except how the tragedy of disaster was handled, impressed me much at all.
anything near bad to say is really the pacing. it is very front heavy; the first half of the book is darker and slower paced, and is overall better than the other half. the back is lighter; more a typical slice of life, fast paced but without much to stand on. nothing is really established or has much depth, so the slice of life aspects, and as well most of the second half, fall a little flat. however, i enjoyed the ending; it was pretty good and tied the book together nicely!
did i enjoy it? -yes!
would i read it again? -no
would i have read it knowing what i do after? -50/50
April 18, 2018
Finding Someplace is a realistic fiction book about a young girl getting ready for her 13th birthday, but suddenly Hurricane Katrina hits and she now has to deal with all that entails regarding survival of the Hurricane. I liked how the author used dates and days of the week in the span of eight days to show how fast things can change in the time of a natural disaster and how fast people’s lives change from it during that time. Finding Someplace also has an incredible message of finding the true meaning of what a home is to someone as well as the power of community and how people can come together quickly after a natural disaster to help one another. I also enjoyed how it explains how people are supposed to pick up their lives after a disaster such as Hurricane Katrina and start over fresh. Overall, I really enjoyed this book and the character development that we see in Reesie during such a hard time for her and her family.
July 14, 2018
This novel explores how Hurricane Katrina was more than a meteorological storm; it tore through families just as much as buildings. Lewis Patrick avoids many of the political realities of that time, most likely because the book is in the YA genre. Instead, she centers her story around Reesie Boone, who is supposed to be celebrating her first teenage birthday. Reesie's festivities are interrupted by the storm, and the rest of the plot is split between how she copes with the immediate effects and how her family deals with a resulting break-up. Young readers can probably relate to Reesie, but I think the author missed a chance to extend the metaphor of the storm's devastation (and New Orleans' recovery) on its citizens. Nevertheless, resilience is a prominent theme and the lesson is not lost on the reader.
February 21, 2020
Find Someplace is about Ressie Boonie, a soon to be 13 year old girl that goes through through the tragedy of Katrina. Ressie Boonie was a regular New Orleans girl growing up in the 9th Ward, she liked going with her friend, Ayanna, to Cafe Du Monde and enjoyed going to the local diner the third of her trio of friend's, Orlando, family owned buissnies called Blue Moon Cafe. Ressie loved her New Orleans life, but then the "Big One" came and tore apart her life, and birthday plans. My favortie part of the book was when Orlando and Ressie were talking in Aunt Tish's office. People who would enjoy this book are people who enjoy story of survivors and realistic fiction books. I loved this book it was a good book and brought out some of the nasty parts of what happened in Katrina and how hard it was on the people who experienced the storm.
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August 7, 2020"Finding Someplace", is a story about a young teenage girl named Reesie Boone who has live through Hurricane Katrina on her birthday. Getting stranded in the house alone, she goes to her elderly neighbor's house to take refuge. The story is a very intense one with my life-daring experiences that see readers on the edge of their seat. It showed how disastrous the hurricane was to the city of New Orleans. The main theme of the book was survival, because everyone had to do whatever they could to survive in the most life threatening situations. I liked how the author added suspense and filled the shoes of a young girl thoroughly. I would definitely recommend this book to readers who are interested in historical fiction.
June 5, 2020
3.5* -- I chose this novel for a middle school book club read this summer. I really enjoyed a lot of it; however, I think the book could have gone a little further with the plot details. While I know that many families were separated during Hurricane Katrina, this book left me wanting more details. I thought the author missed the opportunity to really show the fear when the levees broke and the difficulty in rescuing people in the aftermath. Additionally, many more details could've been provided about time spent in the Superdome. I do believe that my middle schoolers will enjoy this book and am looking forward to our meeting this summer.
December 29, 2023
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ Finding Someplace by Denise Lewis Patrick is historical fiction about Hurricane Katrina and was published in 2015. I enjoy historical fiction and now that I am old, it is often about events that happened in my lifetime.
Teresa - or Reesie as her family calls her is going to turn 13. Unfortunately Hurricane Katrina comes ashore that day and changes every thing.
Reesie has a fear of water, and when the levees fail, she must face her fear.
I like the friendships in this story. I like that the author included the aftermath and the damage that happened to relationships when some family members wanted to evacuate and others refused.
Recommended for ages 9 and up.
Teresa - or Reesie as her family calls her is going to turn 13. Unfortunately Hurricane Katrina comes ashore that day and changes every thing.
Reesie has a fear of water, and when the levees fail, she must face her fear.
I like the friendships in this story. I like that the author included the aftermath and the damage that happened to relationships when some family members wanted to evacuate and others refused.
Recommended for ages 9 and up.
January 5, 2018
I really enjoyed this. It's a nice encapsulation of what many people who went through Hurricane Katrina might have experienced. There are a few moments where it felt like characters said certain things that wouldn't necessarily be said realistically for the benefit of the reader (e.g., some hurricane terminology her family uses when they are discussing the news, life lessons they have learned, etc.) but it wasn't too much. I enjoyed the novel: Reesie's is a realistic and likable character, and her and struggles are compelling.
October 7, 2018
I have a hard time reading young people's fiction written in the first person. Too much of it is very me, me, me. But in this book, Denise Lewis Patrick creates a main character, Reesie, who doesn't fall into that trap. This is particularly meaningful because the action takes place on the day of the Hurricane Katrina levee break, which is Reesie's birthday. The story conveys her emotions, from disappointment to fear, without sliding into me-ism. The action is fast moving, the characters are believable, and I just couldn't stop reading.
February 27, 2020
I really enjoyed this coming-of-age story surrounded by one of the worst natural disasters in American history, Hurricane Katrina. Reesie is about to turn 13 but Hurricane Katrina is bearing down on the Ninth Ward. We see Reesie go from friends to something more with her best friend, Orlando. We see how the hurricane, and subsequent breaking of the levees, changes not only her town but also her family. This is sad and hopeful at the same time. A great character-driven middle grade novel.
February 20, 2018
I typically tend to read a juvenile fiction book every now and then, and I am so glad I found this book. The cover appealed to me at the library, and I was instantly drawn to thirteen year old Reesie Boone’s journey, before, during, and after Hurricane Katrina. This book was deeply moving. I loved it.
August 13, 2018
Reesie Boone is excited about her upcoming 13th birthday, but she lives in the ninth ward in New Orleans, hurricane Katrina changes all her plans. Reesie is separated from all her family members, and finds herself with an 80 year old neighbor when the hurricane hits. This is a balanced and realistic novel that shows a young girl's reaction to a life changing natural disaster.
May 5, 2017
3.5 stars. A student gave it to me - a good read for kids hoping to learn more about Katrina. Also loved that the story still goes on for about 8 months after the storm to show that side of the disaster as well.
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