All Hands on Deck!: A Deadly Hurricane, a Daring Rescue, and the Origin of the Cajun Navy by Robert Neubecker (review)

Bass boats. Air boats. Speed boats. They’re all at home in the bayous and waterways near New Orleans, and when hurricane floodwaters hit, hundreds lend a hand—er, motor—rescuing urban residents stranded in homes and on roofs, and shuttling them to dry ground. The moniker “Cajun Navy” attached itself to the ad hoc operation during 2005’s Hurricane Katrina, and the group has continued to mobilize in disasters ever since. Neubecker offers a cheery “community helpers” style picture book account, with anthropomorphized watercraft and a nonspecific time setting for the focus rescue, which makes the title appropriate for group sharing among listeners with differing anxiety tolerances. End matter, however, goes into more detail about hurricane formation, general recommendations for safety in hurricanes (tellingly, “Evacuate immediately if directed by emergency managers”), and sobering remarks on the extent of displacement and death during Katrina. Adult readers might need to plug a couple of vocabulary holes (Cajun, shallow draft), but this title nonetheless adds another dimension to discussions of regional disasters and of volunteerism.