No real friend would come through and destroy your home like a hurricane.

-Reesie Boone, Finding Someplace

PART 1: IT BE A BACKPACK PROJECT

Over the summer, my Language Arts teacher assigned me to read a book called Finding Someplace, by Denise Lewis Patrick. The book was about a girl named Reesie Boone, who gets caught in the middle of Hurricane Katrina on her birthday, with her elderly neighbor, Miss Martine, her boyfriend’s older brother, André, and her boyfriend’s older brother’s wife, Eritrea. In the book, Reesie knows about Katrina, and packs a backpack full of the necessities. Our assignment was to make a backpack full of what we would take if we were in a natural disaster.

I’ll show you a picture of the backpack, then I’ll break it down for you:

Normally, I’m one of those people who doesn’t really pack things well. I mean, I packed the necessities, and some sentimental things, but I’m actually proud that I was able to do this.

You may have noticed that I packed light, but I’m one of those people who, when faced with carrying heavy things, just does it in a really awkward way, like holding the backpack with one shoulder, the lunchbox with the other, and my snack with the third, and holding a water bottle on one foot and a clarinet on the other, and just aggressively hopping to all my classes.

So here, I actually tried to put everything where it belonged, in a realistic size. I mean, some of my classmates drew a computer the same size as a pillow, both of which fit in the backpack with several board games, so at least this is realistic.

Starting with the food. I brought some snacks and an apple, because I’m not going away from this natural disaster with no food. I’m a kid, but that doesn’t mean that I can’t eat healthy. If I was given infinite freedom and power, I’d only eat junk food and candy half the time. This is how death happens, people. Also, water, and I’m not going to repeat myself on that last thing, just read it again. The same still applies. Water = good, other stuff = good, but only sometimes.

I also brought the devices, because those things are expensive. Money isn’t infinite. It’s just manufactured.

Speaking of money, I also brought a wallet. Stuff costs money. Money costs stuff. Circle of economy here.

My chocolate frog card collection was hard-earned and semi-rare, so I’m not going to let it be flooded/blown away/earthquaked. I have this one Rowena Ravenclaw card that I thought I lost for, like, 5 years until it showed up one day when I was cleaning my room. Do I want to lose that again? NOPE.

I’m also bringing a sketchbook, because I like to draw. It helps me relax during stressful situations, and this would probably count as a stressful situation.

The 3 folders labeled are large collections of sketches that me and my friends made. They include rare gems like “Forge and Holo: Chocolate Milk” and “Math Homework: it’s literally just my math homework, why are you still reading this”. These 2 years of sketches and math homework are precious to me.

Finally, 3 journals are labeled on here. I should explain.

There’s some text labeled “Marcy’s Journal”, and that’s a guidebook to Amphibia, one of my favorite TV shows. The red one labeled “Journal 3” is from Gravity Falls, one of my other favorite TV shows. The one in the back labeled notebook is mislabeled by me; that’s my actual journal, which is sort of like a time capsule, because I got it in kindergarten at a book fair and wrote in it in-and-out over the years. I’m in 6th grade and half the pages are finished.

I know all of this stuff is stuff I want, and I’m proud of myself.

…I think.

PART 2: IT BE A HERO ESSAY

In addition to the Backpack Project, we created a Hero Essay, about who we thought was the hero of the book. (Not the protagonist, the hero.) Our teacher said that we should do whoever we want, so naturally everybody except, like, three people did André Knight, who rescued an old woman from the middle of Hurricane Katrina and BROKE A HOLE IN THE ROOF TO SAVE HER.

Inserted here is a transcript of my Hero Essay, transcribed from my horrible, illegible handwriting.

I consider the hero of the story to be Dré, because when he comes, he immediately tries to help, busting up the roof to get people to safety. He also tries to help keep himself, Eritrea, and Reesie with Miss Martine by lying and saying that they’re her grandchildren. he comes to help with Katrina, putting himself at great risk. He was a true hero.

During the story, Dré quite literally shows up in the middle of the storm and tries to help, even putting his honeymoon on hold for the time being. When the levees break and the floodwater starts (literally) rising, he breaks open the roof (literally) to get everyone to safety. And after Miss Martine, Reesie’s elderly neighbor, suddenly collapses, Dré stays with her by lying to the police out of loyalty, and he hadn’t even had that many interactions with Miss Martine before. if that’s not a hero, I don’t know what is.

…No, Superman doesn’t count. He knows what he did.