"National Guard soldiers in camouflage fatigues stood at the door with their machine guns pointed straight up in the air. They looked us over like we had crossed the border from another country without any papers. I locked eyes with one of them who had a thick square jaw, and his grip on the gun got tighter."

In the book Hurricane Song by Paul Volponi; Miles and his Pop are stuck in the Super Dome during Hurricane Katrina. When they finally jumped over the barriers/fences and escaped the Super Dome, they were living on the street with nothing more than their hungry stomachs and dirty bodies. There was a lot of other people living on the street too, survivors from the hurricane. All the survivors were dirty and poor and many stole from nearby shops to survive. Poverty affects many people in different ways. It can make a person feel unwanted, overpowered or helpless. It can also empower you to know right from wrong and stick up for what you love. The survivors that lived on the street, except for Miles and Pop were willing to risk their own lives for objects that they stole. The objects were worth less than a thousand dollars. Miles and Pop didn’t believe in stealing, so it was harder for them to survive.

One example is when a woman risked her life for a television because she wanted money. Another homeless man saw her with the television and beat her up because he wanted it badly. The soul patrol, a gang who helped people living on the street, broke up their fight by pulling the man away from the woman. They made a wall between the man and the woman to protect her. When the soul patrol helped the woman back to her feet the man ran away with the television set. The woman exploded with anger. She said that she would rather get hurt than to get the television taken away from her. If I was that woman, I would have appreciated what they did for me with a thank-you or a reward. It’s not fair that she would get mad when the soul patrol risked their lives to help her when they didn’t even know each other. It is awful what poverty can do to a persons’ life: it can make people desperate and do things that wouldn’t normally do.

Another example is when two men tried to steal an old piano from Santa’s (store? museum? cafe? music hall?). Pop was furious because many great jazz musicians played on that same piano for decades and it meant a lot to him. Pop and Miles wrestled the thieves to save the piano. But soon, their fight got dangerous. The guys tried to drown Miles and Pop in the polluted water.  I know the piano is worth a lot of money but it is worth much more than that, it brought back many memories to the great musicians who played on it and the people who listened to them play. I know this is a hard time for everybody, not only them. But that doesn’t mean they have to steal. Are they good guys? Have they gone through a lot? Got shaken from the Hurricane? Have they lost family or friends? Are they stealing as a way to survive? Is this their only option?

All in all, this was a strong book filled with many powerful moments, especially with Pop and Miles. It shows how horrible life was in the Super Dome given the lack of help from the government.  Poverty affects people throughout the world. This book focused on a city, New Orleans, in the United States that was devastated by a hurricane. The conditions were unbearable which caused some people to steal and risk their lives for objects, except for Miles and Pop. It made me question why some people are greedy and why others are more appreciative for what they have.