Barbara's Reviews > Marvelous Cornelius: Hurricane Katrina and the Spirit of New Orleans

As the tenth anniversary of Hurricane Katrina approaches, bringing with it media coverage and reflections on the storm and its destruction, this is a lovely tribute to the resilience of New Orleans and its citizens. Relying on the folk tale tradition to tell his story, the author introduces readers to Cornelius Washington, called Marvelous Cornelius in the story, a garbage collector who takes to heart Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.'s admonition that whatever job we do, we should do it well. Marvelous Cornelius does his job with style, and he does it every day, taking seriously his responsibility to keep the city's streets clean. Even the mounds of debris left in the wake of Hurricane Katrina don't keep him down for long, and he goes right back to work, this time joined by volunteers from all over the country who want to set things right again. I was moved by this story of a man whose "spirit and will were waterproof" (unpaged). The text and illustrations capture the unique flavor of a city that rose from disaster. Teachers may want to share the book with their students as an illustration of resilience and of one man's determination to do his job well as well as an introduction to the recovery process that follows a natural disaster such as a hurricane. Although the back matter about the real inspiration for this story is fascinating, I would have loved to have seen a picture of Cornelius too.