Back in 2004, before Hurricane Katrina and the destruction of many of New Orleans’ neighborhoods and schools, three local writing teachers started a new kind of “book club.” Instead of reading books, club members (students in many of the area’s struggling public schools) were paid to document their experiences and write autobiographical books about their communities. On the eve of Hurricane Katrina, the books published by the Neighborhood Story Project had already become local bestsellers. This feature from WhatKidsCanDo.org documents the project’s success and recovery.
A version of this news article first appeared in the Around the Web blog.