I Survived Hurricane Katrina, 2005

Akivo is the superhero Barry, and his friend Jay create for the Acclaim Comics “Create a Superhero” competition. Akivo represents an idealized version of Barry, someone he looks up to and compares himself to: “It was almost like Akivo was his brother. A seven-foot-tall brother with bulging muscles” (4). Akivo is powerful, strong, and fearless, while Barry often feels weak and lacking. When Barry loses the drawing of Akivo in the hurricane floodwaters, it is as if he loses the strength he derives from Akivo as well: “[T]hinking about Akivo had given Barry the feeling [...] that maybe he wasn’t really the scared little kid he saw in the bathroom mirror. [...] Somehow, the bright colors of Barry’s drawing seemed to have gotten inside him” (47). As Barry embarks on his journey of survival during Hurricane Katrina, he begins to discover his own well of “bright colors,” or inner strength, that he did not know existed.

Barry’s experience of survival during Hurricane Katrina shows him the depths of his powers: “Barry thought about what had happened to him [...] He’d felt scared the entire time. But here he was, standing on dry ground. In one piece. He looked up, and there was his bright star.