Now that the excitement of Hurricane Gustav has passed, I will name a couple of books I liked that have hurricanes in them: "The Pirate's Daughter" by Robert Girardi (I may have mentioned this one before). Also, an old classic titled "High Wind In Jamaica" by Richard Hughes, which they made a movie out of starring Anthony Quinn. It concerns a family of children who end up living on a pirate ship after a storm.

"There is a period in the relations of children with any new grown-up in charge of them, the period between first acquaintance and first reproof, which can only be compared to the primordial innocence of Eden. Once a reproof has been administered, this can never be recovered again."

"If you go and wear holes in your drawers, do you think I am going to mend them? Lieber Gott! What do you think I am, eh? What do you think this ship is? What do you think we all are? To mend your drawers for you, eh? To . . .mend. . . your. . . drawers!!"

Speaking of Mark Twain, the Summer Reading Lists that all the kids are just getting around to doing now all contain Huckleberry Finn and Tom Sawyer of course. For adults, for pure distilled Americana, read "Life on the Missisippi". A gem overlooked by a lot of people.