This new book by Paul Siefken is all about discovering the history and heart of the place you call home

Images courtesy of Paul Siefken.

How much do your kids know about the community where they live? A new middle-grade novel by local author Paul Siefken might just inspire them to learn more.

“Vernon Poche & The Ghosts of New Orleans” tells the intriguing tale of two young friends — Vernon and Alisha — who ride their bicycles through the silent streets of their home city in the weeks after Hurricane Katrina. As they cope with the question of why their battered city means so much to them, they encounter the kindly ghosts of those who established New Orleans.

Each of these ghosts teaches the kids a bit about the history of the city they call home. They share their own stories and point Vernon and Alisha toward others who also have important tales to tell. As the main characters learn about New Orleans, readers discover the city, as well.

“We think we know the history of the place where we grew up. But sometimes you need to commit to learning about the people who made that history and how they intersect,” says Siefken, who serves as president and CEO of Fred Rogers Productions.

Siefken grew up in New Orleans. And though his family was able to evacuate when Hurricane Katrina hit, the house where he and his siblings were raised was destroyed by the storm and flooding.

When that disaster happened nearly 20 years ago, he heard many people asking whether the city should be rebuilt, given the extreme devastation and the likelihood that another hurricane could do more damage in the future.

“I think a lot of people, including me, were like, ‘Why would you say that?’ This is a 300-year-old city with so much history,” Siefken says. “My hope is that children could read the book and see it that way.”

Just like he has used educational television to empower young viewers with knowledge throughout this career, Siefken is glad that books like this one can do the same.

“If you can give information to the kid who’s watching your show or reading your book,” he says, “they feel informed and they feel empowered. What a great moment that is for a young reader to be able to state a fact and have a parent or a teacher or a friend say, ‘Where did you learn that?’ And they can say, ‘I read it in a book.'”

Though the intended audience for “Vernon Poche & the Ghosts of New Orleans” is readers in the 10 to 13 age range, the novel’s story is really compelling. Parents and other caregivers will enjoy reading it, as well. And it’s a great choice for family members to read aloud with one another.

The book can also spark conversations about how your own neighborhood or community evolved as it did: Who decided to start a local community organization or plant a public garden? What took place on nearby streets during decades past?

While writing the book, Siefken envisioned readers perhaps even following the very same path that Vernon and Alisha take: “A dream of mine would be for fans of the book to want to ride the same route that they rode, because New Orleans is not a big city,” he says. “You could make a day of it.”

At the same time, he loves the idea that his story may inspire the same kind of search and discovery right here in southwestern Pennsylvania.

“New Orleans has a lot of really intriguing, almost mysterious history,” he says. “But you know, you talk to a Pittsburgh family that’s lived here for generations, and you can hear hours of stories about the different people and different accomplishments and different history that happened here.”