Twelve-year-old Zane Dupree begins by warning the reader that his story contains a lot of gross stuff and a lot of danger: He almost dies three times during his visit to New Orleans. Zane lives in New Hampshire with his mom and his small, beloved mutt, Bandit, whom he calls Bandy. His father, Gerald, was in the Air Force but died before Zane was born. Zane claims he does not miss his father because he never knew him, but his mother wants Zane to know more about Gerald. After years of searching, she discovers that Zane has a great-grandmother in New Orleans named Beatrice Jackson, known as Miss Trissy, who basically raised Zane’s father. Mom wants Zane to visit Miss Trissy, but Zane refuses, which makes his mom cry. Zane loves his mom and hates to make her upset, so they compromise: Zane agrees to go to New Orleans if Bandit goes with him. Zane is unaware that a tropical storm named Katrina is also headed for New Orleans.

Zane is initially “kind of scared” of the elderly Black woman who meets him in the New Orleans airport (6). She is old and tiny, and she carries a cane in each hand like they are weapons.