Oleanders in June (Book 2)

Tori hasn’t heard from Nana since the storm. The day before Hurricane Katrina struck New Orleans and the Gulf Coast, the Tulane sophomore and her family evacuated in two cars. Only one of those cars arrived.

As soon as the floodwaters recede, Tori defies her father’s instructions and sneaks back into the city to search for her grandmother, but not without the support of her two best friends. Lily Sullivan, a San Franciscan native and young woman of faith, had just moved to New Orleans when Katrina struck. After riding out the hurricane alone in her dorm, she now carries something heavy inside she must mask. Marissa Hill, a lifelong resident of New Orleans, has no choice but to enroll in a university three states away. At such a distance, she begins to feel conflicting loyalties between her hometown—now deeply wounded—and this new school full of opportunities she never had.

Together, the three friends hunt down witnesses, search abandoned houses, and investigate every relationship from Nana’s past. Just when Tori begins to question how well she really knows her grandmother, they uncover an artifact that survived the flood, a long-forgotten family heirloom and the final clue to Nana’s disappearance.

Told from the alternating POVs of Tori, Lily, and Marissa, Oleanders in June weaves together three unique stories to showcase the diverse experiences that arose after Hurricane Katrina and the emotions that continue to linger twenty years later.