Ninth Ward

I see darkness on the horizon. Rolling, rolling in like a too-warm blanket...I shiver. Tell myself not to be afraid. We'll survive the hurricane.Ghosts told me so. Lanesha is 12, and has grown up in the poor neighborhood of New Orleans' Ninth Ward. She lives with Mama YaYa, a healer and midwife who delivered Lanesha, but couldn't save her teenage mother. Lanesha's mother's "uptown family" has never wanted her, but MamaYaya has loved her as if she were her own. Lanesha has always been able to see ghosts, including her mother, who has never left Mama YaYa's house. She is also smart, and loves math and school, even though she has few friends. When Mama YaYa dreams of a storm and a blackness that follows, they are both confused, until show more Hurricane Katrina appears in the Gulf and advances on the city. They have no money to evacuate, and so they stay in their house, hunkered down with some basic supplies. It's up to Lanesha to use everything she has learned, from school, from Mama YaYa, and from the ghosts, in order to survive the storm and the flood that follows. Beautifully written historical fiction, with magical realism and some of the best characters around! Lanesha is one of the most courageous and resilient girls I have ever read about. 6th grade and up. show less

Three and a half stars. The e-book I checked out for my second read of this, has a beautiful cover. I remembered this to be a story about Hurricane Katrina, but remembered nothing beyond that. The hurricane doesn't happen until halfway through the book, and there's such a huge, effective buildup to it. The writing was sparse but I worried and was sad for each character. I thought the worst would befall them all. Heartbreaking decisions are made to leave, stay, and what to leave behind. My heart sank often. This did not always feel like a fiction book to me. It was tense and scary, and I wanted to cry when I realized before the protagonist did, that the levees had burst. Every time there was a ray of hope, I wanted to shout to the show more characters so they'd be okay. The writing was sparse yet vivid. The book ends abruptly and it's weird. I'm glad I reread it. show less

I really got into this story, probably because I didn't know very much about the experience of being in the Ninth Ward during Hurricane Katrina. I was fascinated by the timeline--the area flooded slowly in the days after the hurricane hit, and then people were stranded for days with no rescue. My colleagues have criticized the ending for being too vague because the story doesn't come to a satisfying conclusion (we're left wondering what is going to happen to Lanesha). But I thought it was still a very powerful little book that kept me totally enthralled. Beautifully written, with wonderful characters and a bit of a history lesson.

I suppose it's crazy to put a hurricane Katrina story in historical fiction, but it was a profoundly devastating event, so... Anyway. This wee story of Lanesha and her Mama Ya-Ya and her neighborhood in the Ninth ward, and her ability to see spirits is enrapturing. Lanesha is so full of tough, compassionate, stubborn, life. She deals with what is handed to her, and her bright courage elevates everyone around her. Loved it.

RGG: The point of view of twelve-year-old Lanesha's survival of Hurricane Katrina is magical. Her ability to see ghosts creates empathy not horror. Intense realism with Lanesha's indomitable spirit make for an amazing read. Reading Interest: 11-13.

RGG: The point of view of twelve-year-old Lanesha's survival of Hurricane Katrina is magical. Her ability to see ghosts creates empathy not horror. Intense realism with Lanesha's indomitable spirit make for an amazing read. Reading Interest: 11-13.

Rhodes, Jewell Parker. (2010). Ninth Ward. New York: Little, Brown. 216 pp. ISBN 978-0-316-04307-6 (Hard Cover); $15.99.

Perhaps when readers learn that Ninth Ward is, as the title implies, a book about the devastation of hurricane Katrina, readers will immediately begin to envision the film footage of destruction and the havoc rained upon the people of New Orleans. Perhaps this plants a seed that this book will be a chronicle of hurt, loss, and governmental neglect. What makes this book significant is the emphasis on the resiliency and the individual character of the Ninth Ward residents as told by the very spunky Lanesha. Her voice sets this novel apart. Rhodes refuses to turn the Ninth Ward residents into people desirous of a pity show more party and, instead, paints them as determined problem solvers in the middle of a huge puzzle. What is unique and pleasantly surprising is the optimism and the upbeat tone of this book, despite its very clear description of the destruction. Lanesha is an orphan who converses with ghosts and lives with a prophet, Mama Ya-Ya, the 82 year old mother/grandmother who has unofficially adopted her. Mama Ya-Ya predicts that a big storm is coming and helps Lanesha prepare for both the storm and life without her. The magical realism of the story is poetic and effective in conveying both the drama of the rising water and the indomitable spirit of Lanesha that is the book’s soul. This book will find a good home in elementary and middle school libraries. show less