Ninth Ward just doesn't feel like a ghost story or a fantasy novel. The ghosts are usually in the background, and I almost took their presence for granted (this is New Orleans, after all). Now Lanesha has to rely on her own fortitude (one of her vocabulary words, meaning 'strength to endure') to get herself and TaShon through the storm.Ī note about the ghosts: Mama Ya-Ya, and especially Lanesha, see ghosts throughout the book. When it does, Lanesha must cope with the realization that Mama Ya-Ya, already old, is losing strength as rapidly as the storm is gaining it. I loved this part of the book and wanted it to go on, for Lanesha's sake, even though I knew full well the storm was coming. She has a close, loving relationship with Mama Ya-Ya a supportive teacher at her new middle school a strong community of neighbors and shopkeepers and even, for the first time, friends her own age (Ginia and TaShon). Lanesha is a bright girl who loves words and wants to be an engineer. Rhodes gives Lanesha a lovely voice, and for the first several chapters (the calm before the storm), all is well in the Ninth Ward. That future, of course, includes the hurricane and its aftermath-events that will test Lanesha and over which she must find a way to triumph. Twelve-year-old narrator Lanesha and her Mama Ya-Ya can see ghosts, including the ghost of Lanesha's mother, who died birthing her. Available in used condition with free US shipping on orders over 10. The book itself is a coming-of-age story, with realistic and fantastical elements in equal measure. Ninth Ward by Jewell Parker Rhodes (Little, Brown, 2010) is dedicated to 'all the children who experienced Hurricane Katrina and the levees breaking in New Orleans.' Five years ago today.

Ninth ward by jewell parker rhodes