Ninth Ward (Coretta Scott King Author Honor Title)
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4.5 • 99 Ratings
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- $1.99
Publisher Description
From New York Times bestselling and award-winning author Jewell Parker Rhodes comes a heartbreaking and uplifting tale of survival in the face of Hurricane Katrina.
Twelve-year-old Lanesha lives in a tight-knit community in New Orleans' Ninth Ward. She doesn't have a fancy house like her uptown family or lots of friends like the other kids on her street. But what she does have is Mama Ya-Ya, her fiercely loving caretaker, wise in the ways of the world and able to predict the future. So when Mama Ya-Ya's visions show a powerful hurricane--Katrina--fast approaching, it's up to Lanesha to call upon the hope and strength Mama Ya-Ya has given her to help them both survive the storm.
From the New York Times bestselling author of Ghost Boys and Towers Falling, Ninth Ward is a deeply emotional story about transformation and a celebration of resilience, friendship, and family--as only love can define it.
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
With a mix of magical and gritty realism, Rhodes s (Voodoo Dreams) first novel for young readers imagines Hurricane Katrina and the subsequent flooding through the eyes of resourceful 12-year-old Lanesha. Lanesha lives with Mama Ya-Ya, an 82-year-old seer and midwife who delivered Lanesha and has cared for her since her teenage mother died in childbirth. Living in the Ninth Ward of New Orleans, Lanesha is viewed as an unusual child (she was born with a caul and is able to see ghosts) and is ostracized at school. Lanesha finds strength in Mama Ya-Ya s constant love and axioms of affection and reassurance ( When the time s right... the universe shines down love ). The story becomes gripping as the waters rise and Lanesha, with help from a young neighbor and her mother s ghostly presence, finds a way to keep body and soul together. The spare but vivid prose, lilting dialogue, and skilled storytelling brings this tragedy to life; the powerful sense of community Rhodes evokes in the Ninth Ward prior to the storm makes the devastation and the hardships Lanesha endures all the more powerful. Ages 10 up.
Customer Reviews
Very intresting
At school in my class we read a chapter of the book everyday, it is really intresting and you would love,except my teacher won't let us download it so we won't read ahead
If you want to have a better reason some people in my class that don't like reading actually wanted to read more of it, shocking right?
Best book ever!😄
I'm in fifth grade and my teacher is reading the book in the class and is the best book my teacher has ever read.
5 stars
So good I'm speechless.