A review by corncobwebs
Ninth Ward by Jewell Parker Rhodes

Though her mother died during childbirth and she has no other blood relatives to speak of, Lanesha has a happy home life. She lives with Mama Ya-Ya, and while some people claim that she's a witch, Lanesha knows that she is just a kind, loving old woman. Lanesha gets teased at school because of her unusual green eyes, but all is well when she comes home to Mama Ya-Ya. Besides their love for each other, another common thread between these two females is their ability to "see." Lanesha can see ghosts (including her mother, who still rests on Mama Ya-Ya's bed), and Mama Ya-Ya can foretell future events. She sees the coming of Hurricane Katrina, and knows that it will be bad. Since Mama Ya-Ya is so old, it's up to Lanesha to be strong and get them through the disaster. She's only 12 years old - can she do it?

A lovely book. There was a nice buildup to the hurricane scene, although I was expecting that scene to pack more of a punch. Reading this book was a good reminder, though, that the hurricane wasn't the only disaster - the levees broke, and then there was devastating flooding, too. This is definitely a hard subject to broach, but Rhodes makes it accessible to young readers. I like how Lanesha's optimism is pretty much unwavering throughout the book, even at the end when she has just about lost everything. Her optimism is a ray of hope that makes a difficult story easier to swallow.