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A review by siennablakely
Ninth Ward by Jewell Parker Rhodes
4.0
Ninth Ward follows Lanesha, a young girl who lives in the Ninth Ward with Mama Ya-Ya, her caretaker. When Mama Ya-Ya's visions are known to predict the future, and when they begin to show a hurricane coming, they both have to do what it takes to survive. Ninth Ward details the events that happened during Hurricane Katrina from Lanesha's perspective and shows the strength of the community during hardships. Ninth Ward follows Lanesha, Mama Ya-Ya, TaShon, and their journey to survive the hurricane. It is a story of not only survival but the strength that it takes to keep moving forward in the face of disaster. Ninth Ward also gives a new meaning to the found family tropes that are seen in children’s novels and in this, it helps make the story much more complex.
Personally, I enjoyed reading this book. I thought that the symbolism for the butterfly and magnolias were well executed throughout the novel. Lanesha's character development was another aspect that I liked reading. She goes from a young girl who doubts herself and she doesn't have many friends, but that changes throughout the story. While I do wish that we could have found out what had happened after the book, I still thought it was a great read.
Personally, I enjoyed reading this book. I thought that the symbolism for the butterfly and magnolias were well executed throughout the novel. Lanesha's character development was another aspect that I liked reading. She goes from a young girl who doubts herself and she doesn't have many friends, but that changes throughout the story. While I do wish that we could have found out what had happened after the book, I still thought it was a great read.