2. Ninth Ward - Jewell Parker Rhodes

Little, Brown & Co., 2010
HC $15.99
218 pages
For: Middle grades
Rating: 3

I ran to the library to find this book, because the ACPL Mock Newbery had voted it their winner for 2011. The library actually had it, which was a pleasant surprise. It’s about a 12-year old girl, Lanesha, who has been raised by Mama Ya-Ya, the midwife who birthed her. Lanesha’s mother died during childbirth, and her “uptown” family has completely ignored the child because her 17-year old mother had taken up with someone they didn't approve of. Lanesha does not know who her father is.

So we see Lanesha at home, in the Ninth Ward of New Orleans, a particularly poor neighborhood. She and Mama Ya-Ya have an incredible relationship, filled with love. Although they have very little, every tiny aspect of life is made special. Mama Ya-Ya is a good woman. Lanesha is a great kid. We meet Lanesha’s math teacher, who sees promise in her and encourages her to be an engineer, a bridge builder. We meet the kids who bully and taunt her because of Mama Ya-Ya’s “sight.” We meet the boy who lives down the street from her. TaShon is tiny, also bullied, almost-silent, and has never really spoken to her before. And then there’s Spot, the stray dog that Lanesha takes home for TaShon, who has a personality of his own.

All this takes place on the eve of Katrina. Mama Ya-Ya starts to have strange dreams, dreams that take hold of her and make it difficult for her to focus on the everyday. So it’s up to Lanesha to plan and prepare for what the news says is going to be “unfathomable.” She watches the neighborhood prepare. She watches them leave, some to escape New Orleans, some to stay at the Super Dome.

And then Katrina strikes. And then the water starts to rise. And then Lanesha, who’s been joined by TaShon, must really use their wits to survive.

Hmmmm. There have been some excellent reviews of this book. Some of the writing is superb.

"I think the quiet before the storm means it isn't really quiet. Maybe it means only no you can hear birds flying, forming a V overhead. Or that the air has sound. That it whistles, low and deep, as a storm approaches. Quiet before a storm maybe means folks are done hammering wood across their windows and placing sand sacks beside their front doors. Or maybe it means there's loneliness. A weird loneliness that is, yet isn't, real."

But I had a few problems with it. It was repetitious. Much of the scenes from the rooftop were unbelievable . Come on, if they’d really been doing what they did on the roof, one or both of them would have drowned. And, they hey just happened to have a neighbor with a rowboat? A dog like Spot was afraid to jump across…or into…water?

My biggest hangup with the book, however, was Lanesha’s ability to see ghosts. I’ve pondered upon why Rhodes would have added this not-so-believable-for-me ingredient to the story. I suppose to show the superstitions and beliefs of many of the people of New Orleans. Well, she covered that with Mama Ya.-Ya’s “sight.” Perhaps because when Mama died at the end, she wouldn’t feel too much sadness because she knew she’s always be able to “see” her? So that her dead mother could save her when she was drowning? This touch of fantasy was a big weakness for me.

So, yuh, this book had many flaws for me. They can’t all be winners, right? It’ll probably win awards, because it seems I never agree with them, anyways!