Tuesday, November 9, 2010

Ninth Ward, by Jewell Parker Rhodes


Twelve year-old Lanesha, who has no parents, is being cared for, and loved, by a kind woman in her nineties in New Orleans' Ninth Ward in 2005. As Hurricane Katrina approaches, they have no way of fleeing, and must ride out the storm, and the subsequent levey breaches.

Lanesha has to find all her courage and intuition to get through the ordeal, which she does--with the help of her friend TaShon, who has been separated from his parents, and with the guidance of her mother's ghost.

The novel is a page-turner, with emotional depth and beauty. Recommended. 2010.

K. Muhm

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