Tuesday, October 13, 2020

Ninth Ward by Jewell Parker Rhodes (audiobook)

 genre: middle grade paranormal survival story

Lanesha lives with her beloved Mama Ya-Ya in New Orleans' Ninth Ward.  She's creative and bright, loves to learn and is comfortable with the somewhat sparseness of her life, dreaming big.  For the first twelve years of her life, Lanesha has known exactly where she'd spend each day: school, her close-knit neighborhood or her home with Mama Ya-Ya and the ghosts that only she can see and Mama Ya-Ya can feel.  But when Mama Ya-Ya can feel a storm coming, life suddenly and frighteningly becomes more complicated but when Lanesha faces Hurricane Katrina, she knows she won't face it all alone.

I appreciate what this novel is - strong female child protagonist facing a huge trial that her own spunk and fortitude is able to overcome.  That's important for kids to read (and adults too!)  It did make me feel for her, and while it's hard to imagine Lanesha's life being as rosy and care-free as she makes it out to be, it does make for a pleasant reading experience.  I will say two things: the disaster part of the novel did feel harrowing enough for me to be worried for her.  Also, though, I had a hard time believing some of the details because of plot holes, because of things that felt off enough that it took me out of the story and because the paranormal ghost aspect just never really set well within the rest of the story to me.  I'm glad I read it though, and I would still hand it to an interested young person.

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