Ninth Ward

Ninth Ward by Jewell Parker Rhodes

Today I present the final Coretta Scott King author award honor book. I would recommend this to girls, grades 5th through 8th. At the moment I am debating whether an additional sticker needs to be added to the spine – the ghost story sticker. The problem is that it isn’t really a ghost story so much as it is populated with ghosts. You see, Lanesha, our heroine, can see and even interact with ghosts. And that is your note of warning. Lanesha is gifted with this ability and her Mama Ya-Ya is gifted with visions of the future. They believe in the old world religions of their African ancestors.


Lanesha’s mother was a fair-skinned, light-eyed girl of wealthy southern heritage. The belief is that her star-crossed lover was from the wrong side of the tracks. Mama Ya-Ya was the midwife when Lanesha was born and her mother died. Lanesha was born with a caul over her head – a thing membrane that must be removed and is considered an ill-omen. Lanesha was also born with light, strange-colored eyes. Her mother’s family would not accept her and Mama Ya-Ya was happy to raise the child as her own – in the Ninth Ward of New Orleans.

Mama Ya-Ya is the only family that Lanesha has ever known. And they love each other dearly. In some respects, they only have each other. Mama Ya-Ya is considered a witch by some because of her strange talent to see the future. She worked as a midwife for decades until the fateful year that Lanesha was born. First she birthed Lanesha whose mother died in addition to the caul and the strange eyes. Then there was the baby that died in childbirth. And finally there was the boy, TaShon, born with six fingers to each hand. Mama Ya-Ya was shunned for the doctors at the hospital from then on.

This novel begins in the days leading up to the devastation that was Hurricane Katrina. Mama Ya-Ya is receiving disturbing visions that New Orleans will survive, but not survive and begins to act strangely in her attempt to figure out the meaning of the dreams. Mama Ya-Ya is not the only character acting strangely, in Lanesha’s opinion. TaShon is suddenly no longer quiet and shy. Lanesha never befriended him because she figured he had enough strangeness on his plate to keep him an outcast without her meddling. Now he’s coming to her of his own gumption. There is also the popular Ginia, who befriends Lanesha. Is it too much to hope that they could become friends?

Lanesha is used to being alone and she is an intelligent and strong girl with tremendous potential. But she is going to have to be birthed again to survive the storms to come. Mama Ya-Ya and her mother’s ghost will be aiding her. Mama Ya-Ya’s words, “The universe shines down with love,” provide hope. Her mother’s final motivation instills pride and a sense of accomplishment. And there are always the signs – like the rainbow that occurs after the flood.