About This Book
Reach for this book when your child is ready to explore themes of resilience, community, and the power of love during life's greatest storms. Set in New Orleans during Hurricane Katrina, Ninth Ward follows twelve-year-old Lanesha, a girl who can see ghosts and is raised by her wise, elderly neighbor, Mama Ya-Ya. While it deals with the intensity of a natural disaster, the story is deeply rooted in the strength of the human spirit rather than trauma. It is an excellent choice for middle-grade readers (ages 9 to 13) who are starting to ask questions about historical events and how people find the courage to survive against all odds. Parents will appreciate how it balances magical realism with a grounded, hopeful look at family and grit.
What Parents Should Know
Sensitive Topics
1. DISTRESS: The depiction of the flood is visceral. Characters are trapped in an attic as water rises, necessitating a harrowing escape through the roof. There is also a significant loss when Mama Ya-Ya passes away after the storm. While peaceful, the emotional weight of Lanesha being alone in the flood with her grandmother's body is intense. 2. CONVERSATION: Parents should be prepared to discuss the historical reality of Hurricane Katrina, specifically why some people were unable to evacuate and the delayed rescue efforts.
Ideal Reader
A thoughtful 10-year-old who enjoys stories with a touch of magic but wants to learn about real-world history and emotional resilience.
Parent Prep
Preview the chapters where the water enters the house (Chapters 17-19) to ensure your child can handle the rising tension. Contextualize the setting of New Orleans beforehand. A child asks, "Why didn't the family in the fancy house come to help Lanesha when the storm was coming?"
Age Experience
Younger readers will focus on the survival adventure and the ghosts. Older readers will pick up on the social commentary regarding systemic inequality and the historical context of the Ninth Ward.
What Makes It Special
Rhodes weaves elements of magical realism and African American folk spirituality into a historical survival story, making it feel like a modern-day myth.
Read plot summary
Lanesha lives in New Orleans' Ninth Ward with Mama Ya-Ya, the woman who took her in when her birth family did not. As Hurricane Katrina approaches, many neighbors evacuate, but Lanesha and Mama Ya-Ya remain. The story follows their preparations, the terrifying night of the storm, and the desperate survival struggle that follows when the levees break and the neighborhood floods. Lanesha must use her intellect, her connection to the spirit world, and her internal strength to save herself and a younger neighbor.
This overview was generated by AI based on the book's content and reviews, and may not capture every nuance.
Discussion Prompts
1
Mama Ya-Ya tells Lanesha that she was born with a 'caul.' How does this special gift shape how Lanesha sees the world and her own strength?
2
Lanesha is very good at bridge building and math. How do these 'logical' skills help her during a time that feels very chaotic and magical?
3
The ghosts in the story don't speak, but they are present. Why do you think the ghost of Lanesha's mother appeared when she did?
4
Lanesha's uptown family didn't want her because she was different. How does she create her own definition of 'family' throughout the book?
5
At the end of the book, Lanesha says she is a 'universe.' What do you think she means by that after everything she survived?
