Ninth Ward

What must it have been like to survive Hurricane Katrina in one of the poorest areas in New Orleans—the Ninth Ward? Read this excellently written fictionalize account which tries to help all of us who wondered why more people didn’t heed the warnings to evacuate when there was still time to escape Hurricane Katrina’s wrath.
Lanesha is twelve and living with her Mama Ya-Ya. Mama is in her 80’s but has always loved and cared for Lanesha since her birth. Lanesha’s mother died in childbirth with Mama Ya-Ya as her midwife. Mama has so much wisdom and knowledge which she has managed to impart to Lanesha through her twelve years.

Mama Ya-Ya can also sense things that others can’t.  She tells Lanesha after the brunt of the hurricane is over that the worst is yet to come. She has some type of foresight that allows her to know the future. What the worst of the storm is Lanesha has no way of knowing until it is upon them!

Read this excellent, brief, historical fiction novel  written by Jewell Parker Rhodes to feel the terror and uncertainty that all those who survived Katrina must have felt.