Review by Booklist Review
New Orleans during Hurricane Katrina is the setting for this tense novel that blends the drama of the catastrophic storm with magic realism. Twelve-year-old Lanesha's teenage mother died while giving birth to her, and, because her mother's wealthy uptown family won't have anything to do with her, she is raised in the Ninth Ward by loving Mama Ya-Ya, 82, who feels like her mother and grandmother both. Born with a caul over her eyes, Lanesha is teased at school, but she is strengthened by her fierce caretaker's devotion and by a teacher who inspires Lanesha to become an engineer and build bridges. Lanesha also has second sight, which includes an ability to see her mother's ghost. As the storm nears and the call comes for mandatory evacuation, Mama Ya-Ya envisions that she will not survive, but Lanesha escapes the rising water in a small rowboat and even rescues others along the way. The dynamics of the diverse community enrich the survival story, and the contemporary struggle of one brave child humanizes the historic tragedy.--Rochman, Hazel Copyright 2010 Booklist
From Booklist, Copyright (c) American Library Association. Used with permission.
Review by Publisher's Weekly Review
With a mix of magical and gritty realism, Rhodes's (Voodoo Dreams) first novel for young readers imagines Hurricane Katrina and the subsequent flooding through the eyes of resourceful 12-year-old Lanesha. Lanesha lives with Mama Ya-Ya, an 82-year-old seer and midwife who delivered Lanesha and has cared for her since her teenage mother died in childbirth. Living in the Ninth Ward of New Orleans, Lanesha is viewed as an unusual child (she was born with a caul and is able to see ghosts) and is ostracized at school. Lanesha finds strength in Mama Ya-Ya's constant love and axioms of affection and reassurance ("When the time's right... the universe shines down love"). The story becomes gripping as the waters rise and Lanesha, with help from a young neighbor and her mother's ghostly presence, finds a way to keep body and soul together. The spare but vivid prose, lilting dialogue, and skilled storytelling brings this tragedy to life; the powerful sense of community Rhodes evokes in the Ninth Ward prior to the storm makes the devastation and the hardships Lanesha endures all the more powerful. Ages 10-up. (Aug.) (c) Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved
(c) Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved
Review by School Library Journal Review
Gr 5-8-Hurricane Katrina is whirling toward New Orleans in this touching novel (Little, Brown, 2010) by Jewell Parker Rhodes. Twelve-year-old Lanesha is a confident loner in her Ninth Ward neighborhood. Other kids tend to avoid her because she has the sight-she sees ghosts-and casually ignores them. Lanesha concentrates on her studies. She loves math, words, her teachers, and above all things, midwife Mama Ya-Ya who took her in when her mother died giving birth. Lanesha has snooty light-skinned uptown relatives, but they abandoned her to the loving care of Mama Ya-Ya. Lanesha watches in amazement as her beloved Ninth Ward prepares for the storm of the century. Fortitude, a vocabulary word Lanesha relishes, will be necessary to see her through the storm. After Mama Ya-Ya dies, Lanesha must be brave and save herself and her best friend when the water begins to rise. Sisi Aisha Johnson, a gifted narrator, brings richness and texture to each character and her performance emanates with the humor, warmth, and grace of this fine story. This 2011 Coretta Scott King Honor Book is not to be missed.-Tricia Melgaard, Centennial Middle School, Broken Arrow, OK (c) Copyright 2011. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
(c) Copyright Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
Review by Horn Book Review
Rhodes captures the warmth and closeness of New Orleans's Ninth Ward immediately before Katrina through the eyes of twelve-year-old Lanesha and caretaker Mama Ya-Ya. When the hurricane comes, they have nowhere to go and must ride out the storm at home. Mama Ya-Ya's gift of "the sight" assures Lanesha that she will survive, providing a thread of comfort throughout their otherwise harrowing plight. (c) Copyright 2011. The Horn Book, Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
(c) Copyright The Horn Book, Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
Review by Kirkus Book Review
Born with a caul, 12-year-old Lanesha can see and sometimes communicate with spirits, and her guardian, former midwife Mama Ya-Ya, has dreams and visions that foretell the future. Their exquisitely happy, though poor, life in the New Orleans Ninth Ward is disrupted by news of a powerful storm approaching. Mama Ya-Ya knows it will get bad, but she has no means to get Lanesha out of the city. Knowing she herself will soon die, Mama Ya-Ya decides to wager that Lanesha's talents, both her supernatural skills and her more commonplace pluck and creativity, will see the young girl and her friend TaShon through Hurricane Katrina safely. The two children must confront not only the intense storm and Mama Ya-Ya's death but rapidly rising flood waters to survive. Rhodes's characters are likable and her story gripping. Unfortunately, though, romanticized depictions such as this one threaten to undermine our collective sense of the true plight of pre- and post-Katrina Ninth Ward residents. A good title for discussion when balanced with historical accounts of Katrina and her aftermath.(Fiction. 10-14)]] Copyright Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.
Copyright (c) Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.
