Ninth Ward by Jewell Rhodes

Rhodes, J. (2010). Ninth Ward. New York: Little, Brown Books for Young Readers. 

Summary

12-year-old Lanesha is an avid student who dreams of becoming an engineer and building bridges for those who need them. Lanesha can also communicate with the dead, including the spirit of her mother who died after giving birth to Lanesha. Lanesha's caretaker, Mama Ya-Ya is a healer and can predict the future. When Mama Ya-Ya senses a large storm coming towards their city of New Orleans, both Lanesha and Mama Ya-Ya must trust their gifts and close bond in order to survive Hurricane Katrina. 

Review

Wow! The dynamics of the characters, settings, magical elements, and foreboding disaster will capture even the most reluctant readers! Readers already know the terrible outcome of Hurricane Katrina but with the clever and honest writing, readers will truly believe this story of magic and heart. Readers who only saw the disastrous Hurricane Katrina on television will be able to live through this disaster in a suspenseful and haunting way. 

Genre

Fiction

Readers Age/Interest Level

9-13 years/ Tween

Similar Books

Moon over Manifest- Clare Vanderpool

One Crazy Summer Day- Rita Williams Garcia

I Survived Hurricane Katrina, 2005- Lauren Tarshis
Awards

2010 Coretta Scott King Author Honor Award

Selected as one of the best books of 2010 by School Library Journal

2010 Parents Choice Foundation Gold Award

2010 Al Roker “Today Show” Book Club Selection

2011 Brown Bookshelf 28 Days Later selection

Readers Annotation

Lanesha can see spirits and Mama Ya-Ya can predict the future and together they must trust their special gifts and incredible bond to survive the nearing disaster of Hurricane Katrina. 

Love, Aubrey by Suzanne LaFleur

LaFleur, S. (2010). Love, Aubrey. New York: Random House. 

PLOT

  Aubrey is a girl who is overcoming the tragedy of the loss of her father and sister in a car accident and the loss of her mother who has abandoned her out of sheer sadness. Aubrey takes comfort in writing to Jilly, her sister's imaginary friend. After her grandmother finds out that Aubrey has been staying alone and caring for herself she brings her to her home in Vermont and into a world of baking pies and swinging from trees. Here she meets Bridget who is a strong and lonley girl and the two finally begin to break into each others shells. When Aubrey's mother comes back and wants to start new with Aubrey, she must make a tough decision that will affect the rest of her life.

Review

  I decided to not talk about this book in my genre project because I loved it too much to not include it in this assignment. Love, Aubrey was beautifully and truthfully written. You want to protect Aubrey from the moment you realize that she is alone and you cheer her on as she begins to blossom and realize things will never be the same and it is up to her to survive. You want to scream at her mother who left her and hold her tightley when she returns with an open heart and flowing tears. This is a wonderful tween book that shares with readers the sentiment that happens when someone close dies, and shows readers that they can take little baby steps to create their own destiny.

Genre

Contemporary Realistic Fiction

Reading Level/Interest Age

Tween/8-12 years old/4th-8th grade

Similar Books

Olive's Ocean- Kevin Henkes

Each Little Bird that Sings- Deborah Wiles

Walk Two Moons- Sharon Creech

Personal Thoughts

  I truly fell in love with this story. This story is told with such emotion that you laugh while you are crying. The copy of this book that I found at my library had no book jackey and the cover offered little for the imagination. I was hooked by the first sentence. A must read.

Characters

• Aubrey: 11-year-old protagonist, mourning the loss of her father and sister, abandoned by her mother, living with her grandmother.
• Gram: Aubrey's maternal grandmother, who provides the stability in the Aubrey's life necessary for her to come to terms with her loss.
• Savannah: Aubrey's 7-year-old sister, who died in a car accident.
• Bridget: Aubrey's best friend, who lives next door to Gram in Vermont.
• Marcus: A friend from school, whose emotional problems help Aubrey gain perspective.
• Jilly: Savannah's imaginary friend, to whom Aubrey began writing letters.

Readers Annotation

 Aubrey is alone. Her father and sister are dead and her mother has disappeared. Aubrey thinks that she can make it alone, but when her grandmother comes to rescue her, Aubrey realizes that she needs all the help that she can get.