Ninth Ward / Jewell Parker Rhodes / 217 pages

This is a wonderful book. This book is about surviving. It's about surviving when your mother dies at birth and your family doesn't want you, it's about surviving when you're 12 years old and you are different from the other kids at school, it's about surviving when you are underprivileged and your future is uncertain. Sounds depressing but it isn't! Lanesha is raised by a wonderful, loving woman who teaches her that love is about doing not saying and that you are never alone and whatever life throws at you, you can keep going. Throw in a good description of what it's like to be in Hurricane Katrina, survive the aftermath of the flood and seeing ghosts and you have a winner. This book would make a great book discussion title for kids or adult/child groups.