Ninth Ward

Lanesha, the protagonist, is a young Black American girl living in the Ninth Ward neighborhood of New Orleans, Louisiana, in 2005. She turns 12 on the day the story opens and recently started middle school in a building that is new to her this year. Lanesha’s mother died giving birth to her, and she does not know who her father is. Lanesha was raised from birth with the woman who helped her mother through the delivery, a midwife whom everyone calls Mama Ya-Ya. Lanesha loves Mama Ya-Ya like a mother or grandmother.

Lanesha loves school and eagerly walks there every day. To her, weekends are more difficult because she would rather be preoccupied with her books, lessons, and classes; when TaShon tells her that school is closed due to the impending weather, Lanesha does not want to believe him: “It’s hard enough that there’s a Saturday and Sunday. I’m less lonely at school with my teachers and books” (73). She likes language arts and her teacher Miss Perry, who teaches the class new vocabulary like “fortitude.” Lanesha’s favorite subject, though, is math. She takes lessons one day a week after school with Miss Johnson to learn harder problems, and when Lanesha tries to go to school on the day it closes for the storm, Miss Johnson gives her a pre-algebra book for self-study. Miss Johnson suggests that Lanesha’s math abilities and interests are strong enough that she could consider engineering as a future path. This sparks Lanesha’s sudden interest in thinking about and drawing bridges.

Lanesha struggles with her peers, as many families in the neighborhood know Mama Ya-Ya has special powers of perception and link those abilities to Lanesha; for example, when Lanesha stops the bully Max from harassing TaShon, she sees Max’s apprehension: “I am Mama Ya-Ya’s crazy girl” (36). Her own difficulties with peers make Lanesha empathetic to others who are lonely or troubled; she helps Andrew, a boy whose thinking strategies are unusual, with his math at school, and she befriends TaShon after he is bullied. Lanesha is also excited to have a potential new friend in Ginia, a girl in her gym class, and looks forward to seeing her again after the storm.

Lanesha believes in the signs Mama Ya-Ya teaches her; for example, magnolias represent dignity. Lanesha has special powers of perception as well. She can see the ghosts of people from a variety of time periods throughout New Orleans’s history. She sees them in school, in her home, and on the streets. Mostly she just ignores them, though she sometimes says hello to Jermaine, a boy she knew from school who was accidentally killed in a convenience store shooting. Lanesha is used to seeing the ghost of her mother stretched out on Mama Ya-Ya’s bed. When she was younger, Lanesha tried to talk to her mother’s ghost and get her to see school projects Lanesha created, but her mother’s ghost remained unresponsive. As Lanesha prepares for and experiences the storm, her mother’s ghost becomes more active, first sitting up and moving from the bed to watch her, and eventually helping Lanesha survive the floodwaters.

Lanesha is particularly mature for a girl who has just turned 12 years old: She helps with chores; appreciates simple gifts, meals, and possessions; and sometimes helps take care of Mama Ya-Ya, such as when she helps the old woman to bed. She also seems mature for her age because she tends to take everything in stride without a child’s tendency toward emotional upset. Her self-awareness and ability to observe and empathize with those around her are two of her strongest traits. These qualities make it possible and realistic for Lanesha to take charge when the time comes to prepare for the storm and get everyone through it. In turn, her storm experiences prompt increased maturity as she learns to accept help from others, like TaShon and her mother’s ghost. Lanesha must put aside her own exhaustion and fear many times as she undergoes her trial, and by the end, she knows she is stronger for doing so. This makes Lanesha a dynamic character with a clear and consistent arc who grows emotionally and in maturity by the end of the novel.