Dealing with the days leading up to and immediately after Hurricane Katrina, through the eyes of a 12 year old girl living in NOLA's Ninth Ward with her 82-year old caretaker, Mama Ya-Ya. Allows the reader to see the neighborhood and the life through the eyes of a bright, creative child who sees ghosts, believes in signs, loves math and words and learning and longs to build bridges when she grows up.
It offers a lovely flavor of her days, giving glimpses into the simple pleasures of her life, her neighbors and her relationship with the woman who has raised her after her mother died. It also features fantastic description of being in their home, feeling and hearing the hurricane surrounding them, and gives excellent insight into why some people stayed in New Orleans despite evacuation orders - they had nowhere to go, no resources to leave and not enough information to understand what could happen. There is some heartache, but also lots of hope, and definitely room for another story featuring Lanesha.
An SLJ review summed it up perfectly: "Lanesha is a wonderful character who exudes resilience and fortitude in the face of a catastrophe as well as a personal vulnerability in terms of her status as an orphan and an outsider...the clever writing allows the unavoidable tragedy to unfold in such a haunting and suspenseful manner that the extreme sense of foreboding and ultimate destruction is personalized and unforgettable."
SLJ grades 5-8.
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