Jewell Parker Rhodes - Ninth Ward | Octavia Books | New Orleans, Louisiana

Start: 09/27/2010 4:00 pm

Jewell Parker Rhodes has written a powerful novel about family and survival in the face of tragedy and has created in her twelve-year-old narrator Lanesha, a true heroine. [She] shows a kind of bravery and big-heartedness that is a gift she passes along to her friend, her community and the readers of this luminous book.

―Walter Mosley

An absolutely exquisite children's debut by Jewell Parker Rhodes. Jewell's vivid writing brings the setting to life, in a story that is both timely and unforgettable.

―Patricia Reilly Giff

Join us when award-winning author Jewell Parker Rhodes returns to Octavia Books to read and sign NINTH WARD, a New Orleans-set novel which we highly recommend for young readers ages 10 and up.

Twelve-year-old Lanesha lives in a tight-knit community in New Orleans' Ninth Ward. She doesn't have a fancy house like her uptown family or lots of friends like the other kids on her street. But what she does have is Mama Ya-Ya, her fiercely loving caretaker, wise in the ways of the world and able to predict the future. So when Mama Ya-Ya's visions show a powerful hurricane--Katrina--fast approaching, it's up to Lanesha to call upon the hope and strength Mama Ya-Ya has given her to help them both survive the storm.

Ninth Ward is a deeply emotional story about transformation and a celebration of resilience, friendship, and family--as only love can define it.

NINTH WARD has just been become the pick for Al's Book Club by The Today Show's Al Roker. Click here to watch Jewell Parker Rhodes' appearance at Al's Book Club.

Jewell Parker Rhodes' books, including Voodoo Dreams and Douglass' Women, have won awards such as the American Book Award and the Black Caucus of the American Library Award for Literary Excellence. Jewell is the Artistic Director for Global Engagement and the Piper Endowed Chair of the Virginia G. Piper Center for Creative Writing at Arizona State University. With NINTH WARD she makes a stunning debut into children's fiction, demonstrating the her writing transcends ages.