Ninth Ward

Fiction | Novel | Middle Grade | Published in 2010

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Summary

Chapter Summaries & Analyses

Chapters 1-3

Chapters 4-6

Chapters 7-9

Chapters 10-12

Chapters 13-14

Character Analysis

Themes

Symbols & Motifs

Important Quotes

Essay Topics

Quiz

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Discussion Questions

Chapters 7-9Chapter Summaries & Analyses

Chapter 7 Summary: “Saturday”

On Saturday morning, Lanesha startles awake to find Mama Ya-Ya standing near her bed watching her sleep. Mama Ya-Ya, almost trancelike, reminds Lanesha how much she loves her and how she feels that loving Lanesha kept her strong over the years. She tells Lanesha for the first time that she buried Lanesha’s caul in the backyard when she was born but first used a drop of its blood for a tea for Lanesha’s mother. Mama Ya-Ya claims the tea did not work because Lanesha’s mother “didn’t want it to work” (88). Lanesha is anxious and upset over Mama Ya-Ya’s behavior, and stays in bed working on algebra for comfort.

Later, Lanesha is restless, especially after the mayor of New Orleans orders a mandatory evacuation. Mama Ya-Ya has no car and no money to leave town. Outside, the Watsons are leaving for Baton Rouge; Mrs. Watson wants Lanesha and Mama Ya-Ya to come along, but Lanesha sees there is no room in the vehicles for them. She fibs to Mrs. Watson that she and Mama Ya-Ya have another ride with her Uptown family. Lanesha is heartened when she learns that Rudy and Rodriguez are staying. TaShon comes to say goodbye and to make sure that Lanesha can keep Spot; his family is going to get in line for the Superdome, which the mayor says will open as a shelter the next morning for those who cannot leave town. Lanesha is a little less anxious knowing that she has friends in TaShon and Ginia, whom she will see after the storm.

Chapter 8 Summary: “Still Saturday”

Throughout the afternoon Lanesha comforts herself by drawing more pictures of bridges. Mama Ya-Ya cannot understand her visions and signs: “Something’s coming. Not just a hurricane” (100). On the TV, news reporters comment on the thousands fleeing the city on crowded highways and many more waiting to get into the Superdome. Others stay home to protect their property. Lanesha thinks the TV images look chaotic. Mama Ya-Ya asks Lanesha to consult her ghosts. This surprises Lanesha—Mama Ya-Ya has never asked for help from the ghosts before. She tells Mama Ya-Ya she sees no ghosts at the moment, but Mama Ya-Ya wants her to go ask her mother’s ghost. Lanesha goes, remembering how, when she was little, she would try to get Mama to speak and pay attention to her, to see her school projects and answer questions about her father. Mama would just stay silent or cry; Lanesha recalls, “After a while I stopped bothering her, just let her be” (106). Lanesha bravely goes up to ask Mama’s ghost about the hurricane (taking Spot with her), but the ghost does not respond and fades away. Lanesha feels alone again. When she returns downstairs, Mama Ya-Ya seems to forget the task she asked of Lanesha.

Chapter 9 Summary: “Sunday”

Instead of pots rattling and breakfast cooking, Lanesha hears nothing but quiet on Sunday morning. She thinks it is the “quiet before a storm” (111) she has heard about and decides it is a strange atmosphere. Sitting outside with Spot, listening and looking for signs, she decides to better prepare the house: “If I prepare for the worst, maybe the hurricane won’t come” (114). She nails old planks over the windows and roasts a chicken. She fills an ice chest with ice and makes rice and beans. She takes inventory of the milk, orange juice, carrots, and cheese. While she is busy preparing food, Pastor Williams stops by to check on Lanesha and Mama Ya-Ya. She tells him they have enough supplies for a few days. Pastor Williams invites them to the church for safety, but Lanesha and he agree Mama Ya-Ya probably won’t come. He turns to leave, then haltingly tells Lanesha he knew her mother, and that her mother wanted her “very, very much” (117). He says he prayed with her before Lanesha was born and that he can take Lanesha to visit her grave if she wants. After the pastor leaves, the weatherman on TV says the storm will arrive that night.

Chapters 7-9 Analysis

The sense of foreboding deepens throughout these chapters, sending Lanesha’s typically steady mood and cheer on a roller-coaster ride of nerves and anxiety. Mama Ya-Ya falls into an almost trancelike state as she obsesses over the TV weather reports, the image of the storm on the radar maps, and her own cryptic dreams. Her behavior is erratic and atypical: She stops cooking and tending to Lanesha, watches Lanesha sleep, and asks Lanesha to consult her ghosts. Lanesha tries to quell her own turbulent emotions brought on by the impending storm and Mama Ya-Ya’s dire, nebulous predictions that “something’s coming” in addition to the fearsome Hurricane Katrina. She attempts self-soothing actions like staying in bed under the covers to work out pre-algebra problems and drawing bridges throughout the day. She also comforts herself with the growing hope that TaShon and Ginia can be counted as true friends after the enjoyable time they’ve spent together. But even the thought of real friends is a double-edged sword for Lanesha; she now has friends she feels are part of her life and community, but they are leaving the Ninth Ward and heading to the Superdome. This contributes to Lanesha’s feeling of abandonment (as most of the neighborhood packs up and leaves town) and adds to her worry over how New Orleans in general will fare in the path of the massive storm. It also highlights the mounting sense of disruption, as the natural momentum and occurrences of everyday life—including budding friendships—are now uncertain and subject to the will of the storm.

Also contributing to Lanesha’s stress and loneliness is her encounter with her mother’s ghost. Mama Ya-Ya takes the very unusual step of asking Lanesha to see if Mama’s ghost knows anything helpful about the storm, and Lanesha reluctantly agrees. The encounter is sad and frustrating, as Mama only looks at her with vague surprise and does not speak before fading away. Lanesha reflects on how she gradually stopped trying to communicate with Mama’s ghost as she grew up; sad images of a younger Lanesha trying to show her school projects to the unresponsive ghost of her mother set up the scene in which she now tries to ask her important questions with no usable reply. Consequently, when Lanesha leaves the bedroom, readers see her feeling like an “orphan” despite her closeness to Mama Ya-Ya and her new friends.

Pastor Williams’s visit is a salve to Lanesha’s raw feelings about her birth, as he assures her that her mother wanted her very much. Lanesha’s dynamic with the adults around her also parallels the heightened danger of the storm and its vast implications for the entire community. Mama Ya-Ya’s behavior shakes up Lanesha’s worldview in part because the wise grown-ups and guardians who have always protected and reassured her are now frightened and uncertain. Even Mama Ya-Ya, who has “the sight,” is unable to truly see what lies ahead. Lanesha’s mother, a ghost and a guardian—both archetypes that are traditionally immune from the perils of the world and the shortsightedness of time—cannot help her or give her comfort in this instance. This is a significant coming-of-age transition for Lanesha, as she must learn to trust her own sight and gifts instead of turning to the adults around her. Her interaction with her teacher, Miss Johnson, also reflects this transition as Lanesha grows into her own talents and strengths.

Lanesha’s character arc shows great change throughout the novel, and here in Chapters 7 through 9 readers see her take a first big step in asserting control after days of passively permitting her anxieties to scare her into inaction. After a failed attempt to purchase more supplies at Mr. Ng’s store on Friday night, Lanesha takes the courageous step to increase her level of preparedness on Sunday. She shrugs off her self-comforting measures and takes a cue from the way others on the street are preparing their houses. Only a child, she still has the wherewithal and strength to board windows and prepare food, thinking through how long different food items will be safe. Thanks to Lanesha’s forethought and hard work, she can more confidently tell Pastor Williams that she and Mama Ya-Ya are prepared and will be fine for “days.”