69 pages • 2 hours read
Jewell Parker RhodesNinth Ward
Fiction | Novel | Middle Grade | Published in 2010A modern alternative to SparkNotes and CliffsNotes, SuperSummary offers high-quality Study Guides with detailed chapter summaries and analysis of major themes, characters, and more. For select classroom titles, we also provide Teaching Guides with discussion and quiz questions to prompt student engagement.
Quiz
Reading Check, Multiple Choice & Short Answer Quizzes
Reading Check questions are designed for in-class review on key plot points or for quick verbal or written assessments. Multiple Choice and Short Answer Quizzes create ideal summative assessments, and collectively function to convey a sense of the work’s tone and themes.
Chapters 1-3
Reading Check
1. How does Lanesha learn the word fortitude, and why does she like the word?
2. Who brings Spot to stay at Lanesha’s house?
3. Why does Lanesha stay after school?
Multiple Choice
1. Of these, which topic does Lanesha seem to have absorbed most naturally?
A) Mama Ya-Ya’s recipes and cooking techniques
B) Mama Ya-Ya’s midwifery and infant care skills
C) Mama Ya-Ya’s knowledge of signs and symbols
D) Mama Ya-Ya’s African facts and information
2. Mama Ya-Ya used to be the neighborhood midwife, but she is not any longer. Which of these reasons best explains the implied factors behind her giving up that position?
A) Neighborhood mothers-to-be no longer trust her.
B) She is too old and tired for the strenuous work.
C) Authorities forced her to stop the unofficial practice.
D) She trained a replacement and retired from the job.
3. Which of these descriptions of Lanesha’s feelings best explains why she thinks, “Who needs a dumb Uptown family?” in Chapter 3?
A) Lanesha is proud that she excels in school and wants to follow her own path.
B) Lanesha is happy with her neighborhood “family” and Mama Ya-Ya.
C) Lanesha is bitter and resentful that family members shunned her mother.
D) Lanesha is embarrassed that her blood relatives abandoned her.
Short-Answer Response
Answer each of the following questions in a complete sentence or sentences. Incorporate details from the text to support your response.
1. Briefly explain the extent to which Lanesha gets along with her peers at school.
2. How does Mama Ya-Ya feel about her own advanced age and approaching death?
3. What do Lanesha’s individual, independent pastimes in Chapters 1-3 reveal about her personality and character traits?
Chapters 4-6
Reading Check
1. Why does Spot’s hair go up when he passes Mama Ya-Ya’s bedroom?
2. What does Miss Johnson give to Lanesha when Lanesha goes to see if school is cancelled?
3. What is Mama Ya-Ya looking for as she sits out on the porch at night?
Multiple Choice
1. Based on Lanesha’s reactions, which of these lines from Ginia in Chapter 4 probably makes Lanesha feel the most at ease about the chance of friendship with Ginia?
A) “Lanesha, after school want to hear my CDs? I got some new ones.”
B) “When Mr. Ng has enough money, he’ll send for Mengying.”
C) “My grandmother sees things, too […] We just don’t talk about it.”
D) “You’re lucky, Lanesha […] Tell Mama Ya-Ya she got my name right.”
2. What is the most likely reason Lanesha tells TaShon to leave with Spot on Thursday morning?
A) She does not like Mama Ya-Ya’s worry about the storm or the weather reports.
B) She decides that taking care of Spot for TaShon is more trouble than it is worth.
C) She sees that TaShon needs the love of a dog because it will calm and fulfill him.
D) She thinks TaShon is lying about school being cancelled so that he can see Spot.
3. Lanesha makes observations about others’ reactions to the impending storm. Which of these statements best describes what she observes?
A) Everyone in the city of New Orleans is evacuating, even the very poor.
B) The news and weather reporters want to calm viewers with maps and theories.
C) Most people think the storm will not hit New Orleans but Texas instead.
D) Some people are evacuating, some dismiss the danger, and some prepare.
Short-Answer Response
Answer each of the following questions in a complete sentence or sentences. Incorporate details from the text to support your response.
1. What happens in Mama Ya-Ya’s dream about the storm?
2. How does Miss Johnson react in Chapter 5 when Lanesha says, “I could be you”?
3. Describe what Lanesha finds at Mr. Ng’s store when she returns there at night.
Chapters 7-9
Reading Check
1. According to Mama Ya-Ya, why didn’t the tea she prepared for Lanesha’s mother work?
2. Where are those who have no money or means of transportation allowed to spend the night?
3. Why does Pastor Williams come to visit?
Multiple Choice
1.Why do Mama Ya-Ya and Lanesha not evacuate?
A) They have no transportation and no money.
B) Lanesha thinks her Uptown family is coming.
C) Mama Ya-Ya wants to stay to protect her house.
D) Neighbors who remain persuade them to stay.
2. Which is the biggest indicator to Lanesha of Mama Ya-Ya’s fear?
A) She wears her glasses on her head instead of on her face.
B) She refuses to take her medicine for her blood pressure.
C) She presses Lanesha to ask her mother’s ghost for advice.
D) She forgets to cook any breakfast, lunch, or dinner.
3. What awareness occurs to Lanesha that prompts her to prepare for the storm?
A) that she must keep busy to avoid fear and anxiety
B) that the weathermen do not know when the storm will arrive
C) that she cannot evade or ignore the storm’s arrival
D) that Mama Ya-Ya is wrong about the storm’s strength
Short-Answer Response
Answer each of the following questions in a complete sentence or sentences. Incorporate details from the text to support your response.
1. What fib does Lanesha tell Mrs. Watson, and why does she not tell the truth?
2. When Lanesha seeks her mother’s ghost’s advice about the storm, what realization startles her and why?
3. List at least four specific actions Lanesha takes to prepare for the storm.
Chapters 10-12
Reading Check
1. Once Lanesha prepares the house for the storm, how does she mark the “special” occasion of the hurricane’s arrival?
2. Why does TaShon arrive alone in the Ninth Ward?
3. What is Lanesha in the process of doing when the floodwaters arrive?
Multiple Choice
1. Why does Mama Ya-Ya tell Lanesha that they will be in the attic “soon enough”?
A) She heard on the news that the topmost floor would be safe.
B) She recalls weathering storms there when she was younger.
C) She senses more danger is coming that will drive them upwards.
D) She placed supplies and food there earlier for the power outage.
2. Which statement best explains Lanesha’s feelings the morning after the storm?
A) She is relieved and proud that they survived but is soon wary of Mama Ya-Ya’s predictions.
B) She is irritated that her mother’s ghost was unhelpful but happy to see TaShon.
C) She is worried about others in the neighborhood but too preoccupied with Mama Ya-Ya to check on anyone.
D) She is happy and relieved that the storm is over but wonders how long it will be until school opens.
3. Which statement best describes what is implied by Lanesha’s mother’s ghost moving from the bed to the stairs?
A) Lanesha must leave the house to collect more water for TaShon.
B) Lanesha must bring Mama Ya-Ya downstairs into the cooler air.
C) Lanesha must prepare to say goodbye to her mother’s ghost.
D) Lanesha must gather the supplies and get them all to the attic.
Short-Answer Response
Answer each of the following questions in a complete sentence or sentences. Incorporate details from the text to support your response.
1. Summarize Lanesha’s actions during and immediately after the storm.
2. Lanesha does not leave the house or yard the morning after the storm. How does the author show the reader the impact of the hurricane on other parts of the city? What are the storm’s aftereffects in New Orleans?
3. How does Lanesha show resilience and leadership in the night in the attic?
Chapters 13-14
Reading Check
1. Before escaping to the roof, how do TaShon and Lanesha evade the dark water flooding the attic?
2. Who remembers to rescue the axe?
3. How is Lanesha helped by the ghost of her mother?
Multiple Choice
1. Why is Lanesha the one to chop a hole in the wall around the window?
A) TaShon is too fearful because he cannot swim.
B) Lanesha is physically stronger than TaShon.
C) TaShon is stranded on the far side of the attic.
D) Lanesha wants to distract herself from her pain.
2. Which of these terms best describes the tone of Lanesha’s actions toward TaShon on the roof?
A) impatient
B) dominant
C) sensitive
D) encouraging
3. Which statement best explains Lanesha’s confidence with regard to freeing the rowboat?
A) She can visualize the angles and force needed.
B) She hears whispered instructions from Mama Ya-Ya.
C) She knows TaShon can push from his place on the roof.
D) She dreamt of a blue boat coming to their rescue.
Short-Answer Response
Answer each of the following questions in a complete sentence or sentences. Incorporate details from the text to support your response.
1. Describe the scene witnessed by Lanesha on the roof as the sun rises.
2. When does Lanesha experience her greatest loss of fortitude? How is this conflict resolved?
3. In detailed sentences, summarize how the story ends.
Quizzes – Answer Key
Chapters 1-3
Reading Check
1. She learns it in English class from Miss Perry; the word has three syllables, and three is a powerful number; she also likes its definition, “strength to endure.” (Chapter 2)
2. TaShon (Chapter 3)
3. She takes extra math lessons from Miss Johnson for the challenge and enjoyment of it. (Chapter 3)
Multiple Choice
Short Answer
1. Lanesha is kind and accepting of others like Andrew and TaShon but does not have close friends; others mostly avoid her. She is not in the “popular” groups, and sometimes kids tease her and call her “Crazy Lanesha” or “Witch Lanesha.” (Chapters 2, 3)
2. She regards her advanced age and approaching death as natural and expected; she speaks of death’s arrival with a hint of humor. (Chapter 1)
3. Lanesha likes thinking about numbers and symbols; she likes memorizing lines from Shakespeare; she enjoys drawing. She also takes math lessons to advance her knowledge and is inspired to learn more about and draw bridges. All of these show that she is a smart, serious-minded learner with a hungry and open mind. (Chapters 1-3)
Chapters 4-6
Reading Check
1. He sees Lanesha’s mother’s ghost on the bed. (Chapter 4)
2. a teacher’s edition pre-algebra book (Chapter 5)
3. butterflies (Chapter 6)
Multiple Choice
Short Answer
1. In Mama Ya-Ya’s dream, the storm abates and everyone is happy, but then a darkness falls like a “shroud.” (Chapter 4)
2. Miss Johnson says Lanesha is better at math than she was at Lanesha’s age, and that Lanesha can do great things with her ambition and talent. (Chapters 5)
3. The store closed early; Lanesha can see through the windows that the shelves are empty. (Chapter 6)
Chapters 7-9
Reading Check
1. Mama Ya-Ya says her remedy tea that should have made Lanesha’s mother strong didn’t work “because [her mother] didn’t want it to work”; in other words, Lanesha’s mother had lost the will to live. (Chapter 7)
2. the Superdome (Chapter 8)
3. Pastor Williams comes to offer comfort and fellowship at the church. (Chapter 9)
Multiple Choice
Short Answer
1. Lanesha tells Mrs. Watson that she and Mama Ya-Ya will leave the Ninth Ward with Lanesha’s mother’s family, so riding to Baton Rouge with the Watsons is not necessary; Lanesha does not want to crowd their already crowded cars. (Chapter 7)
2. Lanesha is startled to see how similar she and her mother look. Now that she is 12, she is only five years away from her mother’s age of 17 when Lanesha was born. As Lanesha has grown and aged, her mother’s ghost continues to look 17. (Chapter 8)
3. Lanesha nails planks over the windows. She roasts a chicken and cooks beans and rice. She finds a cooler and drags it to the kitchen; she places the milk, orange juice, cheese, carrots, and applesauce in the cooler with ice from the freezer. (Chapter 9)
Chapters 10-12
Reading Check
1. She takes a bubble bath with the special cherry-scented bubble bath she had been saving. (Chapter 10)
2. TaShon got separated from his parents at the Superdome and could not find them, so he came back to Ninth Ward alone hoping to reunite there. (Chapter 11)
3. getting the axe from the shed (Chapter 12)
Multiple Choice
Short Answer
1. The humidity and pressure increase, and the wind and rain batter the house; Lanesha is afraid the house will collapse or blow away, so she pulls Mama Ya-Ya to the bathtub. She, Spot, and Mama Ya-Ya all sit in the tub as the eye passes over. Lanesha yells and screams in terror. After the storm, she tries the phone but it is dead. She goes to the attic window but cannot see anything, not even the stars. (Chapter 10)
2. The author uses TaShon as an eyewitness, as he walked and rode from the Superdome to the Ninth Ward. He tells about trash and destruction, mud and uprooted trees, deserted streets, and damaged houses. (Chapter 11)
3. She brings Mama Ya-Ya and TaShon up the steps as water fills the house; she calms TaShon, who cannot swim, by telling him how to dog-paddle; she gives TaShon privacy when he has to urinate; she releases Mama Ya-Ya from worry and responsibility by saying they will be all right when Mama Ya-Ya dies. After Mama Ya-Ya dies, Lanesha is sad but uses her math skills to gauge the arrival of the floodwaters in the attic. Her mind turns to survival despite her grief. (Chapter 12)
Chapters 13-14
Reading Check
1. Lanesha pushes and piles the furniture together, and they climb to the top of a “chifforo” (chifforobe). (Chapter 13)
2. TaShon (Chapter 13)
3. She frees Lanesha from the branch that traps her underwater and pushes her toward the surface. (Chapter 14)
Multiple Choice
Short Answer
1. Brown, muddy water surrounds the house up to the roof and all the other neighborhood houses are equally almost submerged. Lanesha sees debris and possessions floating in the water. She also sees other people on roofs in the distance. (Chapter 14)
2. Lanesha feels exhausted and ready to give up when she is submerged in the muddy water and trapped by a branch. She thinks she should give up and tries only half-heartedly and in a confused way after that. When her mother’s ghost appears, she lights the way in the dark water and says Lanesha’s name, filling her with renewed fighting spirit. (Chapter 14)
3. Two men in a power boat find them and tow them to safety. Also, Lanesha sees both her mother and Mama Ya-Ya in their spirit forms before she and TaShon row away from the house. (Chapter 14)
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