![]() ![]() Lanesha has trouble making friends because others do not understand her ability. They appear to her all the time and represent many different time periods and walks of life. The day after her birthday, Lanesha thinks about the ghosts she sees. Mama Ya-Ya knows that Lanesha can see ghosts, including the ghost of her mother who often appears on Mama Ya-Ya’s bed, where she died giving birth to Lanesha. Lanesha is also grateful that Mama Ya-Ya teaches her about signs and symbols in dreams and nature. She then retreats to her recently painted bedroom, where she reflects with gratitude on Mama Ya-Ya’s love and care, since her Uptown family members (relatives of her mother) do not acknowledge her. At the end of the day, Lanesha helps the elderly woman to bed. The story opens on Lanesha’s 12th birthday, a late-August Sunday on which she and Mama Ya-Ya pick flowers, make jambalaya, and share birthday cake. ![]() Mama Ya-Ya is an 82-year-old woman who never married and has no family besides Lanesha. Lanesha was raised by Mama Ya-Ya, the midwife who attended her birth. Her mother died giving birth to her, and she does not know her father. Lanesha is a young Black American girl who lives in the Ninth Ward neighborhood of New Orleans, Louisiana. ![]()
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