Pages As Planes: New Orleans

This might be one of my favorite Pages As Planes that I’ve put together! Each of the books that I haven’t read on this list has made it onto my TBR. I have only been to New Orleans once in my life, and it was for work so I didn’t get to explore too much, but I know it’s such a magical city. I hope this list of books can transport you there, whether you’ve visited or not!

Salvage the Bones by Jesmyn Ward—The top of the list because it’s the top of my TBR but this book actually doesn’t take place in NOLA…but it does feature Hurricane Katrina, which is such a big part of the city. And the author is a professor at Tulane!

“Jesmyn Ward, two-time National Book Award winner and author of Sing, Unburied, Sing, delivers a gritty but tender novel about family and poverty in the days leading up to Hurricane Katrina.” —Amazon

A Lesson Before Dying by Ernest J. Gaines—I wrote a paper on this book my senior year of high school and it truly stuck with me. It takes place in the 1940’s when a young man returns to New Orleans to visit a young Black man on death row for a crime he didn’t commit.

Out of the Easy by Ruta Sepetys—Sepetys is one of the greatest authors for historical fiction!

“It’s 1950, and as the French Quarter of New Orleans simmers with secrets, seventeen-year-old Josie Moraine is silently stirring a pot of her own. Known among locals as the daughter of a brothel prostitute, Josie wants more out of life than the Big Easy has to offer. She devises a plan get out, but a mysterious death in the Quarter leaves Josie tangled in an investigation that will challenge her allegiance to her mother, her conscience, and Willie Woodley, the brusque madam on Conti Street.
Josie is caught between the dream of an elite college and a clandestine underworld. New Orleans lures her in her quest for truth, dangling temptation at every turn, and escalating to the ultimate test.” —Amazon

I Wanna Be Where You Are by Kristina Forest—I hadn’t heard of this book before and the cover is STUNNING but what’s inside is even better!

“When Chloe Pierce’s mom forbids her to apply for a spot at the dance conservatory of her dreams, she devises a secret plan to drive two hundred miles to the nearest audition. But Chloe hits her first speed bump when her annoying neighbor Eli insists upon hitching a ride, threatening to tell Chloe’s mom if she leaves him and his smelly dog, Geezer, behind. So now Chloe’s chasing her ballet dreams down the east coast—two unwanted (but kinda cute) passengers in her car, butterflies in her stomach, and a really dope playlist on repeat.” —Amazon

The Agony House by Tara O’Connell—NOLA is synonymous with ghost stories and spooky stuff in my opinion so I had to include this fun middle grade!

“Denise Farber has just moved back to New Orleans with her mom and step-dad. They left years ago after Hurricane Katrina and are back now, wagering the last of their family's money on fixing up an old, run-down house and converting it to a bed and breakfast.

When the unexplained noises start, that seems a little weird. Same too for the fact that nothing seems to work around the house...even when it should. But when floors start collapsing suddenly and deadly objects fall everywhere--and voices start speaking to Denise--she knows that something more sinister lies hidden.

Could the answers lie in an old comic book that Denise finds in the abandoned attic...the lost last work of a famous artist who apparently lived here? Denise isn't going anywhere, so she must unravel the mystery, on the pages and off them, if she and her family are to survive...” —Amazon

The Beautiful by Renee Ahdieh—Ghost stories, vampires, it’s all so NOLA right? Set in 1872 New Orleans with vampires hiding in plain sight, but for Celine, it’s a safe haven after fleeing Paris. But the city is gripped by fear as a serial killer has begun a rampage, with its sight now set on Celine.

A Kind of Freedom by Margaret Wilkerson Sexton— I don’t know how I’ve missed this book but WOW it’s moving up my TBR.

”Evelyn is a Creole woman who comes of age in New Orleans at the height of World War II. In 1982, Evelyn’s daughter, Jackie, is a frazzled single mother grappling with her absent husband’s drug addiction. Jackie’s son, T.C., loves the creative process of growing marijuana more than the weed itself. He was a square before Hurricane Katrina, but the New Orleans he knew didn’t survive the storm. For Evelyn, Jim Crow is an ongoing reality, and in its wake new threats spring up to haunt her descendants. Margaret Wilkerson Sexton’s critically acclaimed debut is an urgent novel that explores the legacy of racial disparity in the South through a poignant and redemptive family history.” —Amazon

Evangeline of the Bayou by Jan Elredge—I am obsessed with this cover! This stars a sassy heroine so I know I’ll love it.

“Twelve-year-old haunt huntress apprentice Evangeline Clement spends her days and nights studying the ways of folk magic, honing her monster-hunting skills while pursuing local bayou banshees and Johnny revenants. With her animal familiar sure to make itself known any day now, the only thing left to do is prove to the council she has heart. Then she will finally be declared a true haunt huntress, worthy of following in the footsteps of her long line of female ancestors. But when Evangeline and her grandmother are called to New Orleans to resolve an unusual case, she uncovers a secret that will shake her to the soles of her silver-tipped alligator-skin boots.Set in the evocative Louisiana bayou and the vibrant streets of New Orleans, Evangeline’s is a tale of loyalty and determination, the powerful bonds of friendship and family, and the courage to trust your gut no matter how terrifying that might be.” —Amazon

Interview with a Vampire by Anne Rice—Confession: I’ve never seen this movie, but it’s a classic for a reason isn’t?! Maybe I’ll finally watch the movie.

The Yellow House: A Memoir by Sarah M. Broom—Some nonfiction! I love memoirs so much and haven’t read enough in 2021.

“A book of great ambition, Sarah M. Broom’s The Yellow House tells a hundred years of her family and their relationship to home in a neglected area of one of America’s most mythologized cities. This is the story of a mother’s struggle against a house's entropy, and that of a prodigal daughter who left home only to reckon with the pull that home exerts, even after the Yellow House was wiped off the map after Hurricane Katrina. The Yellow House expands the map of New Orleans to include the stories of its lesser known natives, guided deftly by one of its native daughters, to demonstrate how enduring drives of clan, pride, and familial love resist and defy erasure. Located in the gap between the “Big Easy” of tourist guides and the New Orleans in which Broom was raised, The Yellow House is a brilliant memoir of place, class, race, the seeping rot of inequality, and the internalized shame that often follows. It is a transformative, deeply moving story from an unparalleled new voice of startling clarity, authority, and power.” —Amazon

All This Could Be Yours by Jami Attenberg—Okay this was pitched to me as Big Little Lies in New Orleans, which I’m here for.

“If I know why they are the way they are, then maybe I can learn why I am the way I am,” says Alex Tuchman of her parents. Now that her father, Victor, is on his deathbed, Alex—a strong-headed lawyer, devoted mother, and loving sister—feels she can finally unearth the secrets of who Victor is and what he did over the course of his life and career. (A power-hungry real estate developer, he is, by all accounts, a bad man.) She travels to New Orleans to be with her family, but mostly to interrogate her tight-lipped mother, Barbra.

As Barbra fends off Alex’s unrelenting questions, she reflects on her tumultuous life with Victor. Meanwhile Gary, Alex’s brother, is incommunicado, trying to get his movie career off the ground in Los Angeles. And Gary’s wife, Twyla, is having a nervous breakdown, buying up all the lipstick in drugstores around New Orleans and bursting into crying fits. Dysfunction is at its peak. As family members grapple with Victor’s history, they must figure out a way to move forward—with one another, for themselves, and for the sake of their children.” —Amazon

Solitary: My Journey of Transformation and Hope by Albert Woodfox—Another memoir that is so incredibly important! This was on Barack Obama’s favorite books of 2019 list. it’s about Woodfox’s experience being kept in solitary confinement and how inhumane it is.

Upside Down in the Middle of Nowhere by Julie T. Lamana—This is another middle grade that sounds so good!

“Armani Curtis can think about only one thing: her tenth birthday. All her friends are coming to her party, her mama is making a big cake, and she has a good feeling about a certain wrapped box. Turning ten is a big deal to Armani. It means she's older, wiser, more responsible. But when Hurricane Katrina hits the Lower Nines of New Orleans, Armani realizes that being ten means being brave, watching loved ones die, and mustering all her strength to help her family weather the storm. A powerful story of courage and survival, Upside Down in the Middle of Nowhere celebrates the miraculous power of hope and love in the face of the unthinkable.” —Amazon

Ninth Ward by Jewell Parker Rhodes—This is the first book in a middle grade triology!

“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.” —Amazon

Tie Me Down by Tracey Wolff—Well, if you’re looking for a hot romance…this is probably just the ticket!

“As the only woman on her homicide squad, star investigator Genevieve Delacroix maintains a tough-as-nails attitude that keeps men at arm’s length. She never gives in to her secret fantasies—until she meets a mysterious stranger who teaches her how little control she really has over her mind or her body.

Cole Adams arrives in New Orleans believing Genevieve is his last hope for solving the murder of his younger sister. He just doesn’t expect the hard-bitten detective to look like a blond bombshell. Once he breaks through her inhibitions, he soon finds an unexpected obsession driving Genevieve right to the edge of desire . . . and beyond. But when the serial killer who has been terrorizing the streets of the French Quarter sets his sights on Genevieve, they realize that they both have let down their guard. And losing control can have fatal consequences.” —Amazon

And there you have it, New Orleans! Something for everyone in this list I think. Where should we fly off to next?