Publishers Weekly
03/22/2021
In 1920s Georgia, 12-year-old Ophelia Harrison, who is Black, learns that she can see ghosts when her father, killed hours earlier by a white lynch mob, wakes Ophie in the middle of the night to save her and her mother from the same fate. After relocating to Pittsburgh to live with her father’s family, Ophie must leave school and work alongside her mother at the opulent Daffodil Manor, owned by the Caruthers family, white, pro-slavery Southerners from Virginia. There, Ophie sees more ghosts than ever, soon learning of her family’s legacy of helping sometimes-dangerous haints with unfinished business move on. Her fascination with Clara, the old home’s most beautiful ghost, draws Ophie into a mystery that reveals the human cost of systemic racism across America and the price routinely paid by those attempting to defy it. In her middle grade debut, Ireland (Dread Nation) deftly balances historical detail and atmosphere, capturing the essence of the centuries-enduring racism that oppresses through actions large and small. Ophie makes a brave, dynamic main character: scared, grieving, and compassionate, while also deeply aware that she deserves more than a racist society permits her. Ages 8–12. (May)
From the Publisher
"Ophie's Ghosts is at once a gripping mystery and a deeply moving story of one determined girl's quest to bring peace and healing to those whom society has left behind. With grace and heart, Ireland asks us to bear witness to America’s ghosts and shines a light on the path to setting them free." — Anne Ursu, author of The Lost Girl
"Haunting, suspenseful, and steeped in the very real ghosts of injustice in America, Ophie’s Ghosts is a brilliant page-turner of a mystery. I couldn’t put it down, and Ophie’s courage and compassion make her a character I’ll never forget." — Kate Messner, author of Chirp and Breakout
"Ireland's debut on the middle grade scene is beautifully written with a clear-eyed view of a complex past that is still to be reckoned with. The reverberations of the heart-wrenching mystery at its center will haunt readers in the best of ways." — Tracey Baptiste, New York Times bestselling author of The Jumbies
" Ireland’s first middle-grade novel deftly examines the haunting aftermath of racial trauma and how people can learn to thrive despite it. Equal parts supernatural suspense and historical fiction, this is a compelling spin on the classic whodunit narrative." — Booklist (starred review)
"Ireland weaves together the fantastical with historical realities that Black Americans have faced. Ophie’s optimistic personality and the intrigue-filled story will keep pages turning all the way to the satisfying conclusion. An enthralling journey." — Kirkus Reviews
"Ireland's first middle-grade novel thoughtfully explores issues of race, privilege, and historical injustice, while also being a well-paced and shivery supernatural page-turner." — Horn Book (starred review)
"Chilling on a number of levels, this is a historically rooted ghost story well worth reading." — School Library Journal
"Ireland provides an immersive experience of the shifting race dynamics in 1920s America by focusing on Ophie’s inner dialogue and her experiences as a young Black girl, and by interspersing chapters from the perspective of various objects and places, is particularly effective." — Bulletin of the Center for Children’s Books
Horn Book (starred review)
"Ireland's first middle-grade novel thoughtfully explores issues of race, privilege, and historical injustice, while also being a well-paced and shivery supernatural page-turner."
Tracey Baptiste
"Ireland's debut on the middle grade scene is beautifully written with a clear-eyed view of a complex past that is still to be reckoned with. The reverberations of the heart-wrenching mystery at its center will haunt readers in the best of ways."
Booklist (starred review)
" Ireland’s first middle-grade novel deftly examines the haunting aftermath of racial trauma and how people can learn to thrive despite it. Equal parts supernatural suspense and historical fiction, this is a compelling spin on the classic whodunit narrative."
Anne Ursu
"Ophie's Ghosts is at once a gripping mystery and a deeply moving story of one determined girl's quest to bring peace and healing to those whom society has left behind. With grace and heart, Ireland asks us to bear witness to America’s ghosts and shines a light on the path to setting them free."
Kate Messner
"Haunting, suspenseful, and steeped in the very real ghosts of injustice in America, Ophie’s Ghosts is a brilliant page-turner of a mystery. I couldn’t put it down, and Ophie’s courage and compassion make her a character I’ll never forget."
Bulletin of the Center for Children’s Books
"Ireland provides an immersive experience of the shifting race dynamics in 1920s America by focusing on Ophie’s inner dialogue and her experiences as a young Black girl, and by interspersing chapters from the perspective of various objects and places, is particularly effective."
School Library Journal
06/04/2021
Gr 5–7—In 1923, 12-year-old Black girl Ophelia (Ophie) Harrison sees dead people, a talent that runs in her family but was jump-started early in her after the lynching of her father in Georgia. Three months later, she and her mother are in Pittsburgh working at Daffodil Manor, a mansion with four living inhabitants and a slew of ghosts. As Ophie takes care of grouchy, racist Mrs. Caruthers, she also begins to learn how to deal with her newfound abilities and befriends a helpful, unusually cheerful ghost named Clara. Ophelia is a likable character, strong and smart but definitely not perfect. Supporting characters are well drawn, and locations in the story—Pennsy (the Pennsylvania Railroad), the trolley, the city of Pittsburgh, Daffodil Manor—all read like characters themselves. Violence takes place mostly off-stage, but the real horror is racism, privation, and lack of decency faced by the Black characters every day. The mystery of Clara's death is ultimately solved, and the end is satisfying. VERDICT Chilling on a number of levels, this is a historically rooted ghost story well worth reading.—Mara Alpert, Los Angeles P.L.
Kirkus Reviews
2021-03-03
A 12-year-old Black girl in 1920s Georgia learns she has the ability to commune with ghosts—and goes on to help solve a mysterious death.
Ophelia “Ophie” Harrison was startled awake by her father’s urgently telling her to grab their emergency money, wake her mother, and escape to the woods—just before White men came and burned their house to the ground. The next morning, she found out those same men had already murdered her father; what she had seen was his ghost. Her mother, dealing with her own grief and their new reality, is not ready to hear of Ophie’s talent, so after they move north to live with Aunt Rose and her family in Pittsburgh, Ophie is forced to keep quiet about it. She longs to attend school but starts working with her mother at Daffodil Manor, home to one of the city’s wealthiest families, so that they can save up for their own place. She soon discovers that ghosts fill the manor; one in particular, Clara, helps her satisfy the demands of the curmudgeonly old White lady who is their employer. In return, Ophie is determined to find out how Clara died. Once again, Ireland weaves together the fantastical with historical realities that Black Americans have faced. Ophie’s optimistic personality and the intrigue-filled story will keep pages turning all the way to the satisfying conclusion.
An enthralling journey interwoven with historical realities. (Paranormal mystery. 8-12)
