The Ghost Rules

June 15, 2024
Twelve-year-old Elwood P. McGee has experienced some hard and unexpected changes lately, but he certainly didn't expect to acquire ghost-sight. When Elwood was in sixth grade, his adored 17-year-old brother, Noah, died in a tragic accident. A few months later, at the end of the school year, the McGees, who present white, moved from Nashville to the small Tennessee town of Long Hollow, where Elwood's mother grew up. At least Elwood has made two new friends over the summer--brave Tabitha Tamez, who's cued Latine, and Sydney Burke, champion of the town's defunct 1940s movie theater, who reads Black. Elwood is shocked to realize he can see the ghost of his late, estranged maternal grandfather. But it's not just Pops--it turns out he can talk to ghosts all over the place, and he's starting to figure out the Ghost Rules they abide by. Elwood uses his newfound abilities to help Sydney and Tabitha save the old theater from a developer alongside its now-deceased founder, Adeline Andrews, the town's first Black business owner. When it dawns on Elwood that Noah could be a ghost, he makes it his mission to find and talk to him one more time. Debut author Rosenbaum weaves serious topics into this story that's told with humor, wit, and heart; each character is treated with the utmost care. A story of family, grief, and loss that's infused with lots of spirit. (Paranormal. 8-12)

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August 1, 2024
Grades 4-6 Twelve-year-old Elwood and his parents have moved to Long Hollow, Tennessee, to live in Mom's family house after the recent deaths of her father, Pops, and Elwood's older brother, Noah. In his new environment, Elwood discovers that he can ""ghost-see"" apparitions, including Pops and several other neighborhood phantoms. If he can see them, he wonders if he might be able to speak with Noah one last time. Rosenbaum lightens the sadness of this story with plenty of humor, including the titular rules to which these specters must adhere. Although the narrative meanders quite a bit (including subplots involving a haunted movie theater awaiting possible redevelopment, a new friend whose father is abusive, and a local author who has claimed to see ghosts also), eventually Elwood gets an opportunity to search for his brother to help him come to terms with the overwhelming grief and guilt he and his parents all are experiencing. Though perhaps not a first pick for readers dealing with a death, this should have wide appeal for ghost enthusiasts.

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