Raina Telgemeier’s Ghosts is a Perfect Fall Middle Grade Read
Raina Telgemeier is best known for her autobiographical graphic novels, Smile and Sisters, and her ability to beautifully capture realistic familial relationships and teen life. But in her new fictional graphic novel, Ghosts, Telgemeier takes a dip into the world of magical realism—and does so seamlessly—while still maintaining the genuine nature of her characters and their relationships that her fans have come to love.
In Ghosts, which hits bookshelves Sept. 13, we meet Catrina, a teen who is unhappy to be moving with her family from sunny Southern California to a coastal Northern California town called Bahía de la Luna. The sun only shines there a meager 62 days a year. But her little sister, Maya, has cystic fibrosis, and the girls’ parents are hoping the cool, salty air will help Maya’s breathing. But, as Cat and Maya soon learn, the fog isn’t the only creepy thing about this town—there are ghosts in Bahía de la Luna. Maya is super-eager to meet one, but her big sister is even more anxious about the ghosts than she is about having moved away from all her old friends.
The town’s big Día de los Muertos—Day of the Dead—celebration might be a perfect time for Maya to commune with the dead. But as Maya gets sicker, Cat realizes that she may have to put aside her own fears for her little sister’s sake.
The book deals with some heavy issues like serious health problems, death, fear, the loss of a family member, and the concept of an afterlife. But the way in which Telgemeier artfully and realistically develops her characters keeps readers focused on the evolution of these individuals and the heartwarming depths of their relationships. Plus, Ghosts also focuses on some more universal life themes like the importance of breath—something Maya has trouble with due to her cystic fibrosis, something Cat has trouble with due to her anxiety, and something the ghosts can’t even do for themselves (they have to “borrow” breath from the living people around them in the story).
And having the Day of the Dead backdrop lends amazing color to the story—figuratively in regard to the incredible culture surrounding the traditional Mexican holiday, and literally in terms of the vivid images Telgemeier has drawn on the pages, including the ghosts themselves; kids and adults decked out in Day of the Dead makeup and costumes, the flowers and candles decorating the ofrendas for the spirits, and the amazing party at which people reunite with lost loved ones.
Appealing to longtime fans of Telgemeier’s as well as newcomers to her books, Ghosts is a perfect story for the fall season, incorporating elements of Halloween, Day of the Dead, chillier temps, heading back to school, and changing seasons. The 8-to-12-year-old set will want to curl up with a blanket and tear through this quick read in one sitting, and they may even learn something in the process, as Telgemeier offers some context at the end of the book on Day of the Dead and cystic fibrosis.
Ghosts is on shelves September 13.