Ghosts, Toast, and Other Hazards
by Susan Tan (Author)
"Susan Tan's writing is funny, fun, and hits straight to the heart."--Christina Soontorvat, two-time Newbery Honor recipient
From APALA Honor award-winning author Susan Tan, a middle-grade novel about a girl who must overcome her worries to find the truth behind her town's urban legend.
Mo is not afraid of toast. Just to be clear. She is afraid of fires, though. Which can be caused by everyday appliances, like toasters. So toast isn't the problem, but you could say it's the start of a slippery slope. Since her family's recent move, Mo's been eating oatmeal for breakfast.
Moving to a new town is never easy, but it's even harder when you're dealing with a stepdad who just left and a mom who can't get out of bed long enough to find a new a job.
But Mo doesn't have time to dwell on these things. Because it's her job to keep her family together. To keep them safe.
So when an elephant starts to haunt her dreams--and a mysterious spirit attacks her home--Mo knows it's up to her to intervene before things get too dangerous.
With her new friend, Nathaniel, she embarks on an investigation, searching for the truth about the town, its people, and their history. But things are much more complicated and tangled than she thought.
To find out what's really going on, Mo might have to live a little dangerously after all.
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Kirkus Reviews
A realistic and deeply moving portrayal of a family's journey through a challenging life transition.
Horn Book Magazine
Publishers Weekly
An apprehensive girl ventures into unknown territory in new environs--and within herself--to uncover the truth behind a local legend in this thrilling otherworldly novel from Tan (the Cilla Lee-Jenkins series). After her stepdad leaves, Chinese American 12-year-old Mo Lin, her five-year-old half sister CeCe, and their mother move to a new town to live with Uncle Ray. Helping with her younger sister, watching her mom navigate depression, and facing racism in the largely white Massachusetts town makes the transition a difficult one for Mo, as does her heightened fear of fire following a toast incident at the family's prior home. Strange dreams and bouts of sleepwalking add to her worries, especially when they turn out to involve the ghost of a circus elephant named Maudie, who perished in a local fire and whose spirit lives on via a ghostly white dog. When unsettling occurrences begin happening around town, Mo teams up with new friend Nathaniel, a ghost enthusiast who is white and Jewish, to investigate, finding that it takes living a little dangerously to uncover truths about their town's erased history. Mo's sincere first-person narrative portrays the way that finding emotional safety--via attending therapy, and bonding with Uncle Ray over music--gives way to a feeling of peace. Ages 8-12. Agent: Daniel Lazar, Writers House. (Apr.)
Copyright 2023 Publishers Weekly, LLC Used with permission.Review quotes
[E]ffective and emotional —Bulletin of the Center for Children's Books
SUSAN TAN has lived in many places in her life, but calls Concord, Massachusetts, home. After studying at Williams College, she earned her PhD from the University of Cambridge, where she studied children's literature. She currently lives in Somerville, enjoys frequent trips to Chinatown to eat tzuck sang, and teaches at the University of Massachusetts, Boston. Susan is the author of the Cilla Lee-Jenkins chapter book series, and the Pets Rule! series.
JUV011020 - Juvenile Fiction | People & Places | United States - Asian American
Families
Family life
Elephants
Ghosts
Ghost stories
Domestic fiction
Chinese Americans
Anxiety
Novels
