Ophie's Ghosts

YA powerhouse Justina Ireland (Dread Nation) gives voice to the voiceless dead in this middle grade novel. When a posse of white men come to set their house alight in the night, Ophie’s father tells her to take her mother and flee. The next morning brings impossible news: Ophie’s father had already been killed, and the warning came from her first ghost. When she and her mother move to Pittsburgh, theoretically more welcoming to Black people, they end up working in an old manor house full of restless dead. Can Ophie use her newfound gift to bring them justice? Recommended By Madeline S., Powells.com

The New York Times bestselling author of Dread Nation makes her middle grade debut with a sweeping tale of the ghosts of our past that won't stay buried, starring an unforgettable girl named Ophie.
 
Ophelia Harrison used to live in a small house in the Georgia countryside. But that was before the night in November 1922, and the cruel act that took her home and her father from her. Which was the same night that Ophie learned she can see ghosts.
 
Now Ophie and her mother are living in Pittsburgh with relatives they barely know. In the hopes of earning enough money to get their own place, Mama has gotten Ophie a job as a maid in the same old manor house where she works.
 
Daffodil Manor, like the wealthy Caruthers family who owns it, is haunted by memories and prejudices of the past — and, as Ophie discovers, ghosts as well. Ghosts who have their own loves and hatreds and desires, ghosts who have wronged others and ghosts who have themselves been wronged. And as Ophie forms a friendship with one spirit whose life ended suddenly and unjustly, she wonders if she might be able to help — even as she comes to realize that Daffodil Manor may hold more secrets than she bargained for.

"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

"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

"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

Justina Ireland is the New York Times bestselling author of Dread Nation and its sequel, Deathless Divide, as well as Vengeance Bound and Promise of Shadows. She is also one of the authors creating the next generation of Star Wars novels entitled the High Republic and is the author of the middle grade Star Wars adventures Lando's Luck, Spark the Resistance, and A Test of Courage. She lives with her husband, kid, and dog in Maryland. You can visit her online at www.justinaireland.com.