Here Lies a Ghost
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- Pre-Order
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- Expected Mar 3, 2026
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- $12.99
Publisher Description
India Hill Brown meets Sharon Draper in a spooky, poignant, tour-de-force from Shakirah Bourne -- an ode to Black Boy friendships, the richness of Caribbean history, and the power that comes from reclaiming your past.
Jermaine is NOT destined to be popular at his new elite school. First, he's the poorest kid in class -- no phone, no cool sneakers, no chance. Second, he loves science and can't keep himself from gushing about geology. But after being bullied at his old school, he's desperate for the status and protection that comes from joining the "Turbo Jets"... even if that means abandoning Brody, a fellow outsider who truly wants to be Jermaine's friend.
As part of a hazing ritual, the Turbo Jets dare Jermaine to break into the notorious "haunted Chase Vault" -- the crypt that once housed one of the cruelest enslavers in Barbados and his family. Then they lock him inside as a "joke."
Luckily, Jermaine makes it out unscathed. There's just one problem.
Someone else left the crypt with him.
Someone desperate to learn how she died... and get her revenge.
Jermaine is relieved someone else can see the ghost: his ex-best friend Brody. But freeing her won't be easy. It means ditching the Turbo Jets, teaming up with Brody, and unearthing ugly secrets from the island's colonial past. Will Jermaine really risk everything to help the suffering spirit find peace?
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
A tween accidentally unleashes a vengeful ghost from a crypt and must work with his former best friend to recapture the spirit in this sensitive novel set in Barbados. After enduring bullying for his interest in science and his family's financial insecurity, Jermaine aligns himself with popular kids the Turbo Jets at his new school, hoping to spare himself from harassment. But Jermaine's desire to secure a more favorable social standing alienates his new friend Brody, whom the Turbo Jets frequently target. During a Turbo Jets hazing ritual, Jermaine becomes trapped in the Chase Vault, a purportedly haunted crypt. And though he escapes, he's followed by the ghost of Dorcas, who died in 1812. At first, Jermaine thinks Dorcas is his "lucky charm," but when he learns that Brody can see her too—and that the good luck she brings Jermaine comes with potentially dangerous consequences—the boys team up to help Dorcas move on into the afterlife. Chapters alternate between Jermaine and Brody's third-person POVs, respectively rendered in introspective prose and snappy verse by Bourne (Beware the Heartman). As the youths learn more about Dorcas's past, they're forced to confront the reasons behind their own strained friendship as well as weighty historical issues surrounding slavery and lineage. Jermaine is Black; Brody is biracial (Black and white). Ages 8–12.
