The Ghosts of Rose Hill
Books | Young Adult Fiction / Novels in Verse
4.2
R. M. Romero
A brilliantly original tale for fans of The Bear and the Nightingale and The Hazel Wood about embracing your power, facing your monsters, and loving deeply enough to transcend a century.Inspired by the author's experiences restoring Jewish cemeteries in Eastern Europe. "A must-read for lost souls everywhere." —Kirkus Reviews, Starred ReviewMagic will burn you up. Sent to stay with her aunt in Prague and witness the humble life of an artist, Ilana Lopez—a biracial Jewish girl—finds herself torn between her dream of becoming a violinist and her immigrant parents’ desire for her to pursue a more stable career. When she discovers a forgotten Jewish cemetery behind her aunt’s cottage, she meets the ghost of a kindhearted boy named Benjamin, who died over a century ago. As Ilana restores Benjamin’s grave, he introduces her to the enchanted side of Prague, where ghosts walk the streets and their kisses have warmth. But Benjamin isn't the only one interested in Ilana. Rudolph Wassermann, a man with no shadow, has become fascinated with her and the music she plays. He offers to share his magic, so Ilana can be with Benjamin and pursue her passion for violin. But after Ilana discovers the truth about Wassermann and how Benjamin became bound to the city, she resolves to save the boy she loves, even if it means losing him—forever. A love letter to Latin American and Jewish diasporas, based on the author's experiences working to maintain Jewish cemeteries in Eastern Europe. The Ghosts of Rose Hill is a tender and empowering read that you will devour in one sitting. Steeped in history and the experiences of immigrant families, especially Jewish families, each carefully-chosen word of this magical verse novel casts a spell. A Sydney Taylor Notable BookA School Library Journal Best Book of the YearA Kirkus Best YA Book of the YearA BuzzFeed Best YA Book of the YearAn Indie Next Pick!
AD
Buy now:
More Details:
Author
R. M. Romero
Pages
384
Publisher
Holiday House
Published Date
2022-05-10
ISBN
1682633381 9781682633380
Community ReviewsSee all
"This was a nice, quick, and enlightening read. It was lovely and well-written prose that flowed very well and I thoroughly enjoyed it too. It's a story about a girl, a biracial Jewish girl, llana, who's an artist and wants to play music. She loves music more than anything and wants to be a violinist, but her parents want her to have a more stable career to fall back on so she can take care of herself and everything.<br/>She is sent to live with her aunt in Prague to see what it's like to live as an artist and while she's there she finds an old run-down and forgotten cemetery behind her aunt's cottage. She meets the ghost of a boy who died years ago and introduces her to the side of life there in Prague where the ghosts walk the streets. She also meets and is found to be of interest by another ghost and has to help the ghost of the boy, Benjamin along with figuring things out for herself with life and everything. It's an enchanting tale of love, loss, and life written in verse and I loved it. I would recommend checking it out if you're a fan of poetry, prose, novels in verse, supernatural, romance between a ghost and a human, figuring out and finding your way in life.<br/>Thanks so much to NetGalley and Peachtree/Peachtree Teen for letting me read and review this lovely story. Make sure to check it out if you haven't already. All thoughts and opinions are my own."
"All great literature seeks to answer this question: "what does it mean to be human?" And this book does exactly that so beautifully!! Also, bonus points for the absolutely GORGEOUS cover!<br/>This is a fairytale about a typical teenage girl who falls in love with a boy over summer vacation (also she loves music"