Neshama
by Marcella Pixley
Intermediate, Middle School    Candlewick    368 pp.
5/25    9781536236613    $18.99
e-book ed.  9781536244854    $18.99

Early in this verse novel, sixth grader Anna’s grandmother Bubbe Esther gives her a journal: “It’s still waiting / for a shayna neshama, / a beautiful soul, / to write / her own poems inside.” The poems Anna puts on paper are the words of ghosts writing through her, and in fact, she constantly sees and interacts with ghosts despite the resulting ostracism from classmates and her father’s strong objections. Ruthie, Dad’s late sister, also saw ghosts, and “everyone thought [she] was crazy.” But Ruthie is now appearing to Anna and eventually possesses her in hopes of taking revenge on an antisemitic childhood bully who had played a role in Ruthie’s death. Creepy premise notwithstanding, much of the focus here is on emotions, both of the living and the dead, and on family and peer dynamics. The accessible verse is rich with imagery, with feelings evocatively described (“There is something wild inside me / expanding like a bellows, / a breath of sweet autumn air”), and warm scenes at Bubbe’s house mixing with Anna’s awareness of ghosts (“Ruthie is curled with us / wishing fiercely / she could be the one / to sing the prayers / drink sweet wine / and breathe / the heavenly scent / of golden broth / and candles burning low”). An atmospheric ghost story for character-driven readers.

From the July/August 2025 issue of The Horn Book Magazine.