NESHAMA

Anna sees ghosts.

Talking with and about ghosts—not to mention her blue-dyed hair, combat boots, and weird poetry—has left Anna shunned by her sixth grade classmates. Even her father would rather break her spirit than support her macabre behavior. Only her grandmother, Bubbe Esther, offers Anna the kindness and space to be herself. On a solo visit to Bubbe’s home in Gloucester, Massachusetts, Anna encounters the ghost of Ruthie, her father’s sister, who died in childhood and now wants Anna’s help to settle some scores. Pixley’s verse balances gauzy abstractions with well-wrought details, highlighting the physicality of the living that the ghosts envy: “We watch you / at night / when you are sleeping. / We love / the sound / of your breath / hissing / like silver thread / pulled through silk.” While visiting Bubbe, Anna also feels drawn to her grandmother’s Jewish observance, which Ruthie practiced unabashedly—another form of self-expression her secular father has rejected. The relationship between Anna and her ghostly aunt evolves effectively, with the decisive, liberated Ruthie initially helping to bolster Anna’s confidence; over time, she becomes more feral and overbearing, forcing Anna to trust and assert her own judgment. A denouement with her father feels rather quick, but readers will cheer Anna’s burgeoning ability to embrace her unusual skills and advocate for herself. Characters are cued white.

An eerie, melancholic story of family trauma and healing.