Published: 2022
Author: R.M. Romero
Genre: Young Adult Magical Realism / Historical Fiction / Novel in Verse
Audience: Grades 7–12 (Middle & High School)
Number of Stars: ★★★★☆ (4/5)
Goodreads Link: The Ghosts of Rose Hill
Content/Trigger Warnings: Death, structural anti-Semitism, generational trauma, historical erasure, and paranormal themes.
Diversity: Features a biracial Jewish-Latina protagonist navigating cultural identity and familial expectations.
Review by: Heather Kent
Publisher’s Summary
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. Magic 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 Book
A School Library Journal Best Book of the Year
A Kirkus Best YA Book of the Year
A BuzzFeed Best YA Book of the Year
An Indie Next Pick!
Review
The Ghosts of Rose Hill by R.M. Romero is a beautiful novel written in exquisite verse prose that masterfully weaves together deep themes of love, tragic loss, and the enduring power of memory.
The narrative follows a young girl who discovers an enchanting, forgotten space that ultimately unlocks secrets buried deep within the town’s history. At its core, this is a story about the relentless power of love and the immense lengths we are willing to go to in order to preserve our memories and honor those who came before us.
Through this transformative emotional journey, Romero brilliantly explores the vital importance of confronting the ghosts of the past in order to find true peace in the present. With its enchanting prose style and compelling, lyrical characters, I found this novel to be a completely captivating read that will strongly appeal to fans of magical realism and historical fiction alike.
🕸️ The Lyrical Triad: Memory, Art, and Exploitation
Romero patterns the book’s magical realism around a triangular conflict between artistic passion, historical trauma, and a predatory entity that feeds on unfulfilled genius.
- The Novel-in-Verse Format: By selecting free verse, Romero mirrors the rhythm and cadence of Ilana’s violin strings. The layout relies on white space to give breathing room to heavy concepts of historical trauma, making the emotional shifts feel like movements in a musical concerto.
- Graveyard Restoration as Social Justice: The narrative is heavily informed by Romero’s real-life volunteer work restoring Jewish cemeteries in Eastern Europe. The act of clearing ivy from Benjamin’s grave serves as a metaphor for fighting cultural erasure and reclaiming names forgotten by time.
🎒 Classroom & Curricular Connections
- English Language Arts & Poetry (Analyzing the Mechanics of Verse Novels):
- Activity Idea: “The Music of the Stanza.” Have students analyze how Romero uses line breaks and punctuation to simulate musical tempos (staccato vs. legato) during Ilana’s violin performances. Have students select an instrument or a physical hobby and write a 15-line poem in free verse that uses the shape of the text on the page to replicate the physical movement of that activity.
- World History & Jewish Diaspora Studies (Prague’s Jewish History):
- Activity Idea: “Mapping the Stones.” Use the book to introduce the history of Jewish communities in the Czech Republic, examining the preservation of the real-world Old Jewish Cemetery in Prague. Have students explore how historical preservation functions as an act of resistance against totalitarian attempts to erase minority populations from national narratives.
- Social-Emotional Learning (Balancing Passion with Familial Obligation):
- Activity Idea: “The Practicality Dialogue.” Ilana faces immense pressure from her immigrant parents to abandon the violin for a stable economic career. Organize a classroom fishbowl discussion or reflection journal surrounding the balance between practical expectations and personal artistic passions. Have students write an open letter from Ilana to her parents explaining why music is vital to her identity without dismissing their worries.
