Written by Shawneé Gibbs, Shawnelle Gibbs, and illustrated by Emily Cannon, Ghost Roast is a young adult graphic novel about a Black teenager forced to hunt ghosts with her dad. Chelsea has finally made friends with the cool kids at school. But their sneaking out to party ways land her in hot water. Her mom is disappointed, and as punishment to earn back her parents’ trust, she is grounded and forced to work at Ghost Roast, her dad’s ghostbusting business. He is more than a tad obsessed with clearing out ghosts. Her (spoiled) friends discover her dad’s new infomercial and post about it on social. Chelsea finds ghostbusting with your dad can get embarrassing. Even though they live in New Orleans, where everything is haunted, she never really believed in ghosts. Her dad’s failing business is part of the reason her historian mom divorced him.
Most of the calls are false alarms until they get a big job at a local mansion (and former plantation). The elderly owner says it’s haunted, but her grandson wants to clear out any scary ghosts so he can turn it into a hotel. When inspecting rooms, Chelsea discovers a) ghosts are real, and b) she can see them when others can’t! When she meets a friendly ghost named Oliver, she decides to investigate the history of the place. Oddly, Oliver is never mentioned in the family tree, which is odd. She spends the rest of the novel searching for the truth while trying to save Oliver from being obliterated by her dad’s ghost elimination tech. Along the way, she learns some life lessons about friendship and self-confidence.
I stumbled upon a signed copy at Mysterious Galaxy during a trip to San Diego. I decided to give this a whirl, and I really enjoyed it. The illustrations are interesting, bringing together the ghostly and human planes. There were more inner thoughts and dialogue than I expected, but I eventually got into the groove of it. There’s a dash of Black historical fiction in Oliver’s story that really captivated me. Plus, a cute ghost cat!
Read this if you’re after a light paranormal YA novel featuring awkward teens and ghosts that are mostly misunderstood. Think less Stranger Things, more Ghostbusters: Afterlife vibes.
