The Girl and the Ghost

by Hanna Alkaf

Overview

* Chosen as a 2020 Kirkus Prize Finalist for Young Readers' Literature! *

A Malaysian folk tale comes to life in this emotionally layered, chilling middle grade debut, perfect for fans of The Book of Boy and The Jumbies.

I am a dark spirit, the ghost announced grandly. I am your inheritance, your grandmother’s legacy. I am yours to command.

Suraya is delighted when her witch grandmother gifts her a pelesit. She names her ghostly companion Pink, and the two quickly become inseparable.

But Suraya doesn’t know that pelesits have a dark side—and when Pink’s shadows threaten to consume them both, they must find enough light to survive . . . before they are both lost to the darkness.

Fans of Holly Black’s Doll Bones and Tahereh Mafi’s Furthermore series will love this ghostly middle grade debut that explores jealousy, love, and the extraordinary power of friendship.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780062940957
Publisher:	HarperCollins Publishers
Publication date:	08/04/2020
Pages:	288
Sales rank:	672,373
Product dimensions:	5.20(w) x 8.20(h) x 1.10(d)
Lexile:	840L (what's this?)
Age Range:	8 - 12 Years

About the Author

Hanna Alkaf is the author of several books for kids and teens, including The Girl and the Ghost, Hamra and the Jungle of Memories, and the upcoming Tales from Cabin 23: Night of the Living Head. Hanna lives in Kuala Lumpur with her family and can be visited at hannaalkaf.com.

Editorial Reviews

Grippingly heart-wrenching and speaks to deeper themes of family, trauma, and friendship…a fascinating, page-turning tale.” — Kirkus Reviews (starred review)

“Alkaf’s middle-grade debut is unapologetically—and beautifully—Malaysian… it sizzles with tension and safe-but-ghoulish imagery, without letting go of the heartfelt thread of love between a girl and her ghost.” — Booklist

"I can’t stop thinking about THE GIRL AND THE GHOST, a desperately beautiful novel about the many ways people can be haunted and the transformative power of friendship and love. A spellbinding story, told with an enormous heart." — Anne Ursu, author of the National Book Award Longlist title, The Real Boy

"Delightfully gruesome, humorous, haunted and heart wrenching, The Girl and the Ghost is an intense tale of grief, family, friendship and forgiveness.”  — Robin Yardi, author of The Midnight War of Mateo Martinez

“An entertaining convergence of the supernatural with the everyday… touches of contemporary Malaysian life enrich the background: ethnic and religious diversity, layers of rapid social change, and loving descriptions of food abound." — Bulletin of the Center for Children’s Books

From the Publisher

"I can’t stop thinking about THE GIRL AND THE GHOST, a desperately beautiful novel about the many ways people can be haunted and the transformative power of friendship and love. A spellbinding story, told with an enormous heart."

Anne Ursu

An entertaining convergence of the supernatural with the everyday… touches of contemporary Malaysian life enrich the background: ethnic and religious diversity, layers of rapid social change, and loving descriptions of food abound."

Bulletin of the Center for Children’s Books

"Delightfully gruesome, humorous, haunted and heart wrenching, The Girl and the Ghost is an intense tale of grief, family, friendship and forgiveness.” 

Robin Yardi

★ 2020-05-17
After the death of the village witch, her pelesit, a cricketlike trickster ghost-familiar, must seek a new master who shares the witch’s bloodline.

Suraya, a lonely, impoverished child who is shunned by the local children and held at an emotional distance by her mother, embraces her pelesit inheritance, lovingly naming him Pink. Pink serves as Suraya’s friend and protector, but his retribution against those he believes have slighted Suraya is impulsive and malicious. Disturbed, Suraya extracts a promise from Pink not to hurt others, ever, unless she is in absolute danger. Pink soon breaks his promise when Suraya is bullied by other girls, but when she finally makes her first human friend, Jing Wei, Pink’s protectiveness takes a dangerously jealous turn. As Suraya struggles with the decision to cut Pink loose, darker forces remind them that Pink is not the only malevolent being around. Alkaf’s middle-grade debut immerses readers in Malaysian culture and food as well as weaving in both Islamic elements and pre-Islamic views of ghosts and death. Though aspects of the novel embrace the disturbing and grotesque (which will delight many readers), its conclusion is grippingly heart-wrenching and speaks to deeper themes of family, trauma, and friendship. Suraya and her family are Malay Muslims while Jing Wei is Chinese Malaysian.

A fascinating, page-turning tale. (Supernatural adventure. 9-14)

Kirkus Reviews

Alkaf’s middle-grade debut is unapologetically—and beautifully—Malaysian… it sizzles with tension and safe-but-ghoulish imagery, without letting go of the heartfelt thread of love between a girl and her ghost.

Booklist

Alkaf’s middle-grade debut is unapologetically—and beautifully—Malaysian… it sizzles with tension and safe-but-ghoulish imagery, without letting go of the heartfelt thread of love between a girl and her ghost.

Booklist

An entertaining convergence of the supernatural with the everyday… touches of contemporary Malaysian life enrich the background: ethnic and religious diversity, layers of rapid social change, and loving descriptions of food abound."

Bulletin of the Center for Children's Books

An entertaining convergence of the supernatural with the everyday… touches of contemporary Malaysian life enrich the background: ethnic and religious diversity, layers of rapid social change, and loving descriptions of food abound."

Bulletin of the Center for Children’s Books

Mirai's narration beautifully sets the scene of a haunting Malaysian folktale rewritten as a modern-day ghost story. When her grandmother dies, young Suraya receives an unusual secret inheritance—a pelesit she names Pink. A frequently malevolent ghost, Pink becomes the lonely child’s first friend. Though the story is written for a middle-grade audience, Mirai's enticing performance draws listeners of all ages deep into Suraya’s world. As Suraya grows from a preschooler into her early teens, Mirai's character voice also matures, adding an additional note of verisimilitude. Using her undeniable talent, Mirai convincingly conveys other characters of different ages and origins, as well. A wonderful production sure to entertain. A.L.S.M. © AudioFile 2020, Portland, Maine

NOVEMBER 2020 - AudioFile

Mirai's narration beautifully sets the scene of a haunting Malaysian folktale rewritten as a modern-day ghost story. When her grandmother dies, young Suraya receives an unusual secret inheritance—a pelesit she names Pink. A frequently malevolent ghost, Pink becomes the lonely child’s first friend. Though the story is written for a middle-grade audience, Mirai's enticing performance draws listeners of all ages deep into Suraya’s world. As Suraya grows from a preschooler into her early teens, Mirai's character voice also matures, adding an additional note of verisimilitude. Using her undeniable talent, Mirai convincingly conveys other characters of different ages and origins, as well. A wonderful production sure to entertain. A.L.S.M. © AudioFile 2020, Portland, Maine

NOVEMBER 2020 - AudioFile