Songs for Ghosts - by Clara Kumagai (Hardcover)

About the Book

Caught between cultures, relationships, and family, seventeen-year-old Japanese-American Adam finds new purpose after discovering a hundred-year-old journal written by a young woman in Nagasaki, leading him to a homestay in Japan, where he unravels the mystery of her identity and his own--Provided by publisher.

Book Synopsis

A Kirkus Reviews Best Book of the Year

A Booklist Editor's Choice Book

This genre-bending YA novel follows a boy who finds a century-old diary written by a young woman in Nagasaki, Japan--and becomes haunted by her vengeful spirit.

When Adam discovers a diary in his attic, he is enthralled by its account of a young woman's life in Nagasaki. A hundred years separate them, yet like Adam, she is caught between cultures, relationships, and heartbreak.

She also writes of the ghosts that have begun to seek her out, which Adam dismisses as fantasy--until he begins to be haunted by her terrifying spirit. Unravelling the mystery of her identity--and the wrong done to her--seems to be the only way to save himself.

This leads Adam to a home stay in Nagasaki, where he begins to reconnect to his heritage not only through Japanese language and culture, but also by connecting with long-lost family members. And then begins a race against time as Adam and his new crush, Jo, attempt to untangle a story that has rippled through generations . . .

Review Quotes

***STARRED REVIEW***
"Kumagai's sophomore novel is an exciting blend of paranormal, mystery, and romance elements. The past and present are entwined and parallel one another in this beautifully emotional story of love, betrayal, heartbreak, death, and family."--Kirkus Reviews

***STARRED REVIEW***
"Lyrical and haunting, Kumagai's ghostly tale of love and identity is a testament to the healing power of story and its capacity to bridge divides between cultures and generations...this is an act of reclamation, telling the story from the perspective of the opera's most marginalized character and illuminating often overlooked aspects of Japanese life in the early twentieth century. A beautiful and necessary work."--Booklist

About the Author

Clara Kumagai is from Ireland, Japan, and Canada. Catfish Rolling, her debut novel, was a 2024 YOTO Carnegie Medal nominee, shortlisted for the 2023 Great Reads Award, and winner of the 2024 KPMG Children's Books Ireland Book of the Year. She lives and writes in Ireland.