by Raina Telgemeier
5 Stars
Ghosts, written by Raina Telgemeier was written very well. Like many people in the world, Cat, who is also known as Catrina, faced a new struggle. The task was moving to a foreign place where you know absolutely no one except the family that travelled with you. On top of knowing not many people, she had to make a good situation out of something that she would not have ideally chosen. The family moved to find better doctors to treat Maya, Cat’s little sister who has cystic fibrosis. Although the family did not move out of the state they previously lived in, it was still far from the place they called home for a very long period of time.
The illness that caused the family to relocate is cystic fibrosis. It is a progressive, genetic disease that causes persistent lung infections and limits the ability to breathe over time. The illness has no cure, and people don’t generally survive and live ‘till the normal life expectancy. People with cystic fibrosis have a general life expectancy of living to their mid-forties if they have a generally healthy lifestyle.
Many people have a fear and that is perfectly normal. The fear that Cat faces throughout the story goes undetected for most of the story. It is not until she becomes close friends with their neighbour Carlos’s cousin, that she finds what her true fear is. Fears are perfectly normal and this story can help young readers understand that. Sometimes you need the right people in your life to help you get through your problems. From having a sibling, like Cat or Maya in the story, or even a neighbour, someone is always there to help.
After an incident with Cat’s ghost loving sister, Cat shut herself off from her friends. “No! Leave me alone!” (Telgemeier 107) she shouted as she began to avoid one of the only friends she had made. Cat seems very protective of her little sister like many older siblings in the world are. Even though she may not always want to be around her sister, she is always very loving with and to her.
This book teaches us, as readers, that everyone has their own sort of struggles. Even though Maya has a severe illness, she does not let that get to her. When they first got to the new house she was doing her treatment for cystic fibrosis where “the vest helps loosen the mucus in her lungs.” (Telegemeier 15) But, according to Maya’s family, “Maya’s soul doesn’t need any loosening” (Telgemeier 15) as she is always happy and is the light of her family. Like Maya, we should not allow things in our lives to stop us from getting what we truly desire in life. We can learn that even though life may be rough, you can always be happy.
Mackenzie M.