In celebration of Black History Month, we’ll be highlighting a diverse range of books – poetry, novels, memoirs and more – all written by Black American authors. Each of these works moved, engaged, delighted, enraged, and excited Island Free Library readers’ this past year, and we’ll be featuring one title every day through the month of February.
Today’s work is Justina Ireland’s middle grades novel Ophie’s Ghosts, a paranormal historical tale set in 1920s Pittsburgh. Ophie and her mother have to flee from Georgia after her father is murdered, and when she arrives up north, Ophie takes a job at Daffodill Manor as a maid. The old mansion is full of memories… and ghosts! Ophie befriends a spirit, but will she have to also solve a murder? Winner of the 2021 Scott O’Dell Award for Historical Fiction, this is a gripping ghost story!
Justina Ireland is the author of several YA fantasy novels, including NYT Bestseller (and IFL favorite) Dread Nation. Ireland also writes for the Star Wars franchise, and is the former co-editor in chief of FIYAH Literary Magazine of Black Speculative Fiction. Ireland lives and writes in York, Pennsylvania, where she works for the U.S. Navy as a director of logistics and weapon-systems support, and teaches creative writing at York College of Pennsylvania. Stay tuned for a new book tomorrow!