Ghosts of Gastown
by Jessica Renwick
Yellow Dog, 2024
ISBN 9781773371269
$18.95, 235 pp, ages 9 – 12
highwaterpress.com
After moving to Vancouver, Hope couldn’t have been more lost. She is a walker, meaning she has the ability to see ghosts, but her mother doesn’t believe her. This ability led to her losing her best friend, Jaya; going to therapy with a therapist she hates; and making her mom think she is crazy. With Hope’s dad passing away, she and her mother are on rocky terms throughout the book. Luckily, she meets Oliver, whose family works directly below Hope’s new apartment. Oliver and Hope’s friendship is slow to bloom, but when it does, they become an unstoppable ghost-hunting duo. They soon realize that ghosts aren’t the only supernatural characters they have to deal with. The more Hope uncovers secrets of the veil, the more she grows to enjoy her new life.
Classroom Connections: Hope’s journey of rebuilding her friendship with Jaya is one theme that most students can relate to. They work through their problems and forgive each other, and this only makes their friendship stronger. This book also contains many supernatural and spooky references, which can be a great starting point for students’ imaginative writing. With ghosts of loved ones also being important characters, the book tackles grief in a relatable way for middle-grade kids. The book shows how Hope and her mother handle their grief differently, which reflects how grief changes from person to person.
Review by Katherine West-Sells.
This review is featured in Canadian Teacher Magazine’s Fall 2025 issue.
