How I Became a Ghost by Tim Tingle
Finding Hope and Strength in a Time of Trial:
How I Became a Ghost written by Tim Tingle, reviewed by Hilary Taber.
“…that’s what we storytellers do. We restore order with imagination. We instill hope again, and again, and again.”
– Tom Hanks as Walt Disney from the movie Saving Mr. Banks
Without compromising historical accuracy, author Tim Tingle draws upon his considerable imagination and talent to tell the story of a young Choctaw boy named Isaac. The book How I Became a Ghost (The RoadRunner Press, $18.95, ages 8-12) relates the story of Isaac’s journey along the Choctaw Nation’s Trail of Tears in the year 1830. This is a truth telling tale that reveals the extreme hardships endured by that nation, but it also remains a hopeful story, full of heroism and adventure.
The first lines pulled me into Isaac’s story, “Maybe you have never read a book written by a ghost before. I am a ghost. I am not a ghost when this book begins, so you have to pay very close attention…” With these magical lines the reader is transported into Isaac’s world. Isaac has two wonderful parents, an older brother named Luke, and a lively dog called Jumper. As the story unfolds, we find that Treaty Talk has resulted in the forced relocation of the Choctaw tribe from their land in Mississippi. As Isaac watches different members of his tribe say goodbye to the land, he suddenly finds that he has the ability to foresee how they will die. Later, he also is able to communicate with members of the tribe who died along the way, and who have become friendly ghosts. These ghosts gently help him to come to the realization that he will soon be a ghost as well. Isaac makes sure that his family knows that this will happen to him. When he does become a ghost it turns out that it isn’t a departure from his family at all. Isaac finds that his family can still see him and he can still speak with them.