Tim Tingle

Tim Tingle’s How I Became a Ghost is an incredible story that is as enjoyable as it is powerful. This story recounts a young boy’s journey from their Choctaw nation in Mississippi along the Trail of Tears, and the many deaths along the way. The point of view and perspective that comes through Isaac’s eyes made the story more emotional, suspenseful, and impactful.
How I Became a Ghost is the story of Isaac, and is told to us through his voice. As he and the family and friends he meets show more push onward from their home on a journey that leads to nothing but forced despair and death, we are shown the power of resilience. Isaac may die and become a “ghost,” but he still helps Joseph and Naomi persevere. The story being told through ten-year-old Isaac’s perspective makes the historical event even more heartbreaking and the journey more intense. If the story had been written from an omniscient narrator the events would be more detached. Likewise, a narrator that was older would be more serious and reflective of what was happening. Isaac’s innocence makes the story more potent and gives a proper weight to the Trail of Tears. The ghost that he becomes and the ghosts he encounters helping Joseph and Naomi is also more powerful coming from Isaac who, though dead, is attempting to do everything he can to help his friends and family persist. How I Became a Ghost focuses on perseverance and persistence in the face of danger and struggles. show less

A10-year-old Choctaw boy recounts the beginnings of the forced resettlement of his people from their Mississippi-area homelands in 1830.

He begins his story with a compelling hook: “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.” Readers meet Isaac, his family and their dog, Jumper, on the day that Treaty Talk changes everything. Even as the Choctaw prepare to leave their homes, show more Isaac begins to have unsettling visions: Some elders are engulfed in flames, and others are covered in oozing pustules. As Isaac and his family set out on the Choctaw Trail of Tears, these visions begin to come true, as some are burned to death by the Nahullos and others perish due to smallpox-infested blankets distributed on the trail. But the Choctaw barrier between life and death is a fluid one, and ghosts follow Isaac, providing reassurance and advice that allow him to help his family and others as well as to prepare for his own impending death. Storyteller Tingle’s tale unfolds in Isaac’s conversational voice; readers “hear” his story with comforting clarity and are plunged into the Choctaw belief system, so they can begin to understand it from the inside out.

The beginning of a trilogy, this tale is valuable for both its recounting of a historical tragedy and its immersive Choctaw perspective . (Historical fiction. 8-12)

-Kirkus Review show less

This story starts with Isaac, who has a premonition that he will die and become a ghost. He sees premonitions of the deaths of other members of his tribe as well, as they prepare to leave their ancestral lands and travel west on what will become known as the Trail of Tears. Isaac learns that the soldiers escorting them have taken the daughter of a Choctaw family as a servant, and he begins to make plans with another young man, Joseph, to free her. Isaac's prophecy comes true before the boys show more can affect a rescue, but Isaac's spirit lingers and provides assistance to Joseph as they rescue the Choctaw girl. Given an opportunity to kill the soldier's commander, the Choctaws spare him instead, saying it wouldn't be right to kill him. In return, he returns stolen supplies to the Choctaw and appears resolved to treat them better while under his care. An interesting story that manages to be framed around a historical injustice without allowing that setting to overshadow the entire story. show less

"A 10-year-old Choctaw boy recounts the beginnings of the forced resettlement of his people from their Mississippi-area homelands in 1830.

He begins his story with a compelling hook: “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.” Readers meet Isaac, his family and their dog, Jumper, on the day that Treaty Talk changes everything. Even as the Choctaw prepare to leave their homes, show more Isaac begins to have unsettling visions: Some elders are engulfed in flames, and others are covered in oozing pustules. As Isaac and his family set out on the Choctaw Trail of Tears, these visions begin to come true, as some are burned to death by the Nahullos and others perish due to smallpox-infested blankets distributed on the trail. But the Choctaw barrier between life and death is a fluid one, and ghosts follow Isaac, providing reassurance and advice that allow him to help his family and others as well as to prepare for his own impending death. Storyteller Tingle’s tale unfolds in Isaac’s conversational voice; readers “hear” his story with comforting clarity and are plunged into the Choctaw belief system, so they can begin to understand it from the inside out.

The beginning of a trilogy, this tale is valuable for both its recounting of a historical tragedy and its immersive Choctaw perspective . (Historical fiction. 8-12)" A Kirkus Starred Review, www.kirkusreviews.com show less