"Swarming with Jamaican folklore spirits, this tender, gripping chiller sees a boy find light after grappling with the darkness of grief"
November 2022 Book of the Month | Longlisted for the Jhalak Children’s & Young Adult Prize 2023 | Shortlisted for The Branford Boase Award 2023
Grief, ghosts, family roots, and new-found friends, JP Rose’s The Haunting of Tyrese Walker is at once an adventure-packed thriller and a moving story that sees a boy navigate darkness to live in light. With a rich and palpable evocation of Jamaican landscapes, communities, culture and folklore, this chilling mystery has tremendous heart.
Struggling with the loss of his dad, Tyrese and his mum are spending summer with family in Jamaica. The last time Tyrese came to see his wonderful Grammy was just before his fourth birthday, and rural Jamaica feels a universe away from his Manchester home. After driving up “steep winding roads where the clouds wrapped around the mountains like a thick white ribbon,” Tyrese felt “as if he’d entered a secret land above the earth” — his sense of awe, and alienation from everywhere, and everyone, are superbly evoked.
On his first evening, Tyrese heads out to walk off his frustrations and stumbles upon a gravestone engraved with the image of a snake eating its own tail. And then Grammy asks him to finish scattering rice over her porch to “keep the good duppies in and the bad ones out”, explaining that duppies are spirits of the dead, and by the time they’ve collected each grain of rice, the “sun will be rising and dem will lose most of their power.” Thinking this is “totally crazy”, he discards the rice.
From that moment, matters escalate fast. Tyrese meets a stranger on a beach who tells him the Shadow Man is coming for him. Three pricks of blood appear on his finger. There’s no denying, in the words of his cousin Marvin, that “bad things a gwaan.”
Fabulously paced, the story snakes towards a chilling conclusion during a raging storm in the mountains, with all manner of terrifying beings testing Tyrese’s grip on reality, among them the witch-like, bloodsucking soucouyant, and the shapeshifting, hoofed La Diablesse. And all this is underpinned by Grammy’s wisdom that “darkness can’t drive out darkness, only light can do dat.” This is the perfect book for readers who relish scary adventures, epic settings, and characters who have you rooting for them every step of the mountainous way.
After a shocking event leaves Tyrese struggling with grief, he's taken to visit family in Jamaica. From the first night, strange things start happening: impossible visions, blackouts, swarms of insects, and the discovery of a grave hidden deep in the forest.
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After a shocking event leaves Tyrese struggling with grief, he's taken to visit family in Jamaica. From the first night, strange things start happening: impossible visions, blackouts, swarms of insects, and the discovery of a grave hidden deep in the forest.
The LoveReading4Kids Editorial Team have read and reviewed The Haunting of Tyrese Walker and determined it is suitable for children aged 11-14 years old
The Haunting of Tyrese Walker features in the following genres: Adventure Stories, Children's and Young Adult Fiction, Children’s, Teenage and Educational, Books of the Month, Recommendations, Featured Books for 13+ readers, Horror & Ghost Stories, PSHE: Bereavement and Grief, Personal Social Health Economic (PSHE), Star Books, Featured Books for 11+ readers
Paperback. £8.09, down from the £8.99 cover price. In Stock.
The Haunting of Tyrese Walker was written by J P Rose and published by Andersen Press Ltd
The Haunting of Tyrese Walker has 293 pages
£8.09, reduced from £8.99. In Stock.
