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‘Part ghost story, part Jewish family epic, and part romance, RULES FOR GHOSTING is a meditation on life, death, and healing that is at turns bitingly funny and deeply moving’ – Anita Kelly
Ezra Friedman can see ghosts – which made growing up in a funeral home a complicated experience. Things might have been easier if his grandfather’s ghost didn’t spend so much time giving disapproving looks at every choice he makes, from his taste in boyfriends to his HRT-induced second puberty. It’s no wonder that since he moved out he’s stayed as far away from the family business as possible.
But when the floor of his dream job drops out from under him and his mother uses the family Passover seder to tell everyone that she’s escaping both her funeral home admin duties and her marriage to run away with the rabbi’s wife, Ezra finds himself back in the thick of it.
Having agreed to help out, Ezra has to face not only his family but also his unfortunate crush on Jonathan, the handsome funeral home volunteer who just happens to also be his new neighbour . . . and the ghost related to Jonathan who is breaking every spectral rule Ezra knows. As Ezra tries to keep his family together and his heart from getting broken, he quickly realizes that there’s more than one way to be haunted – and more than one way to become a ghost.
Rule #1: They can’t speak. | Rule #2: They can’t move. | Rule #3: They can’t hurt you.
Ezra Friedman can see ghosts – which made growing up in a funeral home a complicated experience. Things might have been easier if his grandfather’s ghost didn’t spend so much time giving disapproving looks at every choice he makes, from his taste in boyfriends to his HRT-induced second puberty. It’s no wonder that since he moved out he’s stayed as far away from the family business as possible.
But when the floor of his dream job drops out from under him and his mother uses the family Passover seder to tell everyone that she’s escaping both her funeral home admin duties and her marriage to run away with the rabbi’s wife, Ezra finds himself back in the thick of it.
Having agreed to help out, Ezra has to face not only his family but also his unfortunate crush on Jonathan, the handsome funeral home volunteer who just happens to also be his new neighbour . . . and the ghost related to Jonathan who is breaking every spectral rule Ezra knows. As Ezra tries to keep his family together and his heart from getting broken, he quickly realizes that there’s more than one way to be haunted – and more than one way to become a ghost.
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Reviews
RULES FOR GHOSTING has everything: a family funeral home and a main character who can see ghosts, an adorable pit bull named Sappho, a mother coming out at seder dinner, a trans love story, a fiery climax that brings everything to a head, humor, heart, and so much more. It's about finding your place in the world, in your family, in partnership, and finally, within yourself. It was a joy to read, and I can't wait to see what's next from Shelly Jay Shore
RULES FOR GHOSTING is the kind of book you want to live in. This gorgeous debut marvels at new life and does not shy away from life lost. It cracks open the meaning of the word 'haunting'-whether that be of discarded identity, hidden yearning, or literal ghosts. Best of all, Shelly Jay Shore has written the soft-Jewish-trans-boy-who-sees-dead-people of our literary dreams. I'd read a million pages about Ezra Friedman and still be left wanting more
RULES FOR GHOSTING is fun as hell . . . I'm sure you can even read it if you aren't trans, but I don't even care to think of the cis people right now. Because this is fun and it's for me
A movingly wrought story about the ways queerness, Jewishness, grief, and joy intersect in messy, painful, and beautiful ways
A tender, heart-filled novel, RULES FOR GHOSTING is a beautiful story about identity, family, faith, community, and first love. . . . A breathtaking debut
As unabashedly queer as it is loudly and beautifully Jewish, RULES FOR GHOSTING is one of the most unique, poignant novels I've read in a long, long time. Ezra's journey through self, complicated family dynamics, and opening up to new love was one I'll never forget
Fully immersive from the first page, Shore's writing grabbed me by the throat and never let go. Part ghost story, part Jewish family epic, and part romance, RULES FOR GHOSTING is a meditation on life, death, and healing, told through a queer and trans lens that is at turns bitingly funny and deeply moving. Shore is an immense talent. Ezra's world will live in my heart for a long time.