The Ghosts of Rose Hill

Ages 14 And Up, Grades 9 And Up

A modern folktale woven with prose as dazzling as Prague’s spires and as powerful as the monsters who lurk beneath them.

The final girl survives 

because she can be 

just as ruthless 

as the monster 

who wants 

to destroy her. 

Sent to Prague to stay with her aunt and witness the humble life of an artist, Ilana Lopez—a biracial Jewish girl—finds herself torn between her dream of becoming a violinist and her immigrant parents’ desire for her to have a more stable career. But her visit takes a strange turn when she discovers an abandoned Jewish cemetery behind her aunt’s cottage. There, she meets the ghost of a kindhearted boy named Benjamin, and as she works on restoring his grave, catches the interest of the river spirit that’s binding him to the city. 

Inspired by the author’s experiences restoring Jewish cemeteries in eastern Europe, R. M. Romero spins a modern folktale about embracing your power, facing your monsters, and falling in love deep enough to transcend a century.

About the Author

R. M. Romero is a Jewish Latina and author of fairy tales for children and adults. She lives in Miami Beach with her cat, Henry VIII, and spends her summers helping to maintain Jewish cemeteries in Poland. Visit her at rmromero.com. 

Author Residence: Miami, Florida

Author Hometown: Boulder, Colorado

Readers looking for folkloric fantasy spun with lush, lyrical prose like The Bear and the Nightingale 

Fans of Margaret Rogerson, Shea Earnshaw, and Stephanie Garber who love an achingly beautiful, forbidden romance 

Readers of award-wining magical realism like Pet and Elatsoe 

Verse novel readers who are seeking more stories like The Poet X and White Rose 

Latinx and Jewish diaspora readers, and librarians and booksellers looking to diversify their collections