A teen girl comes face to face with the ghost of her recently deceased dad when she ignores a strict Filipino superstition in this contemporary YA novel that tackles grief, family tension, and first love. It’s been five years since Nika’s beloved father passed away, but her family has never fully grieved. They don’t speak of him much at all, except on the anniversary of his death. Whenever they visit her father’s grave, Nika’s superstitious mother still insists on practicing pagpag, a Filipino belief that you can never go directly home after attending a funeral—or risk the spirit of the departed following you back home. But when her mom’s new fiancé suddenly shows up at the cemetery for this year’s memorial for her dad, she furiously walks out, breaking the pagpag superstition. The next day, she finds herself face-to-face with the ghost of her dead father. . . and Nika’s the only one who can see him. As she spends more time re-connecting with her dad’s ghost, Nika slowly learns about her parents’ past and how they fell in love back in high school. And when they recreate memories of her parents’ love story, Nika discovers that her dad’s spirit slowly becomes more solid and alive. Fearing that she’ll lose her dad again, Nika makes it her mission to find a way to make her dad stay permanently, no matter what the cost. With a perfect blend of humor and heart, Mae Coyiuto artfully brings past to present in a way that explores grief head-on.
