The Ghostly Photos: Discussion Guide

About The Ghostly Photos

 Colin and Nevaeh are great at finding things. After all, they found each other and became best friends—even though their parents are business rivals. They also found hidden boxes of secret letters, which led them to unravel mysteries about kids from the 1970s.

 But when they started Mystery Solvers Inc., they didn’t expect to be asked to find a ghost.

 Ree recruits them to investigate a series of old, spooky photos left behind in her family’s new house. The photos show a boy who looks totally see-through. And in some, he’s in a coffin.

 That’s not so odd for Ree, who lives above a funeral home. But when Colin and Nevaeh start investigating, they discover other sightings of the boy—and other secrets Ree is hiding.

 The more clues they find the more they realize this mystery goes back to a time called the Great Depression. Will history, once again, help them solve the case?

 The Ghostly Photos, the second title in Margaret Peterson Haddix’s The Mystery of Trash and Treasure series, invites the reader to participate in solving a mystery years in the making, while exploring the evolving ways of friendship, the recognition and resilience of self, the nature of loss and memory, and the vibrations of community history and family story across generations.

The questions in this Guide encourage discussion participants to go beyond the facts of the story, exploring the ways in which plot, protagonist, and setting help us consider more deeply transition, communication, and cooperation while building greater understanding of family, childhood, memory impairment, and the loss of those we love and who also hold precious knowledge of our past.

Questions for Discussion (Explore one, two, some, or all! Encourage discussion participants to include additional evidence from the book as they share their thoughts.)

Generations and Memories

The Ghostly Photos is a book about connections that are built across generations—Nevaeh and Gloria, Grandma Hal and Ree, Russell Null and Russell Neal, Jr., and more. At his father’s funeral, Colin even notes that he feels that he is a “part of a river of ancestors.” (p. 211)

• Why does Colin have a feeling of connection at that moment, and in what way does a river of connection with the past flow through all the characters’ stories in this book?

Colin is drawn to photography because “Sometimes the pictures seemed to reveal things he hadn’t seen with his bare eyes.”  (p. 10) His friends are grateful that his photographer’s eye sometimes shows them things they would have missed otherwise.

• In this story, why are both old photos and documents—that reflect the traditions of older generations--key to unraveling and revealing a secret and a promise that connects families across generations?

Grandma Hal is living with dementia, and she sometimes struggles with the people and events of the present. Her family describes her as “not really connected to reality.” (p. 99) But Grandma Hal is also a powerful keeper of her past.

• Why and how does the author use Grandma Hal’s memories to unite and reunite families and friends in the present? How are Grandma Hal’s memories of her friendships and her long-ago successes and sorrows still relevant and important to Ree, Colin, and Nevaeh?

 Lost and Found

 In The Mystery of Trash and Treasure series, two businesses are working together—one that believes some items hold memories from a lifetime that are important enough to keep (the treasure) and one that encourages getting rid of the “junk” (the trash) found in ordinary homes.

•  Why does Colin say that the work of their parents in cluttered homes and the work of a funeral home are not very far apart?

 Grandma Hal tells Nevaeh, “No loss is easy. It’s perfectly natural to mourn how things used to be, the loved ones you took for granted would always be there for you...”  (p. 116) But Ree also quotes Grandma Hal as saying that, after a funeral, gathering together reminds everyone “they still know how to be alive.” (p. 220)

•  Why do what seem like opposites—being together and the loss of loved ones--play significant roles in providing comfort and building better understanding in every generation and throughout the pages of this book?

 Early in the story, Colin thinks about his father, “But someday…Someday I’m going to want to know more…” (p. 5) By story’s end, he declares, “I’m ready now…Even if Mom isn’t, I need to know more about my dad.” (p. 313)

•  Why has Colin’s summer with Nevaeh, Ree, and other family and friends, and the solving of mysteries, moved Colin closer to finding out about his dad?

 Family and Friends

 Alone, Nevaeh feels invisible to groups of friends enjoying her town’s Zucchini Festival. She hasn’t heard from her own “so-called friends” from sixth grade all summer. (p. 246) But when she reaches out to them to help search for Grandma Hal (whose own friendships led to the keeping of an important secret), she thinks she may have misunderstood why they hadn’t been in touch.

•  Why does Navaeh’s path to friendship have so many twists and turns, and what impact does that have on uncovering the truth behind the photos? Why do you think Nevaeh avoids reaching out sooner—and her friends, do, too? Have you ever had a similar experience after a misunderstanding with friends?

 At his father’s funeral, Colin is surrounded by friends who want to help him and who are proud of the person he is becoming. Their being there, their words, and their song make him feel better.

•  Why does Colin say that his father’s funeral service made him feel “like he was falling apart and being put back together all at once?” (p. 213) Have you ever felt this way?

 The summer work of Colin and Nevaeh took them to “hot attics and cooler basements.” (p. 313) At the end of their summer break, the settings and people of their stories will change when they both start new schools.

•  Why does the author tell us that “After the summer of delving into the past, it felt like their futures were rushing toward them. At the same time, if felt like nothing would ever change." (p. 313) Have you ever had this feeling before a time of change in your life?

 Even More To Think About

 Dementia can make conversation difficult, but that doesn’t mean that the person living with dementia doesn’t have valuable things to share. Ree and her mother discover that they have not been listening—really listening—to Grandma Hal.

•  What does it mean to “really listen”? Are there ways to share thoughts and feelings using strategies other than words, and what role does really listening play for all the characters in The Ghostly Photos?

 One of the reasons Ree and her mom haven’t listened well to Grandma Hal is that they are trying to spare her embarrassment—they are trying to rush past the moments when Grandma Hal acts differently or says something considered odd.

•  How are conversations different when no one worries about being embarrassed or feeling awkward?

 The Ghostly Photos makes it possible for us to visit America during the Great Depression of the 1930s, post-war 1950s America, and, of course, America of the present. And we have the opportunity to experience the lives of young people in each of these eras.

•  Why does the author say, “Sometimes the past and the present were so intertwined, it was hard to tell where one ended and the other began”? (p. 261) Have you seen examples of stories intertwined over the years in your family or in your community?

 Selected Resources for Readers Who Want to Know More (Visit Your Local Public Library!)

 On Death and Rituals of Remembrance

 Kelsey, Elin. A Last Goodbye. Owlkids. 2020.

Wilcox, Merrie-Ellen. After Life: Ways We Think About Death. Orca. 2018.

World Book. End-Of-Life Rituals. World Book, Inc. 2003.

 On Dementia

 Alzheimer’s Society – Bookcase Analogy (youtube.com)

Dementia Explained - Alzheimer's Research UK (alzheimersresearchuk.org)

Dementia Friends: Five Key Messages (CAPTIONED) (youtube.com)

On The Great Depression

Freedman, Russell. Children of the Great Depression. Clarion. 2005.

Mullenbach, Cheryl. The Great Depression for Kids: Hardship and Hope in 1930s America. Chicago Review. 2015.

Ruth, Amy. Growing Up in the Great Depression. Lerner. 2002.

On Photography & Its Role in History

Buckingham, Alan. Eyewitness Books: Photography. Dorling Kindersley. 2004.

Sandler, Martin W. Picturing a Nation: The Great Depression’s Finest Photographers Introduce America to Itself. Candlewick. 2021.

Stille, Darlene. R. The Civil War Through Photography. Heinemann. 2013.

About The Author

Margaret Peterson Haddix grew up on a farm near Washington Court House, Ohio. She graduated from Miami University (of Ohio) with degrees in English/journalism, English/creative writing and history. Before her first book was published, she worked as a newspaper copy editor in Fort Wayne, Indiana; a newspaper reporter in Indianapolis; and a community college instructor and freelance writer in Danville, Illinois.

She has since written more than 50 books for kids and teens, including Running Out of Time; Double Identity; Uprising: The School for Whatnots; the Greystone Secrets series; the Shadow Children series; the Missing series; The Mysteries of Trash and Treasure series; and The Palace Chronicles. She also wrote Into the Gauntlet, the tenth book in the 39 Clues series. Her books have been honored with New York Times bestseller status; the International Reading Association’s Children’s Book Award; American Library Association Best Book and Quick Pick for Reluctant Young Adult Readers notations; and numerous state reader’s choice awards. They have also been translated into more than twenty different languages.

Haddix and her husband, Doug, now live in Columbus, Ohio. They are the parents of two grown kids.

About The Discussion Guide Author

Retired after 31 years of public library service to community members of all ages, Barb White continues her commitment to young people by offering professional development to educators and to adults by sharing Dementia Inclusive practices on a statewide and national level. Barb is the co-author (with Jennifer Brush and Margaret Jarrell) of The Dementia Inclusive Public Library Guide, a publication of the Ohio Council for Cognitive Health, and a Great Books-trained Shared Inquiry discussion leader.