Leroy the ghost loves all of the plants in the garden at Rosebud Manor, and offers a yellow rose of friendship to each new family that comes to live there. No one understands what he’s trying to say, however, and they are scared off by his ghostly appearance and offerings.
One day, however, a new family moves in—two girls and their two moms. One of the two young sisters, Tara, who uses a tablet to talk, demonstrates that she knows the names of all the plants in the greenhouse. Leroy is astounded and wants to be friends, but worries that the girl will flee like everyone else. He secretly helps tend the new plants that the family brings into the house, however.
One night, while he is doing so, the family spots him at work. He rushes off to find a yellow rose as an offering. The family members are shocked at first, but Tara recognizes that he’s trying to communicate. She types out a message of friendship on her tablet, and suggests that Leroy could use the tablet to communicate back to them, which he does. They bond over their shared love of plants, and a final scene shows Leroy in the greenhouse with the family, all happily gardening together.
Soft pencil illustrations by My Phuong Thai, heavy on greens and browns, capture the characters emotions as well as the lush gardens and plants that they love.
Backmatter explains that Tara is using AAC, Augmentative and Alternative Communication, which “refers to a lot of different methods and tools that replace or support verbal speech.” Tara’s tablet is one such tool, but not the only one. Author Emily Rosenthal explains that she herself switches between an app on her phone, writing, and words from her mouth.
The book’s message, that there are many different ways to communicate, is clear but not pedantic, and Tara’s disability is presented as a strength, not a deficit. The fact that she has two moms is incidental to the story, as is the fact that they are a multi-racial family, although those authorial choices help emphasize the ideas of diversity and communication across difference. Leroy’s ghostly identity adds a bit of light spookiness that keeps the message from cloying, making this a highly recommended story of friendship and finding one’s voice.
Tara is White her sister is Black, and they have one White and one Black mom. The girls call one mom “Mom” and the other “Ima” (Hebrew for mom); that, and the fact that Tara’s sister is named Hadar, a traditionally Jewish name, imply that at least one mom (and perhaps the whole family) is Jewish.
