Joaquín and his friends Emma and Maya have a “Puerto Rican Ghostbusters vibe” going on. They love hunting for paranormal activity, so they’re excited to hear about a house in their hometown of Jacob’s Barrow, Massachusetts, that’s been vacant since 1997, following the death of one of the family’s children. The trio are determined to locate evidence of the rumored haunting. The place certainly has the look of a haunted house, with its peeling paint, rotting walls, and siding that’s “droopy and furry with splotches of moss.” But things get out of control when Joaquín accidentally brings the ghost of Max Guerrero Lopez home with him—in the form of a powerful poltergeist. Max, who died at age 16, can’t remember the circumstances of his passing, but he’s tired of being stuck in this limbo. Fortunately, he finds a way to communicate by speaking through Joaquín’s AirPods. Marte, Joaquín’s ex-boyfriend, is sensitive to ghosts; recognizing that Joaquín is in over his head, Marte hopes he can help Max cross over. The novel switches between Joaquín’s and Max’s first-person perspectives, maintaining a good balance between substantial character growth and taut storytelling with well-timed revelations as the truth of what happened to Max unfolds. Marte is Deaf, and his friends communicate with him using ASL.
