Ghost Town: A Novel

by Tom Perrotta

From New York Times bestselling author Tom Perrotta, hailed by critics as “the Steinbeck of Suburbia” (Time), “our Balzac of the burbs” (Chicago Sun-Times), and “an American Chekhov” (The New York Times), comes a gripping and darkly nostalgic tale about a tumultuous summer in 1970s suburban New Jersey, from the perspective of a middle-aged writer, looking back on a series of events that changed his life—and the story he finally has the courage to tell.

Jimmy Perrini lives in 1970s suburban New Jersey, a few miles from Manhattan, but a world apart. At the end of eighth grade, after tragedy strikes, Jimmy finds himself lost in a fog of grief that alienates him from friends and family, drifting instead into troubling friendships with two older one a notorious local burnout with a fast car, an endless supply of weed, and a shaky grasp of reality; the other a smart, eccentric girl, whom Jimmy finds himself drawn to as they become entranced by her Ouija board, which may just offer the only salve to their grief.

As a fateful public drama unfolds, Jimmy is torn between the occult beyond and the cold realities of the place he has called home. Narrated by a much older Jimmy, a literary-turned-commercial novelist, Ghost Town reveals how the past haunts the present—the way our ghosts are always with us, even when we think we’ve left them behind.

Genres: Fiction, Historical Fiction, Adult Fiction, Literary Fiction

288 pages, Hardcover

Expected publication April 28, 2026

About the author

Tom Perrotta is the bestselling author of nine works of fiction, including Election and Little Children, both of which were made into Oscar-nominated films, and The Leftovers, which was adapted into a critically acclaimed, Peabody Award-winning HBO series. His work has been translated into a multitude of languages. Perrotta grew up in New Jersey and lives outside of Boston.

Reviews

[Seawitch · Rating 4 out of 5]

I just finished a book with a spiritualist theme so imagine my surprise to pick up another story where someone is trying to contact the spirits of deceased loved ones. It’s interesting how book themes sometimes come in groups. In this one the ouija board makes a cameo with unexpected results.

I had a soft spot for this whole story as it’s set in the 1970s in New Jersey. I grew up there and was about the same age as the protagonist. Seaside, the Garden State Arts Center, Drew University, Rutgers (my Alma Mater) driving past Rahway Prison, Lavallette!!, Menlo Park Mall where I shopped for clothes with my mother at Bambergers… these were the places that were part of my own story. Including the ouija board which was quite popular at sleepovers in those days.

Tom Perrotta must be a Jersey Boy to get all that so right. He also gives a very accurate portrayal of race and the divides at that time.

It’s hard to imagine a boy experiencing what this one did and then finding his way to Princeton and beyond, but if I think about attachment theory he had very secure roots in his loving family. So, maybe?

Thank you to NetGalley for an ARC in exchange for my honest review.

[J. · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is the 9th book of Tom Perrotta's that I've read. It is safe to say that I consider myself a fan of his, especially since I have been consistently reading his work for a quarter of a century now.

I was very excited to be able to get my hands on this novel, especially since it is September of 2025 and the book doesn't even come out for another eight months! I've never been granted access to an ARC before, so this was a fun experience for me.

I wish I had liked this book more, however. Tonally and content wise, this novel seems to have a lot in common with Perrotta's first ever publication, his linked short story collection "Bad Haircut" set in 1970s suburban New Jersey. "Ghost Town" is also set in the same decade, specifically the summer of 1974, in the fictional Creamwood, NJ. It centers Jimmy, a 13 year old who just finished middle school, as he finds his footing in the immediate aftermath of having lost his mother. Aimless, his father and sister absorbed by their own grief and coping on their own, Jimmy tries to make sense of his loss while navigating his own adolescence, heartbreak, new friendships, while looking for his mother's guidance, not wanting to lose sight of or forget her.

While there are elements of Perrotta's greatest strengths in this novel, and hints of the things that have made me love his works in the past, I couldn't help but feel like something was amiss, that the novel was underbaked, and the elements present just didn't come together in a satisfying way. We have hints of a ghost story that remains on the margins of the narrative, as though Perrotta doesn't quite know how to work it all in. We have a story that flirts with wanting to tackle race and segregation but with a timidity that even results in the novel going out of its way to censor itself as though Perrotta feels fully aware that he is not the best candidate to deal with these thematics, and yet a skeleton of the story remains imprinted on the final draft. And we have a coming of age novel with a passive protagonist who is coasting through his experiences, whose memory and impressions are unreliable and frustratingly superficial.

It's a bit of a step back for a writer who has consistently been able to imagine a dark underbelly to pristine suburban living, like a modern day Richard Yates, who has tackled fascinating stories in the past, but who seems to be in a bit of a rut, creatively speaking. It's still a very readable novel that I finished quite quickly, and I don't think it was a waste of time. I just feel like I read a very early draft of something nascent, and not the final version that is about to be published. It's a weird little tale and it doesn't really work, but could have, with a few more passes and a little more courage to lean into the uncomfortable instead of going out of its way to avoid doing so.

[Kirsten · Rating 1 out of 5]

Thank you so much NetGalley and Scribner for the ARC in exchange for a review.
I’ll start with what I liked: I finished this book very fast, it read smoothly and kept me engaged.
What I didn’t like: while I was engaged, I kept thinking something more was going to happen and felt a little let down. The characters weren’t all that great. I did have empathy for Jimmy but other than that, no real development that I was invested in. The biggest reason I gave this book the rating I did, I could not do the forced modern day politics thrown in, it was ridiculous, along with a few other elements that turned me off. Overall, this book didn’t give me a positive reaction upon finishing it.

[Scott Baxter]

I will just say up front that I was disappointed with this book. I enjoyed Perrotta’s Mrs Fletcher — although I am deeply disappointed that the people at Warner Discovery pulled the miniseries from the Max streaming service before I had a chance to watch it — I enjoyed Perrotta’s story anthology Nine Inches, and the HBO series The Leftovers based on Perrotta’s novel was a discussion worthy show. But I kept waiting for a reason why this book needs to exist as I read and grew increasingly irritated as I failed to find one.

The story is narrated by Jimmy, a man in his fifties, remembering one summer in the 1970s when he was a young teenager in the suburbs of Northern New Jersey. The story is about the transition from childhood to becoming an adult. As the narrator says:

“When you’re thirteen, you don’t know what to think or who to believe. You’re just beginning to realize that adults aren’t as smart as you thought they were, and a lot of things that had been presented to you as facts your entire life are really just opinions or wishes or half-baked theories, like the idea that dead people go to heaven” (location 894).

The basic plot goes something like the following. Jimmy’s mother has recently died and, with the help of his friends — his father and sister are hardly ever at home — he discovers marijuana and the ouija board.

Honestly, I found neither a compelling story nor much humor in this book.

At least in my opinion, it would be better to read one of Perrotta’s other books like The Leftovers, Mrs. Fletcher, or Election. Alternatively, one could find a copy of Stephen King’s collection Different Seasons and read “The Body” or watch the movie version called Stand By Me. That is a coming of age tale with a compelling plot and humor.

Thanks to the publisher for providing a free copy via NetGalley. All opinions are my own.

Scheduled for publication in the US 28 April 2026

epub. 288 pgs. 19 September 2025

[Anna Meaney · Rating 3 out of 5]

Ghost Town follows writer Jay Perry after he is invited to come back to his hometown to celebrate a mural in honor of his father. Most of the narrative takes place in 1970s New Jersey as Jay (Jimmy at the time) reminisces on the summer his mother died.

This is definitely a book driven by atmosphere. Jimmy goes for late night drives with an older boy, volunteers at a summer camp, falls in love with the smartest girl in town, and navigates life without his mother.

I loved The Leftovers but haven’t read anything else by Tom Perrotta. He has an easy, readable style. The writing reminded me a little bit of a combination of Paul Murray and Kevin Wilson. This book honestly could have been classified as a YA novel, but that’s not necessarily a bad thing. Jimmy was an easy character to root for, and I felt like his internal struggle to understand his place in his neighborhood was convincing. A lot of this book is about grief, but it’s also about racism. The parts about grief I found really moving, but I was less convinced by the racism aspects.

A melancholy covers the whole narrative as Jimmy is constantly forced to evaluate his relationships in the wake of his loss. At the same time, there are moments that are genuinely funny and every side character gets their moment to shine. I did feel like the women in the book were significantly less developed.

I gave 3 stars because I didn’t feel like the sections taking place in the present justified themselves. This was such a short book, and I could have done either with way more taking place in the present or nothing at all. I also wished that there had been a little more about ghosts. I felt like what was there tied into the overall narrative but there was so little of it (just the Ouija board once and the feeling of being watched in the car) and it could have been amped up. I also felt like the book was a 4 star read until the last chapter where the plot really goes off the rails in a way I found so irritating.

[Stuart Rosen · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book feels to me like a departure for Tom Perrotta, all of whose books I've read and enjoyed. Unlike most of his books which feel very contemporary, this is a memory piece of a young teenager's summer in suburban New Jersey. While enormously consequential things happen to him, the book is more focused on the aimlessness of that time - the dirtbag he befriends, the awkward sexual fumbling, the awareness of unvarnished racism in his town, the sudden unspoken loss of friends and the detachment he feels from everyone around him.

It's a precise, sad book, but (as always) Perrotta's eye is true. He's never been enamored with suburbia, though it's the setting for virtually all his books, and this book may not change that, but there's a glimmering of affection for a time that's long gone, with a gratefulness that it's gone as well.

Don't read this for a barreling plot; there is none. But if you want to sink into a sad, wistful, elegiac and always emotionally true novel, grab onto this book.

Many thanks to Scribner and NetGalley for the advance reviewer's copy.

[Elida Liederbach · Rating 4 out of 5]

ARC and book out April 26. Tom Perrotta gives us Jimmy a young boy losing his mom to cancer and based on the grief of his father,who throws himself at work, Jimmy is alone to deal with emotions alone. But this story is Jimmy as an adult giving us both the adult and child’s point of views of what occurred in Creamwood that summer that changes a boy forever. That saying “you can never go back”, well sometimes you stuck in what occurred that you’ve never left. Ghost Town is a perfect title for a young boy alone dealing with to many emotions. Enjoyed!

[Richard · Rating 1 out of 5]

DISJOINTED!

I received this book free from the publisher through NetGalley in exchange for a fair and honest review.

Written by Tom Perrotta and published by Scribner - an Imprint of Simon & Schuster in 2025/2026, this is a very chopped up and difficult to read novel that you might think is about ghosts. If so, you would be mistaken. It is much more a male “coming of age” story that is a masquerading as a ghost story. The novel is divided into two primary narrations: the present time for the protagonist, James (Jay) Perrini, in his adult life, along with flashbacks to anecdotes of when he was a thirteen-year-old boy. Those flashbacks are indicated and separated using named groups of numbered chapters that I will call “Books,” that are then divided into “Chapters” that are usually very short and might be as few as two and often no more than five or six pages long. In fact, the “flashbacks” make up the bulk of the novel. This practice makes the book seem disjointed and choppy.

Additionally, when presenting a flashback, instead of using the traditional English method of showing speech by enclosure in double quotation marks, the author chose to use italics, instead. When he is describing the present (rather than a flashback) in the story, he reverts to using traditional double quotation marks. This practice sometimes makes it difficult to determine exactly who is speaking. These departures from the norm make the story very difficult to read, in my view. Furthermore, the author has chosen to number the very short chapters of flashback, but to neither name nor number the chapters that describe the present-time adult James Perrini. In fact, the book is really all about the coming of age of protagonist Jimmy and his first sexual experiences. Despite this, I did plow ahead and continued reading, hoping to finish the story before falling asleep. That was a mistake! 😊

James (Jimmy) Perrini apparently grows up in the suburbs of New Jersey. He has an older sister named Denise. Unfortunately, his mother passes away when Jimmy is still a child. Ever since that time, Jimmy sees flashbacks of his mother at random times, especially when he is in a crowd. As an adult with a wife named Molly and two grown children, James has become a successful author and screenwriter. He also produces children’s TV shows. As the child Jimmy, he had a friend who drove a Vega, and who supplied him with a constant ration of Marijuana, which was smoked by both of them regularly.

As I have read further into the novel, I have concluded that these are not “flashbacks” at all. They are the bulk of the story. No ghosts make an appearance until about ¾ of the way through the story, which really drags. The segments describing the present time are “flash forwards,” as they are dwarfed by the descriptions of Jimmy’s childhood. In fact, the story even contains a murder, which goes unreported and unpunished. I do not like this style of writing, and I found the first half of the book to be extremely slow-paced and boring. I will not recommend this book to other readers, and I award only one of the available five stars. Feel free to skip this one.

[J Kromrie · Rating 4 out of 5]

THANKS TO Scribner and Netgalley for this eARC.

Tom Perrotta’s Ghost Town is one of those deceptively compact novels that sneaks up on you. On the surface, it’s a story about a suburban community rattled by a mysterious, possibly supernatural event. But Perrotta uses that premise less as a genre pivot and more as a lens—one that magnifies the anxieties, regrets, and quiet longings of ordinary people who suddenly find themselves confronting the parts of their lives they’ve managed to avoid.

What stands out is Perrotta’s signature blend of empathy and satire. He has an uncanny ability to sketch characters who are both flawed and deeply recognizable: the middle‑aged man drifting through a life he never quite chose, the teenager trying to decode her own moral compass, the parent who can’t decide whether to protect or confess. The “ghosts” in the novel aren’t just spectral; they’re emotional residues—old choices, old loves, old versions of oneself that refuse to stay buried.

The supernatural element is handled with restraint. Perrotta isn’t interested in jump scares or elaborate mythologies. Instead, the uncanny functions as a pressure point. It destabilizes the town just enough to expose the fractures already there. That choice gives the novel a quiet, lingering eeriness rather than overt suspense, and it allows the emotional stakes to take center stage.

Stylistically, the book is brisk and accessible, but never shallow. Perrotta’s prose has a conversational ease that makes the heavier themes—mortality, disillusionment, the search for meaning—feel grounded rather than grandiose. The alternating perspectives create a mosaic of experiences that gradually cohere into something surprisingly tender.

By the end, Ghost Town feels like a meditation on what haunts people in the everyday sense: the lives they imagined, the people they’ve lost, the selves they might have been. It’s a novel that lingers, not because of its mystery, but because of its humanity.

[Caroline Blanchard · Rating 3 out of 5]

Ghost Town tells the story of 13-year-old Jimmy growing up in Creamwood, a fictional New Jersey town in the mid-1970s. Jimmy's mother has recently passed away from cancer, and Jimmy is pretty much left to his own devices for the summer. Newly married, Jimmy's cousin moves in next door with his racially-ambiguous wife. Her brother moves in a few weeks later, and the reader is left to assume that they are either Black or afro-caribbean. One scene at a Chinese restaurant and another character's use of a racial slur provide the entire development of the idea that there is tension among the white residents of the changes taking place. Jimmy spends his summer on the fringes of a town recreation camp, cruising with an older boy, and being flirted with by a few girls.

The book is told through the voice of Jay, grown up Jimmy, who's been asked back to the ground opening of the town's library. This structure had potential, but was wasted in the book.

The excellent writing kept me reading through the book. Jimmy's loneliness and quiet morning for his mother are subtly woven throughout the story. Yet, a vibrant portrayal of the town and its people still comes through.

The narrative, however, had gaping holes. Plot points were dropped in but then never developed. While the book had the potential to be a great coming-of-age story that gave American Graffiti vibes, the underlying story of ghosts and suburban racism was never fleshed out. The story about the racial changes in the community could have been powerful, but needed to be cultivated more. There was a lot of potential in this book that went unrealized. The book is 288 Pages, but probably needed another 100 to 125 to really develop a compelling story.

Thank you to NetGalley and Scribner for early access to this book.

[Allison Kelly · Rating 4 out of 5]

I am a huge fan of Tom Perotta, both his books and his shows (Leftovers is a top 3 show of all time on my list), so I was so excited to get this eARC. It didn’t disappoint.

This is the story of Jimmy who is coming of age in the all white New Jersey suburbs in the summer of 1962. Hot summer breezes, barking dogs, cereal for breakfast. The boredom of a day with no plans. You can practically hear the crickets and screen doors slamming. This brought me right back to my high school summers in a small town.

But sadly our narrator experiences the highly traumatic event of his mother dying and is pulled from his Little League baseball championship game to receive the bad news. Nothing in his life is ever the same.

Jimmy loses touch with his friends and starts taking rides and smoking pot with an older troublemaker Eddie to kill time. He also meets an older girl at summer rec camp where he becomes an honorary counselor and they bond over the recent loss of a parent. Ghosts are all around.

I will say that I didn’t connect as much with the narrator as an adult but you don’t need to, there isn’t much from him other than some commentary. This book is filled with pure childhood nostalgia (soundtrack included) and I loved it. Even though I haven’t had traumatic losses like Jimmy I really identified with choosing friends, growing pains, falling in love and growing up during the summer.

I highly recommend it, I read it in one sitting. Thank you again to Simon & Schuster and NetGalley for the eARC. It is set to be published on April 8, 2026.

[Viviana Freyer · Rating 1 out of 5]

A masterclass in telling and not showing. (We know it’s the 70s because we are told the characters are listening to heavy metal in their cars, we know Olivia has a troubled home life because her entire life story is laid out in a paragraph). Politics shoehorned in. There’s no theme or message to encompass the novel, and we really never learn anything important about there characters other than their names. Everything “important” happens within the first twenty pages and the rest feels like the author buying time for the second Big Tragedy of the story, which feels entirely unearned. While the 1-2 page chapters did lend itself to a fast read, I found that they also drew attention to the hollowness of the story and the author’s style.

This is my first - and last - Tom Perrotta novel. The protagonist/narrator is looking back on his life, and he mentions he is an author himself who made the jump from literary to commercial. (Again, brazen amounts of telling and not showing. Every 50 pages or so the narrator would jump in and fill us in on everything that’s happened to him since the summer he’s writing about with no sense of hindsight or a big picture whatsoever.) I wondered at times if the style and substance of this book was meant to be a nod at the protagonist’s profession, but judging by the quality of what I just read I don’t think this author is self aware enough for that sort of stylistic choice.

Thank you Scribner for the galley. I appreciate you trusting me with an advance reader review but this one just wasn’t a winner for me.

[Michelle · Rating 4 out of 5]

4.5 stars

Ghost Town is one of those books that sneaks up on you—not with plot twists or big emotional swings, but with its deep, aching undercurrent of memory and loss. Set in the hazy glow of 1970s suburban New Jersey, this is less a coming-of-age story than a remembering-of-age: the kind of reflective, haunting tale told by someone who knows exactly what it’s like to live in the aftermath of something that changed everything.

Jimmy Perrini’s world is small but saturated—with grief, with confusion, with the thrill and fear of stepping just outside the lines. Even as he drifts toward danger and oddity, there's something deeply familiar here for anyone who’s ever been a kid on the edge of adolescence, trying to make sense of a world that suddenly doesn’t anymore.

What really stays with you is the tone—softly nostalgic but edged with melancholy. The narration by an older Jimmy adds layers of bittersweet insight without overwhelming the rawness of his younger self. There’s a subtle heartbreak in watching him grasp for connection—in the smoke-filled cars, the strange séances, the long, aimless days that never felt aimless at the time.

This isn’t a book of easy resolutions, and that’s part of its power. It's about the ghosts we carry and the versions of ourselves we never quite shake off. Quiet, strange, and beautifully written.

Many thanks to Edelweiss and Scribner for providing me with an eARC of Ghost Town prior to its publication.

[Maria Marmanides · Rating 4 out of 5]

Thank you to Simon & Schuster and NetGalley for this advance read!

I closed Ghost Town with my heart racing—I didn’t even realize I was holding my breath until I finally exhaled. What an experience.

From the very beginning, Perrotta’s craftsmanship pulls you in. The framing device—a story within a story, where the adult Jimmy reflects back on a blistering summer in 1970s suburban New Jersey—is genius. It gives the narrative both momentum and emotional weight: you know something significant is coming and you have to keep reading.

I was struck by the pacing. The chapters are short, sharp, concise—but in that concision lies the tension. Each time one chapter ends, you need to read the next. It’s reminiscent of a thriller in how it propels you, yet the stakes are intimate, internal. Perrotta achieves that rare balance: the forward thrust of suspense mingles with the quiet ache of memory and grief.

What also impressed me is how grief, loss, and the way we process trauma are woven into the narrative so naturally. The “ghosts” of the past—both literal and metaphorical—haunt Jimmy and where there is lack of clarity in terms of what happened to who and when, I feel like it's earned because isn't that actually life?

Ghost Town is one of those rare reads: emotionally rich, impeccably paced, and beautifully written. I’ll be thinking about it for a long time.

[Meaghan · Rating 4 out of 5]

3.5 stars.
Three feels too low, but 4 is just a little too high. I rounded up because the novel was a quick read and the writing flowed so smoothly, it was easily digested and enjoyed.
That said, I expected something with a little more heft.
This is the first book by Perotta that I have read. I have been a fan of the movies and tv shows based on his work and so have added his books to my TBR many times.
I got this copy from NetGalley as an ARC and am glad I did.
I was surprised, but pleased, at how simply the characters were described, and yet, I felt that I had a good understanding of each one. The setting was elaborately designed; if you are familiar with NJ at all, it was clearly recognizable.
I have to knock some points off, because I kept waiting for something awful to happen. As the summer moves along, you can feel the tension building towards something ominous. While there is tragedy, for me, the payoff didn’t feel like the right fit for the build up.
I also didn’t care for the older writer reflecting on events from his youth that changed the course of his life angle. It reminded me of the movie Stand By Me, and I pictured the narrator as Richard Dreyfuss. There wasn’t enough story around the adult to show the impact of that summer, so it didn’t feel necessary.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for the early access.

[EVAN · Rating 5 out of 5]

"So we beat on, boats against the current," wrote F. Scott Fitzgerald, describing how we are pulled back into the past, despite our strongest efforts to overcome it. "Ghost Town" turns that aphorism on its head.

"Ghost Town," by Tom Perrotta, is nominally about Jay Perry nee Jimmy Perrini, a successful author (albeit one suffering from writer's block) author returning to his hometown of Creamwood, NJ for the naming of building after his late father, a volunteer fireman, and for a reading. However, by telling the story of the summer before his freshman year of high school, a summer in which his life is turned upside down, and his present-day return, we see a man finally revisiting his past so that he might be able to move forward. By looking at that summer of 1974 through adult eyes, we see him finally closing the circle of grief.

Perrotta, to this reviewer, is the author who best captures the life and times of suburbanites. However, "Ghost Town" is something different. For the first time since "Joe College," Perrotta is writing retrospectively. It's about grief, loss, memory and the way, to quote Faulkner, "the past isn't dead, it's not even past."

This honest review is given in thanks to Simon & Schuster and NetGalley for an advanced reader copy.

[Kat Brownell · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is a difficult book for me to review. I loved Perrotta's The Leftovers, and everything he writes flows so well and is engaging and easy to read, but by the end of the novel I was not entirely certain what I had gotten out of it. The entire novel felt as if we were rushing towards a huge and life-altering event, but when we arrived the whole thing seemed anti-climatic and not given the gravitas it deserved. The book is about one summer in a 13 year old's life book-ended by twin tragedies, as told by his adult self 40 years later, with a little bit of racism thrown in, but not quite enough to be impactful. Much of the book seemed like we were at the cusp of being impactful when Perrotta pulled back instead of driving the point home. And, even as a liberal, I felt like the anti-MAGA parts were jarring and had no place in this book. They weren't subtle at all and felt out of place in a novel where the majority of the story takes place 40 years ago.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publishers for an advanced copy of this novel.

[Julie · Rating 4 out of 5]

I really enjoyed this coming of age story of Jimmy Perrini’s last summer in suburban NJ and his return years later to speak at a town celebration honoring his father. I have read several of Tom Perrotta’s books over the years and liked them all. I was excited to get this one through NetGalley.
Jimmy was a typical middle school boy headed to a baseball game and then his life changed in an instant when his mother dies. His father grieves by working lots of overtime and spending time out of the house which leaves Jimmy with a lot of unsupervised free time. He volunteers with the local recreation summer camp as a counselor which he enjoys. He falls in love with one of the counselors and she introduces him to the ouiji board. He also befriends an older boy Eddie who has a car, marijuana and not so nice acquaintances. Over the course of the summer Jimmy loses touch with old friends and doesn’t always make the best decisions. A sometimes funny and very touching novel.

Many thanks to NetGally for the ARC in exchange for my honest review.

[Suzanne · Rating 3 out of 5]

Tom Perrotta’s newest, GHOST TOWN, is a multi-age reflection on the ‘writer’s’ most difficult year of early adolescence. I don’t know if there are autobiographical aspects to this book. I read an early copy of the book and there isn’t much available yet on background/ publicity. Bad things happen to the family of a teen boy in the summer before high school. The book, in equal parts, recounts the history and reflects back on the experience as an adult. How much do we lose in translation from adolescence to adulthood? How much was once misunderstood that now makes more sense? This book didn’t resonate that well for me although the time period is one I share. The point of view shifts between a narrator of different ages and omniscience. I found the shifts jarring. A Oijia Board plays a starring role, for those who loved that game. I received my copy from the publisher through Edelweiss.

[Ilyssa Wesche · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was short! I still felt like I was getting into it and then I realized it was close to the end. The downside of reading on my Kindle. I'm between 3 and 4 stars for this but one thing knocked it down for me. (See my stupid complaint.) I felt so sad for Jimmy, but also hopeful. As a child of the 70s, I recognized it all.

The last couple of paragraphs made me cry. It was so "which wolf gets bigger? The one you feed." and it really hit home for me.

This is such a stupid complaint but I so much wish he would have made Creamwood a real city. It's such a ridiculously dumb sounding name, and also so close to Maplewood that it was noticeable every time I read the word. Plenty of other cities made it in there. And if you wanted a fake city name, do better. Sorry Mr. Perotta. I do love your books but this just killed me.

[Chelsea Walker · Rating 4 out of 5]

GHOST TOWN ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️/5. Release date 04/28/2026. 20 minutes outside of NYC, in suburbia NJ, set in 1970s, Jimmy a middle school kid has a summer that completely transforms his life. Loss, love, friendship, heartache all come together and completely change his life. The summer that shapes his entire story. I found this book really interesting, I think it’s mostly because it had a personal connection as I now live in North Jersey where the story takes place. I found relatability in the story, and as someone who grew up on the west coast it was an interesting POV to imagine my area in the 70s. Some may feel this was a slow novel, I found the character development interesting, and a coming of age story. The book was the perfect length and pace to keep me turning the pages. I can see this being a great script too. Thanks for the ARC NetGalley.

[Andy · Rating 4 out of 5]

I was pleasantly surprised with this novel by Tom Perrotta. It was a great coming of age story that had many twists and turns that definitely were mirror-like in their nostalgia inducing words and actions. I appreciate the story as a whole, but there were some parts that felt a little disjointed, like what really happened with Eddie and Leonard, Olivia, and Bob... But, those are questions that should be asked and explored. It's for the best as a reader and a thinker to leave some of those things open ended.

Perrotta definitely is at the top of his game and can do so much with his writing. His books are layered and thoughtful and leave the reader with a ton of good questions and ideas. I love the narration and the back and forth between Jimmy and how he perceived his youth as an adult. Total win here.

[Marianne Fields · Rating 4 out of 5]

4.5 stars.
Thank you to Tom Perotta and NetGalley for this ARC!
I was absolutely taken with this novel from the start. While it wasn’t full of huge plot twists, there was something about it that made me unable to put it down. It was full of nostalgia and painted such a detailed picture of Jimmy’s melancholic adolescence. It’s beautiful when you really get to know and understand a character. Jimmy was lovable even though he wasn’t always making great choices or taking a stand when he probably should’ve. Perotta did a wonderful job of capturing the complete uncertainty of being a teenager, particularly of one who loses a parent and is navigating so much solo. I would recommend this to anyone.

[James B · Rating 5 out of 5]

Thanks to Netgalley and Scribner for the ebook. An older writer is pulled back to his hometown to attend the naming of a new building for his father. He also returns to the 1970’s and the most traumatic time of his life in the very white suburban New Jersey. After a huge family event turns his life upside down, Jimmy turns his back on his seemingly innocent friends and rides along aimlessly with an older burnout as they get high. He also becomes friends with the odd smart girl who has skipped a few grades and introduces Jimmy to her Ouija board that tears a slight seam between this world and the afterlife.

[Jamie · Rating 4 out of 5]

This short novel is narrated by Jimmy, who is now a successful writer. He is reflecting on the summer after eighth grade, just after he lost his mother. He has been called back to his hometown where his late father will be honored for his time as a volunteer fireman. Tom Perotta is such a talented writer. The swirling emotions of a young man who is struggling with grief (and with just being a teenager) are expertly conveyed in the prose. This is not a plot driven novel, although the reader is wondering why Jimmy has not been home in so many years; this question is answered as the summer ends in tragedy. Thanks to NetGalley for the ARC.

[Paula · Rating 5 out of 5]

Tom Perrotta is one of my favorite authors and this book didn't disappoint.

It's partly an adolescent's story of the summer before high school in 1974 but it is also a story about dealing with grief, even years after the trauma has occurred.

Perrotta recreates a town in 1970's New Jersey that is undergoing a lot of changes, including neighbors who happen to be of color.

This book reminded me of summers when I was a kid, the hot days and the sultry nights spent cruising around in a friend's car.

*ARC provided by Edelweiss+*

[Anne · Rating 3 out of 5]

I want to thank NetGalley for the advanced copy of this book. I really wanted to like it and love it however, I found it a bit stilted. Short chapters and all. I wanted to know more about all the characters that he presents us with. It made me think of what I would write if I was writing about grade school. It begins in suburban New Jersey, a little different than my New Jersey, but New Jersey. It ends again in suburban New Jersey. Though he touches on it a bit what happened between then and now? Why did he decide to write about his childhood? I guess we will never know.

[Megan WIlls · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book follows Jimmy in the 1970's (Jay present day), as he navigates the death of his mother. It discusses the very real racism of the time, a young boy trying to cope with his new reality, and learning who he is. Perrotta does a good job of making you feel what Jimmy is going through.

I knocked a star off, only because certain characters didn't seem finished. Denise and Olivia especially seemed glazed over, and both were instrumental to the storyline.

[Ellen Ross · Rating 5 out of 5]

Tom Perrotta has done it again. Loved the 70s suburban setting. Jimmy is a likeable character as he navigates coming of age, grief, and falling for a girl. The humor mixed in this book makes it great as they always are but I really loved the theme of the ghosts that haunt us - figuratively and literally. I received an advance review copy for free, and I am leaving this review voluntarily.

[Marci Stern · Rating 4 out of 5]

4.5 A real gem of a novel. Only a truly great writer can make a 52-year old woman (me) feel like she’s stepped into the shoes of the 13-year old Jimmy. I felt every bit of his grief, his changing friend and family dynamics, his fascination with his neighbor cousins, confusion about the racism he observes around him.....all from the vivid backdrop of 1970s New Jersey suburbia. Even the title is genius. My only gripe is that it was too short - I wanted more!

Thank you so much to NetGalley for the Kindle edition ARC!