The Haunting of Adrian Yates
The Haunting of Adrian Yates
With a rough scrubber and kitchen scissors for the weeds, Adrian would walk along the narrow lines of dirt. He never quite knew what he was looking for, until he found it. An obscured date, perhaps. A patch of dandelions, reaching towards the sun. A tug in his chest would tell him who needed attention. Adrian would then sink into the mud to begin his work. He wiped away their loneliness, one stone at a time.
While sprucing up their cracks or trimming back weeds, Adrian told them stories, secrets, gossip. He spoke about the drudgery of high school, his unengaging teachers, the petty conflicts of his classmates. He’d share snippets of his parents’ arguments at home or speculate on the staying power of his best friend’s latest hobby. When the weather turned and the ground hardened, he came with library books and read his favourite passages aloud while sipping hot tea from a thermos. The graves listened well and shared their lessons, too. (Pp. 1-2)
Adrian Yates is a lonely teenager. Both he and his best friend Zoomer are outcasts at school. Adrian’s two fathers are constantly arguing, and he wonders if they will be getting a divorce soon. He feels comfortable at the nearby deserted and neglected graveyard where he cares for abandoned gravestones and talks to them. He struggles with day-to-day life and even contemplates leaving this world behind.
Both friends have complicated family relationships. Adrian’s two fathers leave him on his own frequently. Their apartment is a mess, and often meals are forgotten. Dad is not working because he is writing a “big idea” novel while Pop is supporting the family with a job as a nighttime custodian. Zoomer lives with her grandmother (Granny Z) in Adrian’s apartment complex and loves to go on adventures with Adrian. She is fascinated with witchcraft and the paranormal. She often joins him at the graveyard where she sings and dances around the gravestones. She teaches Adrian how to sneak onto public transit and to steal from second hand stores. They share her grandmother’s whiskey while playing “Truth, Dare, Drink.” Their shared experiences are exciting breaks in Adrian’s lonely life.
One day while visiting the graveyard, Adrian encounters a ghostly figure. “A figure loomed over him, pale and lanky. It leaned tilting its head to one side and revealing a grin of uneven teeth. When Adrian blinked, it seemed to change… It was just a teenager.” (p. 18) This apparition turns out to be a teenage ghost named Sorel. Lonely and depressed, Adrian is instantly attracted to him, and the two become friends. When Zoomer comes to meet Sorel, the ghost is aggressive and destroys her cell phone when she tries to take a picture of him. At one point, Sorel even tries to “take over” her body. Zoomer is terrified of this supernatural being and urges Adrian to stay away from him.
However, Adrian is physically attracted to his new ghostly friend. “Leaning towards one another, the thread between became woven and taut. The meeting of their lips turned from a question to an inevitability.” (p. 66) This happening leads to a relationship where Adrian joins souls with Sorel so that Sorel can leave the graveyard and experience the world. Adrian starts to neglect Zoomer as his relationship with Sorel becomes more intimate. When Pop loses his job, the family must move to the East Coast to live with their grandparents. Sorel cannot bear to be left behind and takes over Adrian’s body completely.
The two young friends and their supernatural companion are learning about life. Adrian learns to appreciate his uniqueness. Zoomer learns to trust her friend Adrian. Sorel learns about the joys of everyday life outside the graveyard. In the end, they must all learn to accept themselves as individuals who have agency and worth. Adrian must come to terms with Sorel’s betrayal and return to his own life. Zoomer must overcome her fears of losing Adrian’s friendship and help him to overcome his problems. Sorel must accept his supernatural existence and learn to “live with it.”
This young adult novel deals with a unique situation as it explores Adrian’s possession by Sorel’s ghost. Some readers may find this situation unbelievable. The Haunting of Adrian Yates is definitely not a traditional romance since one of the two individuals is dead and wants to body snatch the other one. When Sorel tries takes possession of Zoomer, she is shocked and appalled by his aggressive actions. She urges Adrian to avoid a same sex relationship with the ghost who does not believe in sexual consent. The writer’s portrait of ghostly Sorel does not explain his motivations adequately and leaves readers to wonder if Sorel is genuinely a caring individual who admires Adrian, or a vicious ghost who wants to live once again. “Even Sorel himself had appeared surprised.” (p. 100)
Adrian’s struggles with his unstable family life cause him to be depressed and even contemplate suicide at certain points in his life. The writer mentions these struggles but does not elaborate on them. “If that was the world Adrian was set to inherit, what was the point of sticking around to meet it? (p. 70) This novel deals with many issues which will appeal to those readers who enjoy stories about the paranormal. The Haunting of Adrian Yates also examines topics such as same sex relationships, friendship, grief, individuality, possession, and the afterlife. It sends a definitely message about the need for tolerance as Adrian says to Zoomer, “You and I should know that you don’t just ditch someone because they’re different. You stick it out, try and understand.” (p. 93)
Myra Junyk, who lives in Toronto, Ontario, is a literacy advocate and author.