Something Upstairs

Dolls of Our Lives

Happy Halloween! On this episode we read Avi's Something Upstairs (1988).

Seeing your favorite childhood keychain may take you back for a moment. But what if that keychain could also take you to another time period? Would you do what needed to be done to stop an injustice from repeating? Avi’s 1988 classic Something Upstairs asks and answers those questions, and boldly breaks the space time continuum. When protagonist Kenny moves to a new place, he finds that he's not alone in his attic bedroom. A ghost named Caleb has also been forced to reside there for centuries. Through this time travel story, Avi explores race and power across three centuries in Providence, RI. We talk about this twisty plot, the uses of ghost stories, and the real real estate that serves as the setting for this book.

Avi's Website: https://www.avi-writer.com/blog/2017/03/story-behind-the-story-20something-upstairs/

A Real Pardon Tillinghast: https://www.geni.com/people/Rev-Pardon-Tillinghast-II/6000000004993081912

Walking Tour: https://www.rihs.org/school_tours/avis-something-upstairs-walking-tour/

More on Slavery in Providence, RI: https://www.brown.edu/Facilities/John_Carter_Brown_Library/exhibitions/jcbexhibit/Pages/exhibSlavery.html

http://library.providence.edu/encompass/rhode-island-slavery-and-the-slave-trade/rhode-island-slavery-and-the-slave-trade/

https://www.avi-writer.com/blog/2017/03/story-behind-the-story-20something-upstairs/

https://www.geni.com/people/Rev-Pardon-Tillinghast-II/6000000004993081912

https://w3.ric.edu/sherlockcenter/dsi/avi.pdf

https://www.rihs.org/school_tours/avis-something-upstairs-walking-tour/

original air date: October 31, 2021