New Picture Book Tells Story of Two Gay Refugees–and Their Cat

In some parts of the world, being LGBTQ can mean being jailed or worse. That’s a weighty topic, but in a new children’s book, we learn of the struggles and resilience of a same-sex couple who fled Indonesia for fear of persecution. The secret to telling the tale in a compelling, age-appropriate manner? Their cat. Here’s a sneak peek.

Ghost’s Journey: A Refugee Story, by Robin Stevenson (Rebel Mountain Press), is based on the true story of Eka Nasution and Rainer Oktovianus, a same-sex couple from the island of Java. Stevenson tells the tale from the perspective of their cat, Ghost, but does so without cutesy anthropomorphizing. Ghost is an observer of the action, but always with a realistic cat’s response, reminding us that this is a true story and not a made-up tale. “Over and over, they had to move. Ghost did not like moving,” we learn. “She hid beneath the bed, inside a paper bag.” When the couple applies for refugee status in Canada and travels to freedom, bringing Ghost in a cat carrier, “She wailed when they arrived in a strange place where people stood in long lines.” Children should understand Ghost’s feelings as the adults in her life do things that she can’t quite comprehend. Using Ghost as the focal point is a lovely choice by Stevenson to help young people engage with the tale. Her thoughtful prose captures Ghost’s emotions and outlines the course of the family’s journey with just the right amount of detail for young readers.

The reason for the men’s persecution is simply told. “’People don’t like us, Ghost,’ Rainer whispered, ‘just because Eka and I love each other,’” Stevenson writes. After their harrowing journey, however, the family settles into an apartment, where Ghost contentedly spends time with her dads. A final page shows the two men at a Pride celebration.

Stevenson has managed the often-elusive feat of writing a children’s book with a social justice message while also making it age-appropriate, non-pedantic, and compelling. The illustrations are actual photographs of their lives by Rainer, a professional photographer, Photoshopped to have a unique look and an almost hand-drawn feel. (Just a few images of their environment are stock photos, also Photoshopped in the same way.)

A two-page afterward offers a few more details of their story for adults or older children, noting that same-sex relationships are criminalized in many countries and that the Indonesian police were “hostile and abusive” towards LGBTQ people. We learn that Ghost came into their lives when she was only a few weeks old and they rescued her from an abandoned chicken coop. Eka and Rainer now volunteer with organizations that help other LGBTQ refugees, enjoy spending time with each other and Ghost, and might adopt a child someday.

You can learn even more about the couple and the situation for LGBTQ people in Indonesia in this 2017 Xtra article.  Additionally, Stevenson tells me, she has interviewed them in order to include their story in the second edition of her middle-grade nonfiction book, Pride: Celebrating Diversity and Community (which will come out next March as Pride: The Celebration and the Struggle). The updated version will have a new section on LGBTQ refugees, where Rainer and Eka are profiled.

I love Ghost’s Journey for giving us a unique tale of one family and a look at an aspect of LGBTQ lives that hasn’t yet appeared in children’s literature. It’s also notable for showing how LGBTQ issues intersect with other aspects of social justice. As with any book that brings up anti-LGBTQ sentiment, of course, adults should be prepared to discuss the content with children as they read it. At a time when immigration and refugee issues are much in the news (and in many people’s lives), both in Canada and the U.S., however, I think there’s a clear need for children’s books that explore such tough topics in a sensitive and age-appropriate way, as this one does.

Stevenson has herself been involved in refugee sponsorship as a volunteer since 2015 and has worked with Rainbow Refugee, a Vancouver-based community group that helped Eka and Rainer, as a co-sponsor on several of her sponsorships. She is donating all of her royalties from the sale of Ghost’s Journey to support LGBTQ+ refugees through Rainbow Refugee, Rainbow Railroad, and Canada’s Private Sponsorship of Refugees program. Rebel Mountain Press will also donate partial proceeds from the sale of the book to those organizations. while Rainer and Eka will be donating their share of the proceeds to help animals find new homes in Canada. I hope you’ll consider this book for your shelves and tell your friendly local librarians to stock it.

Other books by Stevenson (herself a queer mom) include the board book Pride Colors, the young adult nonfiction My Body, My Choice: The Fight for Abortion Rights, and many others. (And stay tuned for her Kid Activists, childhood biographies of 12 inspiring activists, LGBTQ and not, including Janet Mock and Harvey Milk, coming out later this month.)