Bone Hollow, by Kim Ventrella

Bone Hollow, by Kim Ventrella (middle grade, Scholastic, Feb. 2019), is a strange one.  It's not often that the main character of a middle grade book dies in the first few pages, but that's what happens to an orphan boy named Gabe.  When he wakes up after dying to find the neighbors tearfully gathered round, he doesn't realize what's happened; when he wakes up again, in a funeral home, it still doesn't click  that he's dead, because he feels very much alive.  And when he resists being buried, the fact that he's not a typical corpse becomes terrifyingly clear to the community of his small southern town, and he's chased off into the woods, with only his beloved dog Ollie for company.

Can't review this without spoilers, so be warned.

There in the woods he meets a girl, Wynne, who takes him to Bone Hollow, her seemingly idyllic home.  She knows he's dead, but befriends him (and Ollie).  At first Gabe things she's Nico, the Bangladeshi best friend who moved away years ago.  But soon she lets her guard down, sharing her true self--a black girl who died decades ago.  Wynne wants more than his friendship--she wants him to take her place, serving as the local psychopomp, helping the dead pass on through kindness and compassion.

Gabe would rather not; if he's dead, he wants to pass on himself, to be reunited with his parents and grandfather.  But as Wynne teaches him the tricks of the trade, including sharing with him her own childhood memories from decades ago, and as he sees her growing more and more weary, his innate compassion comes to the fore.

In some ways the story is like a vivid dream, full of intense descriptions, and with nightmares (never full explored or explained, which left me feeling unsatisfied) lurking at the edge of the idyllic Bone Hollow.  But Gabe and Wynne (and Ollie) are much more real than dreams, and their strong personalities keep the book rooted in reality.  It's also a page  turner, with the reader and Gabe figuring things out together, and grappling with the ramifications of what Gabe's new job might entail.  And then right at the end Kleenex is needed (for dog loves, I'll just quickly clarify that the tears are not because of anything horrible that happens to Ollie the dog).

It's not a ghost story type adventure, and not one I'd give to readers who want characters rushing about exploring and fighting and questing.  Instead I'd give it to kids who want journeys that are emotional arcs, moving from sadness and confusion to clarity and purpose.  Not quite to my own personal taste, but it might well delight that sort of kid, and Bone Hollow is a fictional place that I'm happy to give houseroom to inside my head.

Here's a link to the starred Kirkus review if you want a second opinion.