The Bone Garden, by Heather Kassner

The Bone Garden, by Heather Kassner (middle grade, Henry Holt, August 6 2019), is a lovely, creepy story perfect for those who love children finding found families.

Eleven-year-old Irréelle is used to spending her days hunting beneath the cemetery that is her home, making her way through dark tunnels of the bone garden to fetch the bone dust for her mistress, the demanding Miss Vesper. She's never rewarded for her efforts; Miss Vesper constantly finds fault with her, criticizing her mismatched, crooked body. It's Miss Vesper's fault that Irréelle is not a perfectly shaped girl, because she was the one who made her, something she's constantly reminding the girl about. Irréelle is terrified that Miss Vesper, her creator, will un-create her some day, and also can't help but hope that if she is good enough, she can be remade into a "normal" girl.

Her life is lonely, until she meets two other children in the graveyard, Guy and Lass, and befriends as well on of Miss Vesper's new creations, a disembodied hand with a mind of its own. The strange group take on a mission, finding a lost grave that could solve the mystery underling Miss Vesper's past, and their own strange lives. Miss Vesper is not at all happy that Irréelle has started acting independently, and the threat she poses grows, while at the same time, Irréelle begins to realize just how little chance there was of Miss Vesper every caring for her.

Irréelle's growth in self-confidence and self-reflection is inspiring, and the bonds of friendship she forges that help her in this are beautifully strong. Guy and Lass, who are tougher to begin with, are a great foil for her, and the disembodied hand adds surprising comic relief. The creepy factor adds a macabre ambience to her story while not being so horrific as to terrify--yes, there are lots of dead bodies around, but it's not a gotcha sort of horror.

Short answer--a great one for kids who enjoy friendship stories with spooky atmosphere!

disclaimer: review copy received from the publisher.

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The Secret Deep, by Lindsay Galvin

The Secret Deep , by Lindsay Galvin (Scholastic, Feb 4 2020), is a sci-fi mystery/adventure that's difficult to review, because it's best read without spoilers, but hard to talk about without them. So conclusion first--this is a fun adventure with science pushed to fantastical limits, with lots of ocean adventure, and a thought-provoking consideration of the ethics of medical consent. It's upper middle grade (classic "tween")-- 11-14 year olds. There's some nascent romance, but it's not a plot point. It wasn't really a book that hit all the right notes for me, but if you look at Goodreads you'll find lots of readers who loved it. It begins with two sisters, Aster and Poppy, flying to New Zealand to live with their aunt after their mother dies from cancer. Aunt Iona is an oncologist, but she wasn't around to help her sister; instead, she was travelling frenetically around the world, helping various disadvantaged communities, seemingly unawa...

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The Moon Over Crete, by Jyotsna Sreenivasan, for Timeslip Tuesday

The Moon Over Crete , by Jyotsna Sreenivasan (1996, Smooth Stone Press), is a slightly older children's time travel story, interesting for several reasons. It's the story of a modern girl, 11-year-old Lily, whose mom is Indian American, and whose dad is European American. Lily is finding it difficult being a girl--her best friend is interested in dressing to impress boys, a boy in her class is sexually harassing her and no one is doing anything about it, her mother isn't letting her do things (like go exploring off in the woods) that she'd be allowed to do if she were a boy. Lily's flute teacher, Mrs. Zinn, is the only one who seems to understand Lily's growing resentment. And happily for Lily, Mrs. Zinn is a time-traveler, fond of visiting ancient Crete, where (in this fictional world) there is almost utopian gender equality. Mrs. Zinn offers Lily the chance to go to ancient Crete with her for a few weeks, and Lily accepts. Having an experienced adult guid...

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When the Stars Go Blue

By Caridad Ferrer Once, Soledad thought that the best thing in the world was the percussion encouraging to move faster, jump higher, reach the skies. But things change. She gets into a relationship with Jonathan, a horn player from a corps, and he invites her to dance with the group. First impressions were good, a not so usual fairy dancer, Soledad, but one with actual substance. But then, it got really cliche. She falls for the guy, obsesses over him, then, is faced with a problem that might bring her apart from him. And it kept going. She falls for another guy, Taz, a spanish soccer player, then has to choose between Jonathan and the hot soccer player. It goes the whole jealous boyfriend cycle as well. Then a twist almost brought it back from the dead for me, but it somewhat disturbed me. It reminded me of Pink's music video for Don't Leave Me (which I don't recommend watching). Then, guess what! It got cliche a And she even end...

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