Bone Hollow by Kim Ventrella
Children’s novel for grades 4-8; fantasy, horror
The story begins when Gabe falls off a roof while trying to rescue a prize chicken belonging to Miss Cleo, the mean-spirited elderly lady who took him in after the death of his parents. It’s no secret that Miss Cleo cares more about the chicken than about Gabe, and she especially dislikes Gabe’s dog Ollie. After his fall, all of the neighbors turn against Gabe, too, and essentially run him out of town. Although it takes a little while for Gabe to figure it out, any reader will be able to understand pretty quickly that Gabe has died and is a ghost. The townspeople are all terrified of him, with the exception of the creepy funeral director who seems to have some sinister motive for wanting to “help” Gabe. Gabe would like to stick around, but when his (former) friends and neighbors try to hunt him down, he becomes afraid for Ollie’s safety, and they run away into the forest.
It’s there where Wynne finds them. She’s a mysterious ghostly girl who bears a strong resemblance to Gabe’s old friend Niko. We later are given to understand that Wynne is capable of altering her appearance, an ability she uses to put people at ease by taking on the form of their loved ones. She also is capable of conjuring food that dead people are able to eat. She even heals Ollie, who has sustained a broken leg in the process of escaping from the hostile townspeople. Gabe is initially inclined to like and trust Wynne. He feels at home in the clearing she calls Bone Hollow. Then she tells him that she is Death, and what’s more, she’s trying to recruit him to become her replacement. Gabe is horrified and angry; he blames her for the deaths of his parents and grandfather. He runs away, but gets separated from Ollie and ends up coming back.
The eventual outcome is that Gabe comes to terms with death- his own and that of his family members- and decides that Wynne is good after all. She doesn’t actually kill people, she just helps them through the transition out of life. (We don’t really get specific details about heaven, although it’s clear that there is an afterlife where most people go after they die. Gabe and Wynne are exceptions in that they stick around after dying) But Wynne can’t be Death forever. Her strength is fading, and she needs Gabe to take over her job. He doesn’t really have a choice in the matter, but despite his previous protests, when the time comes, he’s perfectly willing to be Death.
The basic plot is interesting and the macabre subject matter will appeal to some readers, but I found the characterization to be a little lacking. About all that can be said for Gabe’s personality is that he’s very devoted to Ollie. Otherwise, he is a fairly nondescript and generic character. Wynne is a little more interesting, but only because she’s something of an enigma and her backstory is unclear. The few details we do know are revealed very gradually. We do see some personality traits from her, though; she takes care of Gabe and Ollie, she’s very diligent in her role as death, and she seems very confident and capable, but she’s not very forthcoming and honest. To me, she seemed a little manipulative, although I get the sense that we aren’t supposed to see her that way. Once Gabe comes to terms with her role as Death, it seems like she’s supposed to be entirely and unequivocally a “good guy” again.
This book is perhaps less about the plot than about acceptance of death. At first, Gabe is in denial that he is dead, and then he actually seems glad to be dead because his life was so hard, but he is bitter about other people’s death. As the story progresses, there are passages where Gabe acknowledges death as a natural and inevitable aspect of the world, and he eventually stops seeing it as a bad thing at all. The book ends on a peaceful and positive note. But most of the online discussion seems to focus on the idea that this book could be comforting to young readers who are dealing with the death of a loved one or who are confused and frightened about death in general. In my personal opinion, though, because the overall tone of the book was dark and morbid and because of a few creepy passages, it works better as a spooky ghost story than as a source of comfort and platitudes.
Librarian Magdalena 