Ruby, Laura. Bone Gap. New York: Balzer+Bray, 2015.

What a lovely book, a bit magical and fantastical with lovely characters who are nothing but real. I have no recollection why I added this book to my order; it is SUCH a long journey from choosing to ordering to arriving, but I am truly glad that I did. This story of the missing Roza and Finn who witnessed her departure - of his brother Sean who loved her will sneak into your heart and demand your attention. The suspense builds slowly. We meet bullies, and Priscilla who prefers to be called Petey. We get to know the friends and neighbors who populate the small, rural town of Bone Gap. And we get short, bone chilling glimpses the the man who’s stolen Roza away. A difficult book for me to summarize simply, but well worth the read.

I love Finn. He surely struggles with a community who thinks he is just not all quite there. He is bullied and initially seems to even invite the physical pain to distract him from his emotional pain. He is drawn to Petey, a young, complex keeper of bees. He wishes his brother would forgive him for letting Roza go, but doesn’t fully understand why Sean doesn’t search for her. He embraces the magical horse that appears in his barn, and his fully absorbed in the magical rides the horse gives him. I felt a quiet joy in watching him grow and change throughout the course of his story. The love story between Finn and Petey is a slow burn, but beautifully rendered.

This novel is a lovely choice for talented readers and aspiring writers. The language here is phenomenal. I could just as easily turn this into a learning activity for my AP students: imagery, figurative language, diction. I have already had the privilege of talking about it with one of my best readers. She agrees with my assessment that the read is an excellent one. She, too, enjoyed the relationships in the novel. She was a bit more frustrated than I with the blurring between fantasy and reality. She just wanted a few more answers. But I like that she was passionate and intrigued enough to want them. I believe she will help me share this out with some more readers. The kids are my best took in talking books.

As an aside, I think a great deal about how we classify and label books. This title has been reviewed as a YA one, and certainly I'll be using it in my 7-12 library. But, when I talk to my adult friends who love to read, I will surely be recommending this one.