ISBN
9780571332755
Reviewed by
Daniela Andrews
The
phrase ‘never judge a book by its cover’ need not apply to this one. I was
drawn to this book as soon as I saw the cover, and I wasn’t disappointed.
Cornfields, beehives and a dark horse … I couldn’t figure out how it all fit
together, but I knew I wanted to find out.
This alluring novel is best described as
magical realism – it is a little fairytale-like, at times, and starkly
realistic at others. It targets readers aged 14–18, and raises themes of
family, love and self-worth.
It
is a highly original, unusual tale set in a town called ‘Bone Gap’, where ‘the
bones of the world’ are ‘a little looser’ and where people can simply fall away
and disappear. Finn O’Sullivan is a handsome teenage boy who the locals are
fond of, despite declaring him nutty. They call him ‘Sidetrack’ and ‘Moonface’
because he won’t look people in the eye. Finn lives with his older brother,
Sean, whom the town adores.
When a young, beautiful girl called Roza appears in
their barn, she charms the entire town with her beauty and playfulness. Then
she is kidnapped and everybody is devastated. Finn was there but he can’t
describe the kidnapper. Locals know that Bone Gap is full of magical ‘spaces
one could slip into and hide’ … perhaps Roza simply disappeared as mysteriously
as she arrived.
Finn
is frustrated that nobody believes him – especially Sean, who was in love with
her. When a magical horse appears in their barn one night, it leads Finn to
Petey Willis, the beekeeper’s daughter, whom the townspeople taunt for her
erratic appearance and behaviour. Finn and Petey fall in love, and she uncovers
a remarkable truth about him. When Roza’s kidnapper turns up, Finn realises he
himself needs to slip away from his world in order to find her.
Laura
Ruby treats us to insights from Sean, Petey and Charlie Valentine (the town
veteran), but the majority of the novel is told from Finn and Roza’s
perspectives. She expertly overlaps the slow, mystical setting of Finn’s world
with Roza’s frantic attempts to escape her captor. The effect creates a very
gripping novel, making it a well-deserving winner of the 2016 ‘Michael L.
Printz Award’.
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