Precious Bones

Ashley-Hollinger’s debut is saturated with rich, authentic images drawn from her childhood in Florida. In 1949, 10-year-old Bones; her spirited and unpredictable father, Nolay; and her pragmatic mother live an idyllic life on the edge of the Everglades—who needs electricity when you have a house full of animals (including a pet pig and raccoon), a protective best friend, and a mysterious swamp to explore? When two Yankee men attempt to buy the family’s land, Nolay, who is part Miccosukee Indian, threatens them; soon after, one of the men and a neighbor are found murdered, and Nolay is the prime suspect. Bones starts questioning her father’s character and investigating on her own. The author is perhaps a bit too fond of ending chapters with portentous lines to drive the story forward (“Answers to all my questions were laying right around the corner, but they wouldn’t be the ones I wanted to hear”), but that’s a quibble in a bighearted, gracefully written, and atmospheric mystery. It’s Bones’s narrative voice, folksy and true, that gives this story its heart. Ages 9–12. Agent: Catherine Drayton, InkWell Management. (May)