Hungry Bones

Two lonely Chinese American girls, one living and one dead, seek to solve a spectral mystery in Hung’s eerie debut. Thirteen-year-old Molly Teng and her mother move often to keep ahead of consequences caused by Molly’s “zaps,” an ability through which touching an inanimate object will “show me its history—in feelings, in little bits of memory.” After arriving in Buckeye Creek, Tex., she discovers a ghost girl named Jade who died in Molly’s new house 120 years ago. Jade is a “hungry ghost,” who must feed on human food to survive. The girls’ alternating perspectives track their developing friendship as they bond over meals during their late-night Second Dinner Club; they resolve to uncover Jade’s past, which Jade has mostly forgotten, to keep her memory alive and thus prevent her from disappearing. As they delve into their inquiry, they discover that Jade’s death was caused by racist actions against Chinese immigrants. Using empathetic yet incisive language to skillfully balance the intensity of past events with steadily increasing stakes tied to Jade’s presence, Hung cloaks history lessons in ghostly garb to showcase the palpable echoes of racism against Chinese Americans that still haunts contemporary society. Ages 8–12. (Oct.)