Bone's Gift Blog Tour

BONE’S GIFT BLOG TOUR!

Monday, April 9 YA Books Central 

Tuesday, April 10 Ms. Yingling Reads

Wednesday, April 11 Unleashing Readers

Thursday, April 12 The Brain Lair AND Genrefluent

Friday, April 13 Always in the Middle

Smibert, Angie. Bone's Gift
March 20th 2018 by Boyd's Mill Press
Copy provided by publisher

Bone is not as ladylike as her Aunt Mattie expects a girl to be in 1945-- she'd rather wear dungarees and play outside with her friend Will than dress up like her cousin Ruby. She still misses her mother, who died in a flu epidemic, especially now that Bone seems to be manifesting a familial "gift" that her cousin has warned her might have killed her mother. When she touches an objects, she gets flashes of what happened to its former owner while in contact with it. Her grandmother might know some answers, but Bone's father has cut off most communication with her. When a professor comes into town collecting stories for a WPA project, Bone uses this as an excuse to touch base with her grandmother and get some answers. Times are hard in the coal mining town, and Bone watches as her friends start working in the mines or going off to war. When both her own father and her uncle choose to go as well, things become even more dire, and Bone is more motivated than ever to figure out what really happened to her mother, and what will happen to her.
Strengths: There were lots of good details about life in this place and time. Coal mining is a brutal way of life that made going off to the war seem like a better idea, and I've not really seen that reflected in any middle grade literature. The family dynamics, with Bone and her father living in a boarding house, Bone living with her aunt when her father went off to war, and the alienation between the aunt and the grandmother are all very realistic. I was glad that Ruby and Bone started to get along a little bit, and that Bone was able to solve some of the mystery of why her aunt was so mean.
Weaknesses: There were some parts of the story that seemed unresolved, but this is the first book in a trilogy. I imagine we will hear more about Will's selective mutism, Bone's gift, and her grandmother's background in further installments.
What I really think: I'm not a huge fan of paranormal books, so it wasn't quite my cup of tea, but I can see this book being a good choice for readers who do like the idea of magic and magical gifts and need to read a book set during World War II.