Sunday, February 15, 2015

HarperTeen ARC Review: Bone Gap (Laura Ruby)


Bone Gap
Hardcover, 368 pages
Expected publication: March 3rd 2015 Publisher: Balzer + Bray
Author: Laura Ruby

Everyone knows Bone Gap is full of gaps—gaps to trip you up, gaps to slide through so you can disappear forever. So when young, beautiful Roza went missing, the people of Bone Gap weren’t surprised. After all, it wasn’t the first time that someone had slipped away and left Finn and Sean O’Sullivan on their own. Just a few years before, their mother had high-tailed it to Oregon for a brand new guy, a brand new life. That’s just how things go, the people said. Who are you going to blame?
Finn knows that’s not what happened with Roza. He knows she was kidnapped, ripped from the cornfields by a dangerous man whose face he cannot remember. But the searches turned up nothing, and no one believes him anymore. Not even Sean, who has more reason to find Roza than anyone, and every reason to blame Finn for letting her go.
As we follow the stories of Finn, Roza, and the people of Bone Gap—their melancholy pasts, their terrifying presents, their uncertain futures—acclaimed author Laura Ruby weaves a heartbreaking tale of love and loss, magic and mystery, regret and forgiveness—a story about how the face the world sees is never the sum of who we are. 

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Laura Ruby
Raised in the wilds of suburban New Jersey, Laura Ruby now lives in Chicago with her family. Her short fiction for adults has appeared in various literary magazines, including Other Voices, The Florida Review, Sycamore Review and Nimrod. A collection of these stories, I'M NOT JULIA ROBERTS, was published by Warner Books in January 2007. Called "hilarious and heart-wrenching" by People and "a knowing look at the costs and rewards of remaking a family," by the Hartford-Courant, the book was also featured in Redbook, Working Mother , and USA Today among others.Ruby is also the author of the Edgar-nominated children's mystery LILY'S GHOSTS (8/03), the children's fantasy THE WALL AND THE WING (3/06) and a sequel, THE CHAOS KING (5/07) all from Harpercollins. She writes for older teens as well, and her debut young adult novel, GOOD GIRLS (9/06), also from Harpercollins, was a Book Sense Pick for fall 2006 and an ALA Quick Pick for 2007. A new young adult novel, PLAY ME, is slated for publication in fall of 2008. Her books have sold in England, Australia, Italy, France, Germany, Denmark, Serbia and Montenegro. THE WALL AND THE WING is currently in development with Laika Studios for release as an animated feature.
Ms. Ruby has been a featured speaker at BookExpo, the National Council of Teachers of English (NCTE) annual convention, the Miami Book Festival, the Florida Association of Media Educators (FAME) convention, the Midwest Literary Festival, the International Reading Association's annual convention, and Illinois Reading Council annual conference, among other venues, and she has presented programs and workshops for both adults and children at numerous schools and libraries.Currently, she is working on several thousand projects, drinking way too much coffee, and searching for new tunes for her iPod.

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"From acclaimed author Laura Ruby comes a fascinating, powerful, and wholly original novel about a beautiful young woman, a haunted young man, and a secretive Midwestern town."

Bone Gap was a very unusual book. It was unlike anything I have ever read before. The writer really uses the words in the book to express emotion and feeling. Bone Gap is one of those books that you just have to read and experience for your self. It is character driven  which makes each story and character feel even more real. Bone Gap is full of magical realism and lyrical writing that makes it a one-of-a-kind read. It is also told in 3rd person and allows you to see the views of several different characters and how their lives are all affected by each other's actions. 

Bone Gap is a mid-western town with country roads, animals, farms, and also "gaps." Gaps are described as a place a person can disappear into and never be heard from again. Bone Gap is a place you want to stay far, far away from. 

"The way they knew that Bone Gap had gaps just wide enough for people to slip away, or slip through, leaving only their stories behind. "

The main characters in the book are the O'Sullivan brothers; Sean & Finn and young girls; Rosa and Petey. Sean has dreams to attend medical school but had to put his dream on hold to obtain guardianship of his younger brother, Finn, after their mother abandons them. 

Roza is a mysterious beautiful girl who came into their lives and just as fast...she disappeared. Sean believes that Roza ran off like everyone else does but Finn doesn't agree. Finn is more cautious and begins an investigation of his own. Several people have mentioned seeing a man who twitches and moves like corn in the breeze right before a person is taken/disappears. 

When reading the reviews of others regarding Bone Gap...I came across a specific quote that just stuck with me. This quote fit the story perfectly and so I wanted to share it within my review as well.....

"Bone Gap is a puzzle where each piece is handed out one at a time, ending in a beautiful picture of family, community, love, friendship, and hope for the future."

Bone Gap is full of spine-tingling suspense, creepy occurrences, and a great mystery. There is also a beautiful love story hidden withing the mystery that is Bone Gap. Bone Gap is a beautifully written YA novel that will bring readers in grab hold....The unexplained strangeness of Bone Gap, the mysterious disappearances, and the breath-taking romance make for a phenomenal story. Laura Ruby has written a engaging novel full of magical realism and romance interwoven into a mystery that will leave the reader utterly stunned......

"He was sorry that Bone Gap seemed to be cursed somehow, big losses salted with tiny tragedies  almost too insulting to bear."





**The quotes from this book have been taken from an Advanced Reading Copy and are subject to change when the final book is printed. Please refer to the final, finished copy for exact quotes!**

**I want to say Thank You to HarperTeen  for the opportunity to review this book!!**



2 comments:

  1. I just want everyone to read this book! It's been a long time since I've read something that filled me with such zeal to go out and shove it on everyone I know.

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  2. I am so glad to hear that you liked this one so much! It does sound really unique and like a great read - I think I will try it. I love character driven novels and her writing style sounds right up my street.

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