Lingering Echoes

by Angie Smibert Narrated by Amanda Ronconi

Overview

Twelve-year-old Bone uses her Gift, which allows her to see the stories in everyday objects, to try to figure out why her best friend, Will Kincaid, suddenly lost his voice at age five. This supernatural historical mystery is the second title in the acclaimed and emotionally resonant Ghosts of Ordinary Objects series.



In a southern Virginia coal-mining town in October 1942, Bone Phillips is learning to control her Gift: Bone can see the history of a significant object when she touches it. When her best friend, Will Kincaid, asks Bone to "read" the history of his daddy's jelly jar-the jelly jar that was buried alongside his father during the mine cave-in that killed him-Bone is afraid. Even before Bone touches it, she can feel that the jar has its own strange power. With her mother dead, her father gone to war, and Aunt Mattie's assault looming over Bone, she can't bear the idea of losing Will too. As Will's obsession with the jelly jar becomes dangerous, Bone struggles to understand the truth behind the jar and save him Featuring a beautiful, compelling voice, this novel weaves a story of mystery, family, and ultimately, love.

Editorial Reviews

From the Publisher

This book reads like a folktale with the added authenticity of a historical fiction story. Set in 1942 amidst the turmoil of war, the reader is drawn into the anguish of the survivors left at home. Smibert juxtaposes the danger faced abroad with the dangers at home for those who scrape up a living working in the Appalachian coal mines. The gentle movement of this tale pulls the reader into Bone’s struggle to help others while also attempting to care for herself. This thoughtful piece provides a gentle look at surviving life’s tragedies.” -School Library Connection

“The second installment of Smibert’s Ghosts of Ordinary Objects series (Bone’s Gift, 2018) finds Bone continuing to wrestle with the possibilities and limitations of her powers…an evocative presentation of time and place…(f)ans of the first book will…enjoy returning to Bone's world.” - Booklist

Kirkus Reviews

2018-11-21

The second in a planned trilogy that began with Bone's Gift (2018).

It's now October 1942. Plenty of changes have come to seventh-grader Bone Phillips' life in the coal-camp town of Big Vein, Virginia: Uncle Henry died en route to the front; Daddy's still safe but also fighting; and some of Bone's friends no longer have to work in the mines. Her best friend, Will, mute since a week after his daddy died a decade ago, still goes below every day. When he discovers that a jelly jar left in his daddy's long-abandoned dinner bucket is stealing everyday sounds, Bone begins to believe the jar somehow stole Will's voice. How can she use her own gifts to get it back for him? Smibert's writing is as smooth and evocative as in the first volume, and her historical details ring true. Blue and gold stars appear in windows; the community engages in a scrap drive for metal to be melted into an anti-aircraft gun. Readers who come new to this story, however, are likely to be hopelessly lost, as there simply isn't enough clear background information given to carry them forward. The large cast of characters grows unwieldy, even for returning readers.

Bone's Gift may have been better as a stand-alone; here's hoping Smibert pulls it out in Book 3. (Historical/paranormal fiction. 8-12)

Product Details

BN ID:	2940160300535
Publisher:	Tantor Audio
Publication date:	12/26/2023
Series:	Ghosts of Ordinary Objects , #2
Edition description:	Unabridged
Age Range:	8 - 11 Years

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