Thirteen Doorways, Wolves Behind Them All

by Laura Ruby

Overview

National Book Award 2019 Finalist!

From the author of Printz Medal winner Bone Gap comes the unforgettable story of two young women—one living, one dead—dealing with loss, desire, and the fragility of the American dream during WWII.

When Frankie’s mother died and her father left her and her siblings at an orphanage in Chicago, it was supposed to be only temporary—just long enough for him to get back on his feet and be able to provide for them once again. That’s why Frankie's not prepared for the day that he arrives for his weekend visit with a new woman on his arm and out-of-state train tickets in his pocket.

Now Frankie and her sister, Toni, are abandoned alongside so many other orphans—two young, unwanted women doing everything they can to survive.

And as the embers of the Great Depression are kindled into the fires of World War II, and the shadows of injustice, poverty, and death walk the streets in broad daylight, it will be up to Frankie to find something worth holding on to in the ruins of this shattered America—every minute of every day spent wondering if the life she's able to carve out will be enough.

I will admit I do not know the answer. But I will be watching, waiting to find out.

That’s what ghosts do.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780062317650
Publisher:	HarperCollins Publishers
Publication date:	04/27/2021
Pages:	384
Sales rank:	59,041
Product dimensions:	5.20(w) x 7.80(h) x 1.00(d)
Age Range:	14 - 17 Years

About the Author

Laura Ruby is the author of books for adults, teens, and children, including Thirteen Doorways, Wolves Behind Them All and the Michael L. Printz Medal winner Bone Gap, both National Book Award finalists; the Edgar Award nominee Lily’s Ghosts; and the Book Sense Pick Good Girls as well as the first two books in the York Saga. She is on the faculty of Hamline University’s MFA in writing for children and young adults program and lives in the Chicago area. You can visit her online at www.lauraruby.com.

Editorial Reviews

"A beautiful and lyrical read that pushes against the boundaries of what we often think a young adult novel can contain.

BookPage

"Haunting and hopeful in equal measure." %COMM_CONTRIB%New York Times Book Review

Pearl's back story and Frankie's journey are skillfully interwoven so that parallels appear, driving the reader forward to several surprising revelations. Ruby captures first love and the first moments of sexual awakening for both girls with tenderness and authenticity…One of many themes that emerge from this rich and layered book is that young women are too often reproached for desiring and for wanting agency over their own lives and bodies…[Thirteen Doorways, Wolves Behind Them All] deserves to be read by a wide audience of teenagers and adults. It is haunting and hopeful in equal measure.

The New York Times Book Review - Jennifer Mathieu

08/19/2019

This evocative tale entwines the lives of two young women—one living, one dead—in Chicago on the cusp of WWII. In 1941, 14-year-old promising artist Frankie Mazza; her younger sister, Toni; and their older brother, Vito, are “half-orphans”—children left at orphanages by parents struggling financially. The nuns can be strict, even injurious, and the sisters are further abandoned when their father remarries and moves to Colorado, taking only Vito and his new wife’s children along. Narrator Pearl Brownlow, a ghost who died when she was not much older than Frankie, haunts Chicago’s streets and the orphanage, reflecting on Frankie’s life and her own. As Pearl slowly comes to terms with the shocking events that preceded her death, she watches Frankie fall in love and experience devastating loss, and witnesses the sisters’ eventual return to their father and his horrible new family. Printz winner Ruby (Bone Gap) creates a dreamlike rendering of Pearl’s afterlife that contrasts with Frankie’s stark, historically detailed circumstances. Though a slow unspooling may frustrate some, the women’s resonant journeys, marked by desire and betrayal, thoughtfully illuminate the deepharm that women and girls suffer at the hands of a patriarchal society as well as the importance of living fully. Ages 14–up. (Oct.)

Publishers Weekly

"Haunting and hopeful in equal measure."

New York Times Book Review

A numinous tale of love and restlessness and dark histories that rises like a tide till you’re up to your neck in its magic. My very favorite kind of read.

Melissa Albert

Ruby’s delicate, powerful storytelling reveals profound, bewitching truths about the vast, sometimes cruel, sometimes loving, possibilities of human nature. Subtle and stunning.

ALA Booklist (starred review)

★ 08/01/2019

Gr 9 Up–Ruby's first young adult novel since her Printz Award–winning Bone Gap is a feminist historical ghost story that is based on the author's mother-in-law's childhood experiences in a World War II–era Chicago orphanage. In 1941, after losing his wife and struggling to support his family, Frankie's Italian immigrant father "temporarily" sends his three adolescent children to a Catholic orphanage. However, he soon remarries and moves away, taking only one of his children. Frankie and her sister, Toni, are left under the watch of the iron-fisted nuns with their oppressive rules. Frankie dreams of growing her hair past her ears, becoming an artist, and falling in love. She never suspects that someone unseen is actually watching over her and longing to protect her: the ghost of a teenage girl, Pearl, dead since 1918, who haunts the orphanage. As Frankie wishes for freedom, Pearl longs to have an impact on the physical world. And Pearl, like Frankie, has been let down by her family, been treated as a commodity, and suffered great loss. Each girl draws strength from her hardships, however, and refuses to submit to those who would control her. Some sexual content and brief, yet disturbing descriptions of violence make this title most appropriate for older readers. VERDICT Powerful plotting, masterful character development, and a unique narrative device set this work apart. Make room on the shelf next to Code Name Verity and The Book Thief.—Liz Overberg, Zionsville Community High School, IN

School Library Journal

2019-07-24
A ghost girl's narration weaves her own story with that of a tenacious orphan in World War II-era Chicago.

Teenage Frankie's story is no more or less tragic than that of any other young person at her German Catholic orphanage: That is, it's heartbreaking. She and her two siblings have a father who brings them gifts but claims he can't afford to take them home and who eventually abandons them for a new family. But Frankie's tenacious grip on hope draws attention from both her fellow orphans, including a beautiful, gentle boy with whom she shares an illicit prewar romance, and Pearl, the book's ghost narrator, whose own tragic story slowly unfurls alongside Frankie's. Pearl's narration elevates an already-poignant story to a complex, bittersweet examination of why "girls were punished so hard for their love, so hard, hard enough to break them." There is no escape from pain or death in this narrative—from the wolf waiting behind every door—but there is the suggestion that it's worth the risk to open them all wide anyway. Pearl and Frankie are white (Frankie's parents were Italian immigrants), but many secondary characters, memorably an African American ghost named Marguerite and a Chinese love interest for Pearl, are racially diverse.

A layered, empathetic examination of the ghosts inside all girls' lives, full of historical realism and timeless feeling. (author's note) (Historical fantasy. 14-adult)

Kirkus Reviews