Bone Gap by Laura Ruby
Publisher: Balzer + Bray
Publication Date: March 3, 2015
Genre: Young adult, contemporary + magical realism
Winner of the 2016 Printz Award for Young Adult Literature
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.
Bone Gap is a bit of a difficult book to review, and I don’t feel like a pro/con review does it much justice. It’s something very different, quite literary, and its own little experience. I liked it, but I’d much prefer to discuss it in broadstrokes than a standard review.
Bone Gap is a small town (and a real one) and home to a mystery: the disappearence of Polish immigrant Roza, who we later learn out has come to reside with teenager Finn and his older brother Sean from seemingly fleeing an unsafe situation. The three have quite complicated feelings toward each other. Despite the missing persons case, however, I’m not sure I would really call Bone Gap a mystery. The third-person perspective shifts around from Finn to Roza to even some of the secondary characters, filling in their backstories. As such, the story is much more about who these characters and how they relate to each other.
What it’s really about? The narratives/expectations that surround people (which all small towns and/or other communities are bound to come up with) and horrible consequences of mysogyny, basically. Roza has dealt with many men taking advantage of her because they think they’re entitled to it, leading to some dangerous situations. Meanwhile, Petey (who Finn begins to date in the book) has her share, too, albeit of a different kind because unlike Roza, she isn’t conventionally pretty. There was also a scene where Finn focuses on Petey’s pleasure, containing an act that I haven’t seen depicted in YA (or most of the media) at all. Not that I’m an expert, but it was refreshing to see that.
I’ve seen “magical realism” used the most when describing Bone Gap, and it does play a subtle role. The characters struggle with real issues, but their world is lightly laced with magic. Whispering corn fields, a horse, which is female and likes to be ridden at night, so it’s a “Night Mare,” and more. It gets weird, but it’s rather beautiful, adding a hopefulness to the story. (And I love weird.)
Bone Gap is marketed as YA, and it won a major YA literary award, but I feel that it’s more of a crossover. Finn and Petey’s story deals with teenage feelings and themes, yes, but Roza and Sean are adults and a large part of the story is about them (especially Roza). I really enjoyed the multiple perspectives, especially when publishing seems to want to fit everything int categories (now we just need more push for books about kids aged 12-14, right??).
I highly recommend Bone Gap if you’re interested in magical realism, feminism, and literary fiction.
Olivia Anne Gennaro 