Hungry Bones

Starred review from October 1, 2024

Gr 5 Up-Thirteen-year-old Molly Teng is fuming when her mother suddenly moves her from Maine to Texas. But Molly's mom Dot can't settle down and is thrilled to explore their new town. Immediately, Molly knows something is off in the house they're renting when she touches a doorknob and experiences "the zaps," a brief but frightening Sixth Sense-style encounter she has experienced her entire life, wherein she communicates with the dead. Jade, a young ghost who has inhabited the house for 120 years with sparse interactions with the living, is delighted to have company who not only can see her but looks like her. Jade is a hungry ghost, eating scraps of food to satiate her inner monster-a take on the traditional Buddhist hungry ghost whose hunger has an emotional drive. This novel is taut and heart-rending, touching on a loving but complex mother-daughter relationship, family estrangement, and Jade's precarious balance between innocent ghost and ravenous monster. Hung's prose is humorous yet handles its themes seriously and sensitively, particularly the historic and present treatment of Chinese people in the United States. The scare level is on par with most middle grade horror and draws from the inextricable tie Jade's ghost has to the trauma she and her predecessors experienced. This would be a great recommendation for those who enjoyed Ellen Oh's Spirit Hunters or Katherine Arden's "Small Spaces" series. VERDICT A terrific book that uses horror to discuss the importance of family, remembrance, and the matrix of support needed to thrive in this world and beyond.-Sarah Maciejewski

Copyright 2024 School Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

October 1, 2024
A 13-year-old girl's paranormal abilities lead to an emotional journey with a resident ghost. Chinese American Molly Teng and her free-spirited mom have already moved eight times. While her mother always rallies her to support Team Teng, homebody Molly is resentful about leaving Maine for Buckeye Creek, Texas, and yet again becoming "the weird girl who's an easy target." Molly and Mom move into an old house that comes complete with an attic-dwelling spirit named Jade who's over a century old. At first, Jade's excited--Molly is sensitive to her presence and Asian like she is. For her part, Molly initially decides to ignore Jade, until her presence becomes impossible to overlook. As their friendship grows, so does Molly's resolve to help Jade figure out her past before she fades away. Molly's abilities include what she calls "the zaps," the energy-sucking pull she experiences from the overwhelming memories contained in some inanimate objects. Knowing the toll the zaps take on Molly, Jade hesitates to expose her to something physical belonging to her. Hung artfully integrates Chinese American history and present-day racism into a story that explores themes of belonging. Molly longs for stability and community while also being acutely aware of being "the Asian Girl" who's a perpetual outsider. While the book has a few loose ends that may frustrate attentive readers, its compelling twists and fast pace keep the interest level high. Spooky and intriguing, with plenty of heart.(Paranormal. 9-13)

COPYRIGHT(2024) Kirkus Reviews, ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.

August 12, 2024
Two lonely Chinese American girls, one living and one dead, seek to solve a spectral mystery in Hung’s eerie debut. Thirteen-year-old Molly Teng and her mother move often to keep ahead of consequences caused by Molly’s “zaps,” an ability through which touching an inanimate object will “show me its history—in feelings, in little bits of memory.” After arriving in Buckeye Creek, Tex., she discovers a ghost girl named Jade who died in Molly’s new house 120 years ago. Jade is a “hungry ghost,” who must feed on human food to survive. The girls’ alternating perspectives track their developing friendship as they bond over meals during their late-night Second Dinner Club; they resolve to uncover Jade’s past, which Jade has mostly forgotten, to keep her memory alive and thus prevent her from disappearing. As they delve into their inquiry, they discover that Jade’s death was caused by racist actions against Chinese immigrants. Using empathetic yet incisive language to skillfully balance the intensity of past events with steadily increasing stakes tied to Jade’s presence, Hung cloaks history lessons in ghostly garb to showcase the palpable echoes of racism against Chinese Americans that still haunts contemporary society. Ages 8–12.