Laura Ruby (Lily's Ghosts) creates mysticism amid the cornfields and crop circles of Illinois, making a Stonehenge-like majesty of stalks that seem to keep moral tabs on the citizens of Bone Gap.
People call 17-year-old Finn O'Sullivan "Moonface," "Spaceman" and "Sidetrack." He sees and hears things others don't--like the corn talking to him. His older brother, Sean, is down-to-earth enough for both of them. He's been taking care of Finn ever since their widowed mother ran off to Oregon for an orthodontist she met online. When Roza, a wounded beauty from Poland, suddenly appears in their barn, she brings out the healer in Sean. Then one day she disappears, and all light is drained from Sean. It's as if Finn lost them both that day. Finn knows Roza was kidnapped--he watched it happen--but when he can't describe her captor, everyone in Bone Gap chalks it up to Finn's dreaminess. Everyone, that is, except the beekeeper's daughter, Priscilla ("Petey") Willis, and Finn allows her to get closer to him than anyone has been. When Roza's captor returns, Finn will not let him get away a second time.
Ruby probes the meaning of beauty and perception, steadfastness and fickleness in surprising ways as she builds the tension to a climax. She balances supernatural elements with timeless coming-of-age questions that come with intimacy: What do I say and when do I say it? Does he/she see beyond pure pleasure to who I am? Should I leave before he/she does? Readers will devour this in one sitting. --Jennifer M. Brown, children's editor, Shelf Awareness