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All the women in sixth-grader Shelly's Ililiw/Cree family have the ability to communicate with the dead. Grandma helps the dead move on, and Shelly loves being her apprentice. Then an unthinkable tragedy occurs. Grief-stricken, Shelly snares ghost after ghost and smuggles them home. But none of them is the one she longs to find, and by "collecting" them, she is upsetting the natural order. Alongside grief and the afterlife, Mills explores themes of identity, belonging, and the challenges of being bicultural in this poignant novel.
Reviewer: Katie Bircher
| Horn Book Magazine Issue:
November, 2019