3.5 stars rounded up. There were a lot of interesting ideas in this book, but it didn't really gel as much as I would've liked it to. The story somehow managed to be both fast and slow at the same time.

I liked the characters though and thought the themes, some of which were heavier than I'd expected, were handled in an age-appropriate way. I think middle grade readers will find the book appealing, especially if they like ghost stories.

I read an ARC of this book from NetGalley. All comments are my own.

This is such a wonderful, eerie story! I was completely immersed in Louise Hung's haunt-tinged world and loved every moment I spent with this book. The way Hung wove historical events into the narrative and brought to light historic wrongs was brilliantly done. Highly recommend for readers of all ages.

Yo this was so good! I LOVED both Molly and Jade. I felt for Jade so much. I hoped that she would find peace. I knew that she was uncomfortable where and how she was. And sure enough, we learn things about her that definitely confirm my theory.

So the main character Molly has always been able to communicate with ghosts. She called them zaps from her early days. Of course her mom doesn’t understand, so everything is just all messed up. She can’t stay anywhere for too long and her mom feels like she’s helping her by doing this. I remember feeling so bad for her. She loved her mom and loved the life they had together, but she got tired. And I didn’t blame her. Especially after what she said happened at one of her other schools. It was a mess.

Call me weird, but I also felt bad for Jade. She really only remembered when she died. And the way she was spending her afterlife? So sad. I can’t fathom living off the crumbs people throw away. I know she wasn’t exactly living, but it still hurt to see a child having to go through that. It was very sad. But it was also scary. Because Lordt when she got mad?! She was very creepy. I was glad she had Molly to help her navigate and learn about her new life.

As for Hungry Ghosts, I’ve heard of them before, but I wasn’t exactly sure about what they were. This was very eye opening. I didn’t know or understand I guess, why they were created. In this, Jade was created because she got so angry and so sad when she died and then her mother died. I don’t want to explain anymore than that because of spoilers, but yeah. She was warranted tho. I can’t believe that people can say with a straight face that some people don’t see how there’s always one main aggressor. It’s very scary and sad. I wanted to hug Jade as she told us what happened to her.

I was a little mad at the ending tho. We had just gotten that information and then nothing. Did I understand it? Yes. Did I like it? No. I thought both girls deserved better. Especially since we just got the adults on board. I was glad they finally got it together too. Those kids really needed them and they almost weren’t there. All of this was a hot mess, but I can’t lie and say I didn’t agree with everything that happened.

This book was so good! I knew it was going to be as soon as I saw the cover and heard the premise at TLA. It definitely lived up to the hype I made up in my head. If only all books were like this!

If the cover doesn’t immediately grab all your attention, then the first couple pages will! I admit I am not much of a horror girly… the smallest things can scare me for days(even kid like horror lol)—but Louise Hung crafted this story in a way that kept pulling me in for the mystery despite my brain wanting to stop because the haunting/ghost. The lighthearted and funny moments Hung weaved throughout really balanced the ghostly parts. I especially loved the different perspectives on the “haunting”—the pizza crust and coughing scene was seriously too good! 😂

What I love about this book is that it's more than meets the eye. When they say, 'don't judge a book by its cover,' I really think they're referring to books like this—books that may seem unassuming, 'just short middle-grade stories,' but are genuinely eye-opening. While reading, I came to the realization that I am ignorant to a lot of the topics discussed throughout this story. The way Hung incorporated the Chinese Exclusion Act and the history of Chinese immigrants in Texas was pretty powerful, in my opinion. I found myself asking, "Why doesn’t Molly just look up records?" early on in the story, only to realize how many Chinese immigrants were deliberately erased—given fake names, denied identity, and treated like no one. It was eye-opening, especially as a teacher, and a huge reminder of how much history is left untold.

Hungry Bones comes out October 1, 2024, and is the perfect fall and spooky read! Thank you NetGalley and publisher for providing me with an e-arc! All opinions shared are mine and mine alone.

A spooky middle grade novel about a girl who finds herself being haunted by a ghost when she moves into a new home. Molly Teng has moved from one place to the next all her life and she's tired of it. Molly also has a secret gift, by touching the objects belonging to people who have died, she can get a glimpse of the lives they've lived. During her latest move she discover s a comb.... belonging to Jade. Jade died over 100 years ago and now she's trapped inside the same house as Molly. Jade is a ghost... and she is very hungry. Can Molly help Jade discover the secrets of her past or will Jade's hunger destroy them both? This was a fun spooky little read for spooky season. It's one I definitely think that young middle grade readers will have fun reading. The pacing was a bit slow but overall its a slow burn read.

Release Date: October 1,2024

Publication/Blog: Ash and Books (ash-and-books.tumblr.com)

*Thanks Netgalley and Scholastic | Scholastic Press for sending me an arc in exchange for an honest review*

I requested this book from NetGalley for two reasons. First, I’m familiar with Louise Hung from her work with The Order of the Good Death, as producer of Ask a Mortician, and as one of the hosts of Death in the Afternoon. I was excited to see she’d written a book. Second, the kids at work always want more scary books and I thought it would be good to see if we might want to order this one. (Spoiler: We will.)
What I loved

My favorite thing about this book is what makes it so unique and a story unique to Louise Hung: it is steeped in Chinese beliefs about ghosts, the experience of being Chinese American, and the way shared culture can help us build found family. Molly’s mom, Dot, has hauled her all over the country in an attempt to protect Molly from social consequences of her spooky abilities. But often this has meant Molly has been the only Chinese kid at school, and almost always it means she’s not in one place long enough to make friends. When they move to Buckeye Creek, Texas, Molly expects it will be the same. But it’s not the same, because this time instead of just seeing zaps of dead people’s lives, Molly meets a ghost who, like her, is Chinese American. Jade has been haunting this house for well over 100 years, and Molly is the first person who’s lived in it that looks like her. This understandably means so much to Jade. Together, they work to figure out how to help Jade learn about her past and help Molly settle into a place she doesn’t want to be her future.

Molly and her mom befriend Hazel and Rose Loh, sisters who own a Chinese barbecue restaurant. The restaurant is situated in International Village, a strip mall where most of the businesses are owned by immigrants from all over the world or their descendants. The connection with the Loh sisters expands Molly’s circle and helps her see that maybe Buckeye Creek will be different from all the places she’s lived before.

One of the key roles the Loh sisters play in Molly’s life is as mentors who share with her the history of Chinese migrants that is usually left out of America’s dominant westward expansion narrative. As many as 20,000 Chinese migrants worked to build America’s First Transcontinental Railroad, working in poor conditions for low pay and often dying due to the dangerous nature of the work. The Loh sisters tell Molly that not long after the railroad was finished, Congress passed the Chinese Exclusion Act, banning Chinese migrants from immigrating to the United States and limiting the movement of Chinese migrants and Chinese American people who were already in the U.S.All of this history comes in through the narration of individuals’ experiences, so that rather than feeling like a history lecture it’s grounded in empathy. (See the Publisher’s Weekly review of Hungry Bones for more on this.)

The Loh sisters’ restaurant is also the site of the strongest incident in the book that demonstrates how this history of racism against Chinese people echoes into today and gives Molly an opportunity to shine as she stands up for her found family.

Louise wrote a post for Teen Librarian Toolbox about her experiences being “the Asian kid” and writing her story then and now. I highly recommend it. She also wrote a piece for The Order of the Good Death about hungry ghosts, the Chinese spiritual belief at the foundation of the supernatural elements in Hungry Bones.
What I wanted more of

The pacing at the start of the book took a little while for me to settle into, and I would have been happy for it to be scarier sooner. That said, I think the atmospheric build as written works if you know that’s what you’re walking into. The book is mostly spooky and only slightly scary; Jade herself is not a scary ghost, but the hungry monster within her can be truly terrifying.
What I need to warn you about

As you may have guessed from the part where I talked about what I loved, the book does not shy away from depicting racism, including horrible treatment of Chinese American domestic workers. It also depicts illness (I think tuberculosis?) in some detail.

As I said, I’ll be ordering this for our school library. I expect it to have a long hold list once one kid gets ahold of it and starts telling others about it.

Thank you to Netgallery and Scholastic for an early release copy of Hungry Bones by Louise Hung.

Hunger Bones follows the story between two young girls one human with psychic abilities (the zaps) and one ghost who doesn’t remember what has happened to her but has a insatiable hunger, the friendship that grows between Molly and Jade is cute, you can tell that both of these girls really care for one another. When we learn what is going on with Jades situation the writing really makes you feel for these characters. There are plenty of emotional and hard hitting scenes in here, the genuine way in which the character react and interact with each other during them feel real and really add to the scene.

Some of my favorite scenes have to be the one where Jade interacts with the baby, acting out little scenes in books, the other have to be the emotional scenes in general in Hunger Bones. I could really feel for Jades situation and I’m happy with the way the story plays.

I did however have a problem with the pacing here, it’s slow as the main characters don’t even meet until one hundred pages in. I know it’s more of a build up to get you more intrigued with the mystery surrounding the ghost while also trying to let you know Molly but even after Molly meets Jade I feel the story dragged on just a little too much. I liked the short chapters and flipped perspectives but some chapters feel like they ended a little abrupt. The little flowers illustrated at the top of the chapters were a cute addition, I also really love this cover art!