Cherie Dimaline

I've become a huge fan of Cherie Dimaline recently and was thrilled at the opportunity to review her YA novel, Funeral Songs for Dying Girls. Winifred has lived with her father in an apartment above a cemetery office all her life. Her father works in the crematorium, just across the graveyard - where her mother resides. She's almost sixteen and filling her languid summer days rolling her obese dog (affectionately and hilariously dubbed Mrs. Dingleberry) around the cemetery in a wagon while awkwardly crushing on her best friend, Jack. Winifred's life is turned upside down when she learns the crematorium is on the verge of closing and her father could lose his job, rumors spread that the cemetery may be haunted, her friendship is on the verge of --- what exactly? --- with Jack, and then an actual ghost shows up. The appearance of the ghost, a young woman named Phil, causes further upheaval in Winifred's life as she navigates coming of age without a motherly influence or any remaining connection to her Metis community. As she learns the truth of Phil's life and death, Winifred is in a race to save her father's job and hold on to what she has left of her mother... but what if letting go is the best way to honor those lost to us? A bittersweet coming of age story with a paranormal spin, I loved this YA novel and highly recommend to mature middle grade readers and up. Thanks to Tundra Books and the LibraryThing Early Reviewers program for mailing me a copy to read in exchange for an honest review.… (mer)

“Lucky St. James, the orphaned daughter of a bad-ass Métis good-times girl, is barely hanging on to her nowhere life when she finds out that she and her grandmother, Stella, are about to be evicted from their apartment. Bad to worse in a heartbeat. Then one night, doing laundry in the building's dank basement, Lucky feels an irresistible something calling to her. Crawling through a hidden hole in the wall, she finds a tarnished silver spoon depicting a storybook hag over letters that spell out S-A-L-E-M.
Meena has been called to bring together seven special witches and seven special spoons—infused with magic and scattered to the four directions more than a century ago—to form a magic circle that will restore women to their rightful power. Lucky and her spoon are number six. With only one more spoon to find, a very powerful adversary has Meena's coven in his sights—Jay Christos, a roguish and deadly witch-hunter as old as witchcraft itself. As the clock ticks toward a now-or-never deadline, Meena sends Lucky and her grandmother on a dangerous, sometimes hilarious, road trip through the United States in search of the seventh spoon. Will the coven be completed, ushering in a new beginning, or will witches be forced to remain forever underground?”

Every woman in this story depicts the challenges and prejudices women face daily. Focusing on the power of women when coming together and fighting for each other. We can make a real difference if we take the lead. This book is a shoutout to feminism, and I loved - almost - every moment of it. All the women are so strong by themselves without realizing it, and together, they are a force to be reckoned with. I was rooting for them throughout the book, holding my breath at the end, hoping they would succeed. Because deep down, I know that in the world we live in today, something has completely gone wrong, and it is time for women to stand up and fight for what remains good in this world. This book gives me hope that someday, we will succeed in turning everything around and survive.… (mer)

Winifred has lived in the apartment above the cemetery office with her father, who works for the crematorium, all her life. She loves to spend her time wandering around the graveyard, but because she does this at all hours of the day and night, a rumor has started that Winterson Cemetery is haunted. It’s great news, because Winifred’s dad is on the verge of having his job outsourced. Now, Winifred needs to keep the ruse of a haunted cemetery up with the help of her con-artist cousin. But, when Phil, an actual ghost of a teenage girl starts showing up, it makes Winifred question everything.

I had a hard time caring about the characters in this one. I understood that Winifred was a loner and didn’t have many friends, but then she had a falling out with a guy who didn’t really seem to be her friend anyway, made it hard for me to care that it happened? And then the random sex talks would throw me off…

The nonlinear writing would get me mixed up as well. I wasn’t sure if it was something happening in the past or the present because scenes were never clearly ended, they would just blend into one another.

Overall, I still liked the story for the family element of it, but it wasn’t something I absolutely loved. It was a coming of age, slow burn (if that makes sense).

*Thank you Tundra Books and LibraryThing for a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review… (mer)