Book Description
for Funeral Songs for Dying Girls by Cherie Dimaline
From Cooperative Children's Book Center (CCBC)
When the owner of Toronto Haunted Ghost Tours arrives at Winterson Cemetery to investigate two reports of paranormal activity, Winifred, who is Métis and lives on the grounds with her distant, grieving father, sees an opportunity. Her father is at risk of losing his job at the failing crematory; moving out would mean leaving not only their home, but also the ashes of Win’s late mother, who died during childbirth, behind. Win knows the reported “sightings” are not real—both times it had been she who was spotted among the gravestones—but recently she has been visited by the actual ghost of an Indigenous teen girl, Phil, who died in a ravine next to the cemetery. Hoping to summon Phil while a tour group visits Winterson, Win reluctantly ropes her caustic, money-grubbing cousin, Penny, into helping with her scheme. As Win and Phil get to know each other, though, and even begin to fall in love, the story of Phil’s tragic death slowly unfolds. Win begins to regret her decision to exploit Phil’s death for profit and tells Penny she’s changed her mind. But Penny is motivated by more than just money; painful family dynamics and past humiliations have bred her desire to hurt her cousin. Heavier themes—how and when to let go of a lost loved one, the pervasive violence against Indigenous girls and women—are deftly balanced by warmth, humor, and familial and romantic love in this exquisitely written novel. (Age 14 and older)
CCBC Choices 2024. © Cooperative Children's Book Center, Univ. of Wisconsin - Madison, 2024. Used with permission.