Ghoulish Song by William Alexander (review)

Music and performance have magical qualities in the river city of Zombay, and when Kaile accepts a gift of a bone flute from a goblin, the tune the instrument plays separates the young girl from her shadow. Kaile's family, convinced that her missing shadow indicates Kaile has lost her soul, bars her from their house and insists she is dead. In order to reclaim her life, Kaile must track down the restless soul to whom the bone originally belonged, a quest that brings her to the musicmakers who hold the city together with their tunes just before the river's flooding threatens all of Zombay. Alexander returns to the world that won him the National Book Award with Goblin Secrets (BCCB 4/12), but Kaile's story has a more whimsical, fairy-tale feel than the steampunk-infused earlier volume, focusing on Zombay's magic and legends as opposed to automatons. His storytelling remains compelling, and Kaile makes a likable heroine, at times admirably noble and at other times understandably frustrated and defiant. Her adventures are just scary enough to keep readers on edge without giving anyone nightmares, and the climactic battle scene is triumphant with a touch of melancholy as Kaile puts to rest the souls of victims of past river floods. Those readers who were intrigued by Zombay in the first installment will be pleased to find that the city seems to have secrets enough for many more books.