THE FUNERAL DIRECTOR’S SON

Since 1875, Campbell and Sons Funeral Home has been taking care of the dead in the tiny, depressed town of Clover. Twelve-year-old Kip, Paratore’s resourceful good-kid protagonist and the reluctant heir to the franchise, has an unusual talent: He helps the dead lighten their hearts so they can sail into the next world. But now Kip is ready to sail away himself and wants only to make enough money to attend summer camp with his three best friends. The plot tries to kick into gear when the interior voices that guide his talent offer Kip his weight in gold if he’ll continue to help the dead for one more year. His first challenge is Billy Blye, a mean one-eyed lobsterman who has always terrified him. Getting Billy aloft requires ingenuity and teamwork, as Kip doesn’t know the source of his heavy sorrow. Despite the action that follows as Kip struggles to unravel the mystery of Billy’s distress, the story fails to engage, leaving the reader flat on the ground. (Fiction. 8-12)