THE SECRET LIFE OF SHADOWS

A girl grieving her mother makes friends with shadows in DePalma’s picture book.

Young, unhappy Bethany Gale, a blond-haired girl with pale skin, moves with her father and dog, Sadie, to her grandmother’s house beside the woods. At night, she whispers to a photograph of a happier time with her mother (“…I love you…goodnight”) before going to sleep. One night, Bethany hears a scratching sound and goes downstairs, thinking it’s Sadie, who’s actually asleep; it’s Sadie’s shadow scratching at the door. Bethany follows it into the woods and discovers that all the town’s shadows escape to the woods to play, dance, and feast: “Well, I’m sure you would too / if you were stuck on like glue / to each person and creature in town.” Luu’s full-color cartoon illustrations of the deep-blue woods, illuminated by neon stars and musical notes, reveal shadows of people and animals celebrating their freedom. The effortless rhyme and vibrant colors meld in an expression of wonder and delight, depicting images that are easy to forget in the daylight, when reality’s easier to see. A great deal is implied in both the illustrations and text, particularly the sense that Bethany’s mother is deceased, and that her spirit is showing Bethany this world; rather than feeling haunting, the presence of the shadows and Bethany’s parent are deeply comforting.

An enchanting, dreamlike work.