Published: 2023
Author: Cherie Dimaline
Genres: Young Adult Fiction, Fantasy, Indigenous Literature, Romance, LGBT, Queer, Ghosts, Contemporary
Audience (Grade Levels): High School / Grades 11-12
Number of Stars: ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ (5/5 Stars)
Goodreads Link: Funeral Songs for Dying Girls
Triggers: Death of family members, drug abuse, death of a pet
Review By: Gina Iorio
Publisher’s Summary:
After inadvertently starting rumors of a haunted cemetery, a teen befriends a ghost in this brand-new young adult novel exploring Indigenous identity from the critically acclaimed and bestselling author of The Marrow Thieves series.
Winifred has lived in the apartment above the cemetery office with her father, who works in the crematorium all her life, close to her mother’s grave. With her sixteenth birthday only days away, Winifred has settled into a lazy summer schedule, lugging her obese Chihuahua around the grounds in a squeaky red wagon to visit the neglected gravesides and nursing a serious crush on her best friend, Jack.
Her habit of wandering the graveyard at all hours has started a rumor that Winterson Cemetery might be haunted. It’s welcome news since the crematorium is on the verge of closure and her father’s job being outsourced. Now that the ghost tours have started, Winifred just might be able to save her father’s job and the only home she’s ever known, not to mention being able to stay close to where her mother is buried. All she has to do is get help from her con-artist cousin to keep up the ruse and somehow manage to stop her father from believing his wife has returned from the grave. But when Phil, an actual ghost of a teen girl who lived and died in the ravine next to the cemetery, starts showing up, Winifred begins to question everything she believes about life, love and death. Especially love.
Review:
I have a lot of feelings about this book, but what I want to say is this book was overwhelming. For one, it should have been my cup of tea because it was about a girl that lives in an apartment in a cemetery and she makes friends with a ghost. Sounds amazing and dark. Winifred is an interesting character and I think students can connect to her struggles. Her mother has died. Students at school ostracize her because she lives in a cemetery and they compare her to Wednesday Addams. Her fear of change and letting go of the past is one I think many readers can identify with. Phil, the ghost of the cemetery, becomes friends with Winifred and shares her tragic story.
And while I enjoyed most of the novel, I felt the prose was too lyrical and slowed down the book. It’s hard to say that, and I feel bad, but I had to push myself to make it through the first fifty pages. The book is a heavy read and it may not be a good choice for a lot of students. Winifred’s mother died when she was born. Her dad is not around, Winifred has no one to turn to, she’s in danger of losing her home, and there is another heart-wrenching event, but I won’t give away the details. I felt this book was well written, but there was a lot happening and I don’t know if this book will sit on my shelf or if students will read it.
Classroom & Curricular Connections:
- English Language Arts / Stylistic Analysis: An excellent text for high school literature courses to analyze stylistic prose choices, evaluating how highly lyrical, descriptive language affects a story’s pacing, narrative tension, and atmospheric depth.
- Indigenous Studies: Offers a modern gateway for examining contemporary Indigenous identity, heritage, and connection to ancestry without relying on purely historical frameworks.
- Social Emotional Learning (SEL): Highly relevant for guidance-adjacent discussions focusing on prolonged grief, fear of displacement, isolation due to peer ostracization, and the process of learning to accept structural changes in life.
Extension Activity / Library Application:
- “Lyrical vs. Fast-Paced” Prose Adaptation Workshop: Addressing the reviewer’s note that the dense, lyrical prose slows down the opening chapters, challenge students to take a highly descriptive excerpt from the first 50 pages of the novel and rewrite it into a fast-paced, plot-driven scene. Have the class debate what is gained and lost in atmosphere versus readability with each style.
- Cemetery Folklore & Setting Study: Given Winifred’s unique living situation and the accidental launch of her “ghost tours,” have students research real-world historical cemeteries that host educational historical walks. Students can design a mock brochure for a local historical landmarks tour, focusing on how setting shapes regional storytelling.
Diversity & Representation Note:
Written by acclaimed Metis author Cherie Dimaline, this book provides vital, authentic Indigenous representation within contemporary young adult fiction. It weaves a complex, queer coming-of-age romance that explores intersectional identity, systemic labor outsourcing, and grief, proving that stories featuring Indigenous youth can organically thrive inside modern urban fantasy, gothic romance, and ghost story frameworks.
Readalikes:
- The Marrow Thieves by Cherie Dimaline
- Elatsoe by Darcie Little Badger
- The Coldest Girl in Coldtown by Holly Black
