Book Review: A Touch of Ruckus by Ash Van Otterloo

A Touch of Ruckus
by Ash Van Otterloo (j Van Otterloo)

 

A Touch of Ruckus is dedicated “to those who take the back seat to keep the peace.” Tennessee (Tennie) Lancaster is a 12 year old kid who feels like it’s her job to smooth things over for the adults in her family and manage her younger siblings. She’s hypersensitive to everyone else’s needs and neglects her own. On top of that, she has a superpower — or “superburden” as she calls it: when she touches some objects with her bare hands, she will experience other people’s memories. Even though she wears gloves, she still accidentally knows more about the worries of everyone around her than she would like.

 

Tennie is supposed to help her grandmother clean up her rural Appalachian house that’s surrounded by misty hills and forest that Tennie has always loved to visit. She meets a new friend, Fox, who has a superpower of their own and who claims there are ghosts in the woods. It quickly becomes apparent that there ARE ghosts, but whose ghosts and what are they raising a ruckus about?

 

One thing I loved about this book and Ash Van Otterloo’s previous book, Cattywampus, is the beautiful use of Appalachian language, most of which was also used by my Southern grandmother. I also appreciated seeing nonbinary and bisexual characters in a children’s novel along with the main theme of not having to the shoulder the weight of the world by yourself. Despite some cold-air-on-the-back-of-your-neck thrills and chills, this is overall a cozy read that feels like coming home.

 

(If you enjoy this, you may also wish to try Too Bright to See by Kyle Lukoff or Elatsoe by Darcie Little Badger.)

 

( publisher’s official A Touch of Ruckus web page ) | ( official Ash Van Otterloo web site )

 

Recommended by Garren H.
Bennett Martin Public Library — Public Service

 

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