Book Review: The Secret Life of Shadows

Reviewed by Jaylynn Korrell

An imaginative look at what can be on the other side of grief

Bethany Gale is adjusting to some major life changes when she is faced with the opportunity to search for joy in an unsuspecting place. There, she finds a bit of what she’s been missing. 

Johnny DePalma has created a story that confronts the loss of a parent in a sensitive and uplifting way. When paired with Bao Luu’s illustrations, The Secret Life of Shadows will jump off the page and into the hearts of its readers. 

Bethany is introduced as an unhappy child, but with reasonable cause. After recently losing her mother, she and her father move in with her grandparents in a home that sits behind an impressive forest of Southern Oak trees. 

While dealing with so many changes, she begins a routine of whispering goodnight to her mother. One day, her routine is disrupted by her dog Sadie. As Sadie escapes into the forest behind their home, Bethany is forced to chase after her, and it’s there that she finds a mysterious community of lively shadow people. These strange characters reintroduce her to joy, song, and dance, while reminding her of her beloved mother. 

From there the story takes off in a sing-song direction through the woods. The shadow people are all taking a much needed break from their lives following their human counterparts, and the result is a huge party. Music fills the air as the story changes into a narration that I assume is told by Bethany’s mother, introducing her to this new world, and reminding her what it’s like to feel joy again. 

“There’s a place that I know where the Southern Oaks grow, where the lazy moss twirls in the trees…”

I enjoyed the uplifting message in The Secret Life of Shadows. DePalma’s redirection of the story from one of sorrow to the lively tale it turns out to be is captured with the help of music, rhythm, and rhyme. I can’t help but picture it taking place in somewhere musical and celebratory like a parade in Louisiana. Her mother encourages the message of changing your outlook by way of the shadow people, and it changes the way Bethany sees shadows every day. It’s a small but impactful switch that will clearly benefit her for days to come.

Writing a children’s book about grief is a difficult task, but DePalma does it gracefully. DePalma doesn’t attempt to use this exciting experience  Bethany has in the woods as the final answer to her issues. He shows that small joys won’t always replace sadness completely but that the temporary relief they give can still be a welcomed surprise. He uses her experience as a stepping stone rather than a band aid, and it makes the message stronger. 

“And with that, my sweet girl, what I leave to this world is just you and this magic you’ve found. And though we are apart, I still know in my heart that you’ll take it and spread it around.” 

With a bit of extra attention to detail, readers will see just how thoughtful the images on each page truly are. I read through this story a couple of times and found that the closer I looked, the more things jumped out at me that I didn’t notice before. I appreciated small details like the family pictures on the wall at Bethany’s grandmother’s house that capture loving moments between her and her mother. I also enjoyed the illuminating colors that are portrayed in the shadowland in the forest. As the story begins to liven up, so do the images. They pair together nicely. 

The Secret Life of Shadows does a great job of painting a realistic picture of grief and depicting how sometimes it takes a bit of imagination to get us through our darkest times.

Thank you for reading Jaylynn Korrell’s book review of The Secret Life of Shadows by Johnny DePalma! If you liked what you read, please spend some more time with us at the links below.

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