“Eventually, though, they found out that there was a good reason for Finn’s odd expressions, his strange distraction, that annoying way he had of creeping up on a person. A good reason he never looked anyone in the eye. But by then it was too late, and the girl they loved most—and knew least of all—was gone.”

These closing lines of the prologue foreshadow the events the novel’s central events. They build tension by raising the question of why Finn behaves differently than the people in his town. They also raise the question that looms over the novel: Was Finn involved in Roza’s disappearance? In addition to building suspense, Ruby creates a mystery, drawing readers to focus on the “reason” Finn is different and what that may mean.

“Corn can add inches in a single day; if you listened, you could hear it grow. Finn caught the familiar whisper—here, here, here—and wished it would shut up.”

Finn’s ability to hear the corn raises a question about his sanity, while also hinting that the corn has magical properties. Ruby is only just orienting readers to the world of Bone Gap and its many characters. Therefore, this description raises both the prospect that Finn isn’t all there and that the town is actually magical. As Ruby describes Roza’s disappearance more, she turns the spotlight on Finn and his eccentricity. She aims to make readers concerned about Finn’s “spaciness” the way the people of Bone Gap are. Later we learn that Finn has a disability called face blindness, and that people can lose themselves in the town’s gaps if they believe they can. However, without knowing this, Ruby creates tension: The