My Thoughts
Cap would rather spend time in his tiny workshop working on new inventions than reading at his mom’s book club(well, kind of) meetings or, worse, digging up graves in the dead of night. But he cannot escape fate.

And when fate hands him the touch of life (or not) where the dead seem to be coming back to life as he digs them up, he falls headlong into a grave (pun intended) mystery. His curiosity leads him to investigate, and what he finds out is totally unexpected.

The book’s twists and turns will surprise and spook you. I loved Cap, and also loved his family as well as the friends he makes along the way.

The author touches upon other issues of the time, including racism and women’s rights, and does it just right without removing the focus from the mystery and keeping it highlighted enough to make curious readers want to explore more if they want.

In Summary
Overall, this book is a perfect read for this spooky season – with the right touch of creepiness, mystery, realities of life then, resourcefulness, friendships, family, and characters you would love to know better.

And I look forward to reading more by Rebecca Bischoff (‘The French Impressionist‘ to start with since it is already there!)

Rating: 4.5/5
Reading Level: 9 – 13 years (and up too!)
Reread Level: 3/5

Disclaimer: Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for the digital review copy. These thoughts are my honest opinions of the book.

How would I describe this book? Creative and entertaining are the first two words that come to mind. I would recommend this book to middle graders looking for a chilling form of entertainment. Grab a hot drink and your favorite blanket; cuddle into your safe zone and enjoy this exceptional book.

I received a complimentary copy from NetGalley in return for my honest review.

Great intro to historical fiction for children who are interested in history but struggle to be engaged in reading.

The Grave Digger was an amazing read though it was pretty creepy if you actually imagined the scenes coming to live. Who wouldn’t be creeped out by the dead suddenly coming to life or the dead being chopped up?

This book was set in the 1875 where there were social issues like calling the people of African descent, “colored” and people of different races did not attend school together. Women, at that time, did not have rights to vote and hence, were not accepted into professional fields of study.

Besides that, body snatching was a real thing back then to supply medical schools with human specimens for dissection. And in this book, we get to see how that works.

I’ve never really read any other historical fiction books before but after reading this book, I felt like it was a great start for me into the genre. I really enjoyed understanding the real struggles that existed from back then.

With a perfect plot flow and writing style and also character development, it made this book even more enjoyable for me. There were many suspenseful moments and plot twists that were unexpected. All the characters were created really well too.

Overall, I would highly recommend this book to others too. It was very informative in presenting the social issues of those times with an exciting plot.

Disclaimer: I received a complimentary copy of this book from Amberjack Publishing through NetGalley. Opinions expressed in this review are completely my own.

The Good
-The second half of the book was really good! I breezed through it.
-I wasn’t the intended audience for this yet I still enjoyed it.
-I was surprised at how dark it is
-I figured out the mastermind before it was revealed but before I realized who it is, I had no idea at all so, I was really shocked!
-Good ending!

The Not-So-Good
-I didn’t find the first half of the book interesting. In fact, I felt like nothing much really happened that first half
-Awww… I thought it was going towards a fantasy setting
-Story needs more fleshing out. There were just a couple of side stories(?)/sub-plots(?) that weren’t resolved or I felt wasn’t necessary

Overall

If I was the intended audience for this, I definitely think it’ll creep me out. Since I’ve read creepier and more eerie novels compared to this, this book didn’t really affect me. Although I found the first half slow and dragging, the last half made up for it and I ended up enjoying this!

I was attracted by the blurb and can say that this novel didn't disappoint me.
The cast of characters is well written, the historical background is well researched, and the plot is engrossing and entertaining.
It's the first book I read by this author and won't surely be the last.
Highly recommended!
Many thanks to the publisher and Netgalley for this ARC, all opinions are mine.

A middle grade historical mystery with a creepy vibe, the Grave DIgger by Rebecca Bischoff tackles a dark historical practice and gives it an exciting and mysterious spin, while walking the fine line of also highlighting its social impact. Our protagonist, Cap, is an aspiring inventor who has reluctantly been roped into the grave robbing business by his father, in order to pay for the medicine his mother needs. When Cap's first attempts have some unexpected and strange consequences, it leads him to uncover a deadly conspiracy involving some very unexpected local characters. The subject may be dark, but it is very capably handled, however my main complaint about the book is the characters, they felt a little one dimensional, and never really developed over hte course of the book.
I read and reviewed an ARC courtesy of NetGalley and the publisher, all opinions are my own.

The Grave Digger is a somewhat dark and macabre book, but nontheless very interesting. It's part a social commentary on a range of topics from the 1800's, such as grave digging, race and gender issues and prostitution. All of this is dealt with in a nice way in this book. I also liked several of the characters in this book, Cap inlcuded.

What would you do to raise money to help your sick, pregnant mother? Would you raise the dead for her? Cap Cooper is put in a very tough predicament when his father tells him he needs his help to get money to pay the doctors. Cap loves his mother and will do just about anything to help. When Cap's father gets mixed up with the low-down, scum of the earth Lum to dig up dead bodies to sell to the local universities for medial research, he should have never involved his son, Cap... but he does. Cap hates doing this, especially when he sees how it affects the loved ones of the deceased. One night Cap is shocked when he realizes that one of the bodies he is digging up is a girl from his school. He is even more shocked when he touches her and she comes back to life. Cap remembers hearing the story of his own birth - about how he died shortly after birth but a stranger put his hands on him and brought him back to life. Did this stranger pass on powers that Cap didn't even realize he had? He is convinced that he does have these powers when the next two bodies that he brings out of the ground wake up as well. Cap is now determined to help these people, not let their dead bodies continue to be stolen. However, as Cap digs deeper into the body snatching business, it may be his own life that is jeopardy. As Cap begins to untangle the mysteries behind the people that Lum is working for, he is shocked! These people are well respected members of the community, so when they begin to spread the unimaginable tale of the grave-robbing boy who, not only steals dead bodies but is a kidnapper and a murderer himself, will Cap be able to dig his way out of this? Will his town turn on him or will he be the one who now gets buried alive? Read this fast-paced, edge-of-your-seat book to find out!!

Holy cow!!! This is a good one!! The setting of this book is back in 1875 when grave robbers were a real thing. Rebecca Bischoff does a fantastic of weaving this story so that you feel like you are back in time and right there next to Cap. With every revelation that Cap discovered, my heart froze and I gasped out loud. The scare factor was very high and the anticipation of what would happen next was out the roof. I loved everything about this story and I cannot wait to get several copies of this in my library. Once I book talk this one and show the book trailer they won't stay on the shelf!!! Don't miss this one!!!

This is a fun read perfect for the fall season.
Cap is a young boy who helps his father and his father’s business partner steal bodies from graves to sell for medical schools. Cap feels this is wrong and sets out to set things right.
Good historical read for children covering loss, race issues, and gender issues of the 1800s.

This was a cute middle grade book with a slightly spooky vibe, but I think it's a little bit simplistic for adult readers. Still, it's an interesting concept and I'm always here for stories about grave-robbers. The protagonists are fun and I like how it works in commentary on race and gender as well. Overall it's a book that has a bit of a spooky edge but is ultimately not very heavy in that area and focuses more on relationships between family and community. Would probably be a good book for children who like historical fiction but want a low scare-factor.

Pleasantly surprised a middle grade could turn out to be so dark and macabre. A story set in the late 1800s about a 12 year old, Cap Cooper, that finds himself helping his dad rob corpses by grave digging. He does not want to participate in this dirty business but he knows this is a way to help paying for his mother's medical bills.

A great dark story about something that did happen in the 1800s when many body robbers tried to sell the corpses they stole to universities for practising purposes.

This book was awesome! I feel that it would make a great Halloween story!
I think I would feel weird digging up someone's body even if it is for scientific details. Ewwww just gross! And disrespectful to boot!
But I learned some things along the way and I loved visiting my home state of Ohio even if it was 1875!
I liked how Cap told the story from his point of view. It's always interesting when a person his age tells a story.
I couldn't put this down until I finished it. I read the library copy lol! I like the feeling of holding a book in my hands.
The author has done a great job with this book including making me feel creepy at times!
This book is geared towards the middle grades but anyone's welcome to read it!
I did and loved it!
I strongly recommend this book.
My thanks to Netgalley and NO compensations were received. All opinions are my own!

What I liked about Grave Digger is that it was written from a young boy's perspective living in 1875.
Honestly, the story dragged on more than I cared for but it was a pleasure to go back in time and relive the way things used to be before modernization and the automobile.

Grave Digger got confusing halfway through because it was hard to keep up with all the characters.

The book read like a Nancy Drew mystery or Murder She wrote. Cap was determined to find answers to what was going on in his town but keeping everything a secret was a mistake. There was nobody he could talk too, unfortunately. He should have gone to the police sooner IMO.

A young boy and his father worked for a man called Lum aka Columbus Jones digging up graves but to Cap's dismay, the dead body comes back to life. For all Cap knew they needed the money and the body was someone who had a wife! It must have been awkward to try and explain how someone believed to be dead and buried came back to life after Cap touched it. Who would believe it? You had to have been there.

I was disappointed along with Cap when his power to resurrect the dead was not a possibility but simply science. Doctors quickly defeated that notion. Ho-hum.

Do you know what a grave digger is? Of course you do — someone who digs in a cemetery to bury someone. The novel is about a father and son digging up graves to take the corpse to doctors for money. In the past these people would be called grave robbers. The doctors would use the dead bodies to learn more about how the human body worked. Cap Cooper and his dad, Noah became involved in this work as Noah thought it was a way to earn some extra money to help pay for the medicine and doctor’s care for Cap’s sick mother and his wife. Cap would crawl into the coffin after it was opened but still in the dirt and tie a rope around the body. He didn’t want to do it but had to obey his father. When someone comes alive during is procedure the second time Cap thinks he was the one that has brought him back to life. Is Cap able to do that? Why are people coming back to life?

There is so much more in this novel than I have told you. It is a novel that is based on history. It is also a mystery, romance and family relationships. I enjoyed reading this intriguing, plotted novel. It was interesting to see Cap’s thoughts and reactions to bullying and grave digging. The final scene surprised me in more ways than one. I liked that too!

The Grave Digger  by Rebecca Bischoff

Amberjack Publishing, 2019

ISBN-13: 978-1948705523

Available: Pre-order, hardcover and Kindle edition



It's 1875 in Circleville, Ohio. Captain Cooper's mother is ill,  and the doctor has to be paid. Although Cap is not yet thirteen, his father has decided it's time for him to join him and his partner Lum as a "resurrectionist", a person who digs up dead bodies in order to sell them to medical schools for dissection. The plan is to dig up the bodies of those who won't be missed (mostly "colored" people), but the dead don't appear to be staying dead. Cap's classmate Jessamyn comes back to life after he touches her, and the next body wakes up while they are actually digging. The secret activities of the grave diggers are out, and they have to cover them up and find other ways to acquire the bodies. Cap is spooked, but his mother's medical bills still have to be paid, and his father insists this is the only way they can raise the money. Beyond acquiring the bodies, Cap realizes that there is a larger conspiracy at work, involving not just unsavory characters, but also some of the most respected individuals in town. While the newspaper stirs up the town, it is mainly the "colored" people who are affected, and their demands for a cemetery guard are left unanswered. We can all be grateful that this is a middle-grade novel and that, while a book about grave robbing, burying people alive, and human dissection will obviously have some disturbing moments, it doesn't get gratuitously gruesome.

Racism in Circleville's general population doesn't rear its head in overtly violent ways, but in white people's daily choices and conversations, like the Coopers' housekeeper's resentment of and unwillingness to interact with Jardine, an African-American woman who is a friend and hear of Cap's mother, comments about "those people", and the choice to zero in on body-snatching the African-Americans in the cemetery.  It intersects with sexism as well, with Jessamyn's mother feeling that the only choice she has to support her child is sex work (it's referred to indirectly), and Jardine's daughter Delphia, after telling Cap of her ambition to be a doctor, bracing herself for the expected comment "but you're a colored girl!" and laughing when he says "but you're a girl!" instead (either way, in 1875, ten years after the Civil War ended, she'd be unlikely to get into medical school, but the book treats it like it's a real possibility-- props to Bischoff for that).  It is noticeable (and relevant to the present day) that there are so few consequences for anyone who participated in the grave-robbing scheme and lived to tell about it.  That's probably realistic, and in a middle-grade novel you want things to turn out for the protagonist, but I think this ending requires a conversation. There is a myth in the Midwest that because the Underground Railroad had a strong presence that there must not have been other race-baced issues (I can't tell you about Ohio specifically, but it's definitely the case in Indiana), and this book exposes that.

There are a lot of schools that can't officially celebrate Halloween (my district doesn't allow it) but that doesn't mean there aren't ways to celebrate the season. The Grave Digger is a great historical fiction choice with a macabre touch to promote to the right elementary and middle-schoolers at this time of year.  Highly recommended.

A mere twenty percent into the book apart from the first page, it was creeping me out!!!
What would you do if a dead body suddenly starts fluttering the eyes and open them all of a sudden?

I read the whole book dreading the darkness and all the creepiness and the uncertainty of it all. It made me really anxious about this poor kid, Cap (short for Captain Cooper).

He is a boy who has a secret job of being a grave digger alongside his father and another man named Lum. His family needs the money. His mother is heavily pregnant and needs attention and care. It all started well. But things turned bizarre for Cap when he discovers something about himself in one of those nights where he was digging the grave of a particular dead orphan girl he used to know.

And similar things kept happening. And yes, it dragged a lot in between....I became bored but I still continued reading....I missed coffee this whole time...yes, the writing became like this in between. It started out so good even though I wasn't happy with the grave digging theme for a boy his age and the not-too-engaging characters. I cannot believe the mother is so conveniently unaware that both her husband and her small son were missing for hours at dead night. Some heavy sleeper or negligent mother she was.
And then, I still continued reading the book. Actually nothing much was happening in between except the anticipation that something was going to happen. A number of characters were introduced in between.

Cap knew he had a power. But he wasn't able to direct it on his own will. Things kept happening and all Cap got into was one rotten incident into the next and the next.
The villain and his role was so predictable. And rest assured, the characters end up so not convincing till the end.

The ending was hopeful. But why has it to be so predictable.

I would like to say that it wasn't an interesting read given the premise and the plot that would have made the read a really spooky and gruesome read.

Sadly, it did not work for me. The first few chapters were really good. They were fast paced and I appreciate how the characters were introduced. The parts that didn't make me like this read were: lack of chemistry between the characters and lack of special moments where it was supposed to be, and weak representation of the personalities of the characters.

Thank you #NetGalley for providing me with a copy of #TheGraveDigger

This book had a very convoluted plot that fell short for me in almost every aspect. It was difficult for me to read as an adult and I'm not sure I would even consider handing it to a young reader. I can understand the story that the author wanted to tell but I think it could have been executed quite differently. There were also a lot of out there 1800's "slang" or wording that seemed to just be thrown around to try and cement the time period. It felt like it was reaching.
Also, I don't want to make comments about this, but I feel like it has to be said. I appreciate the author's note about using the term "colored" throughout this story but that doesn't make up for the fact that through the entire book the victims were almost exclusively black. This put a really bad taste in my mouth and things like the outright racist comments made by multiple characters was off-putting to say the least. I personally do not want to hand this book to any young reader.

THE GRAVE DIGGER by Rebecca Bischoff is a middle grade historical mystery with a decidedly creepy bent. Twelve-year-old Captain Cooper is an ingenious inventor and a somewhat middling student with a surprising side hustle: at night, Cap works with his father and his father's shady pal Lum, digging up corpses and selling them to nearby medical schools for dissection. Lum's got connections, see? And he knows where to sell the bodies at top rates.

Of course, their business isn't strictly legal. And when the people of their small Ohio town discover that the graves of their loved ones have been violated, they declare open season on the grave robbers. Thing is . . . Cap and his dad really need the money. Cap's mother is heavily pregnant and her health has been failing - and all those doctor visits have threatened to put the family in the poorhouse. Cap never wanted to rob graves. Hates it, in fact. But when Lum rallies the Coopers for another job, Cap has no choice but to obey his father and help out.

That's the night they dig up Cap's classmate, Jessamyn. Cap has always had special feelings about Jessamyn, even if he's been too shy to actually speak to her before. So it's Cap who tenderly brushes the dirt from her face as the digging crew begins to exhume her body. The moment he touches her, though, the most marvelous thing happens: Jessamyn opens her eyes. A startled Cap cries out and attracts the attention of the watch, forcing the crew to scatter. Cap narrowly avoids capture before taking Jessamyn home to the nuns who look after her.

Later, Jessamyn comes to thank Cap for saving her from what might have been a terrible fate - but she also asks him for his help. When she died, she had been wearing a ruby ring. The sisters swore she was buried with it, but when she woke the ring was gone. Jessamyn claims the ring is the only thing she has left of her parents.
Cap knows he has to help Jessamyn. He might have saved her life, but only because he was there to steal her body. He can't tell her that, of course, but he can help her solve this mystery. Unfortunately for Cap and Jessamyn, the missing ring is merely the first clue to a much deeper, much darker mystery.

As Cap and Jessamyn follow clues, they begin to realize that the town's grave robbing troubles are merely a symptom of a serious crime syndicate bolstered by some of the town's most prominent members . . . and it's getting hard to tell exactly who is involved, and who they can trust. One thing's for sure: Cap knows he can't trust Lum, and that means he can't trust his father, either.

Luckily Cap meets another friend, Delphia - a young black woman bent on becoming a doctor - who he can rely on . . . as long as she doesn't know the real reason he got mixed up in this business. With Delphia's smarts and her connections to the local doctors, Cap learns quite a bit about the trail of (missing) bodies. But he still can't find the missing piece that links it all together: who is Lum selling the bodies to?

Then Delphia's own mother delivers a stillborn. That night, ol' Lum comes knocking on the Cooper's door, and Cap's father drags him to the cemetery again, where they dig up the tiny corpse. This time, Cap knows too much about the baby's fate to allow it. He takes the corpse and runs. When Delphia discovers him with the body, she draws all the wrong conclusions (sort of) and kicks Cap out into the night, where the neighborhood watch is waiting to round him up. Somehow, they've gotten wind that HE was the one responsible for the crime!

With Cap's role in the grave robbing is uncovered, the entire town is hot on his heels. And Jessamyn and Delphia . . . well. Cap doesn't think they'll ever speak to him again. Not unless he can prove his (relative) innocence and uncover the true culprit behind the capers. Can Cap solve the mystery of who's REALLY behind the body snatching and clear his name? And now that his role has been exposed, will he ever be able to face Delphia and Jessamyn - or his mama - again?

THE GRAVE DIGGER is a grim but highly enjoyable mystery that mature MG readers with a penchant for spooky things will likely love. Cap himself is relatable and, while at times morally ambiguous, ultimately wants to do the right thing. Readers will cheer for Cap as he delves deeper into the mystery of the body snatchers, at great risk, for the sake of his friends and a shot at personal redemption.

Bischoff also presents an accessible portrait of post-Civil War Ohio, although race relations are generally painted in manner that might seem a bit rosier than history has led us to believe. It’s not all sunshine, though. The town’s black residents are referred to as “colored” (in keeping with the historical period) and the “colored” body count certainly tops that of the town’s white residents. This is because the grave robbers, and those that employ them, believe these residents won’t be missed – or if they are, that their loved ones won’t have the civil capital to pursue the matter further. (They’re right.) In that way, Bischoff doesn’t shy away from racial disenfranchisement. There is also one character who is presented as overtly racist (though the book does not use that term), and Cap’s mother – a literary progressive - provides a foil for this. Cap himself doesn’t seem to have many thoughts on race, though he befriends Delphia and it is also revealed later that Jessamyn herself is half black. Rather, Cap acts as a sponge, soaking in the words and deeds of those around him and allowing the reader to draw their own conclusions on how the other characters interact.

Altogether, THE GRAVE DIGGER offers readers a winding mystery that is equal parts entertaining, thoughtful, and pretty dang creepy – a perfect way to start the spooky season!

Rebecca Bischoff's book "The Grave Digger" turned out to be a very different book than I expected, but I was not disappointed. What I thought would be something of a macabre supernatural mystery set in 1875 Ohio, turned into a straight out mystery (and a bit of a thriller at times) for middle school readers.

The story follows Captain "Cap" Cooper, a clever boy from a poor family. His mother is pregnant and in need of money for doctors. His father teams up with a shady local named Lum. With young Cap tagging along to help, they rob graves of their bodies with the intention to sell them to regional medical schools. Bishopff does a decent job of exploring the moral ambiguities of this work, exploring why it was wrong, why someone might come that sort of work, and why there was a legitimate need for cadavers in the 1870s.

The story seems at first to take a turn towards the supernatural. Since this happens somewhat late in the first act, it seems like this is the direction the novel is set. I was surprised when the story took a turn toward an elaborate mystery, involving a number of important characters who aren't what they seem. This evolves into an even more elaborate plot which adults would find far fetched, but younger readers may really enjoy.

Bischoff does a decent job of providing middle school aged readers with a sense of 1870s America. During the course of the novel, we are given tastes of post-Civil War race relations. We see the role of women who are social marginalized, but can also be central to the power dynamics of a family and community. Cap's family plight speaks to the differences of class which were becoming stark as the end of the century neared. Characters he encounters also speak to the growing entrepreneurialism and inventiveness of the era. All in all, it is a good taste of the time Ms. Bischoff is trying portray.

My only criticism is how Ms. Bischoff resolves the two main storylines of the novel. The mystery thriller part is resolved in a way which I think is far fetched. However, as stated above, I think young readers will not find it so. The other storyline regarding the possible "supernatural" skill Cap may or may not have to developed is resolved in a what I found personally groan worthy. That said, readers who have not already read a shelfful of novels or seen a few hundred movies may genuinely not find it cliche as I did.