Six Feet Below Zero
Ena Jones
Holiday House
Published April 20, 2021
Amazon | Bookshop | Goodreads
About Six Feet Below Zero
A dead body. A missing will. An evil relative. The good news is, Great Grammy has a plan. The bad news is, she’s the dead body.
Caught in a one-of-a-kind predicament, 12-year-old Rosie and her younger brother, Baker, must honor their great-grandmother’s final wishes by pretending she’s still alive until they can find her will and locate their dear Aunt Tilly. Rosie and Baker do their best to follow Great-Grammy’s plan and act as if everything is completely normal, but as their lies get bigger and bigger, so do their problems. And the biggest problem of all? Their wicked grandmother, the horrible Grim Hesper!
My Review
Holy smokes, this book was so good. Like, it’s every bit as good as that first paragraph of the summary promises. I loved the zaniness of it. It’s all my favorite things about those comedies where everything goes wrong, and it’s hilarious, but you can’t stop rooting for the good guys to get to the other side in the end, even if you can’t see how that could be possible sometimes.
SIX FEET BELOW ZERO is absolutely a book to make you laugh and cry. Possibly at the same time. The grief that Rosie and her brother experience over Great Grammy’s death and the weight of keeping it a secret felt real and heartbreaking. But so many ridiculous things happen! It’s fantastic. Honestly. It’s part Arsenic and Old Lace and part From the Mixed-Up Files of Mrs. Basil E. Frankweiler.
Also, there are recipes in the back of the book. They’re things referenced in the book, which was a totally charming touch. I absolutely have to try the cookies!
If you liked DOUBLE THE DANGER AND ZERO ZUCCHINI by Betsy Uhrig or THREE TIMES LUCKY by Sheila Turnage, definitely check out SIX FEET BELOW ZERO.
Content Notes
Recommended for Ages 8 to 12.
Representation
I think the major characters are white. Rosie’s friend and neighbor is Black.
Profanity/Crude Language Content
None.
Romance/Sexual Content
None.
Spiritual Content
None.
Violent Content
Rosie and her brother hide their great grandmother’s body in a freezer in the basement.
Drug Content
None.
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