Teenagers are often embarrassed by their parents, whom they perceive as terminally uncool, but the 14-year-old protagonist of this novel has a legitimate gripe. Bing-wing’s father is not only a gambling addict but a bone collector: he digs up bones from old Chinese graves in Vancouver and ships them home to China. In the Chinatown of 1907, fears of ghosts are rife, and the bone collector’s work makes him a pariah. Bing is relieved when a new job as a houseboy gets him out of helping his father in the graveyard, but there’s a catch: the house he’s going to is haunted. Thus begins a double ghost story, with the ghost of old Shum haunting the bone collector and the ghost of Mr. Bentley haunting the house where Bing works. With no easy escape from either, Bing has to find out what the ghosts want so that he can persuade them to rest in peace.

Toronto-based author Paul Yee was raised in Vancouver, where he worked as a researcher and archivist. His attention to historical detail makes this an absorbing book for those interested in early Vancouver, and his care ensures that the plot is cohesive so that even with the uncanny elements, Bing’s world seems credible. Like Yee’s Ghost Train (a picture book about Chinese workers who died building the railway), this book documents the racism and other hardships endured by early Chinese immigrants. One of the last scenes recreates the 1907 anti-Asian race riot in Vancouver’s Chinatown. This is history that needs telling more often, and since it’s done here with skill and some balance, this book makes a good start.