Tunnel of Bones

Content Warning: This section of the guide includes discussion of death and child death.

Cassidy is the 12-year-old protagonist of the novel. With her unique set of skills and altruistic motives, she embodies the hero archetype whose quest is to rid the land of danger. Cassidy also fits the explorer archetype. She desires adventure and seeks new knowledge and experiences. The explorer’s desire for more freedom manifests in Cassidy’s necessary lies to her parents, who don’t know about her paranormal abilities and her role in helping restless spirits move on.

Cassidy has brown hair and eyes and a round face, and she always carries her old-fashioned camera around her neck. She’s still figuring out her place in the world, especially with the added complexity of seeing what can come after death. Her ability to enter the Veil and interact with ghosts is the result of an important part of her backstory, a near-death experience that has had some traumatic effects. It has also given her a perspective on life and death that few of her peers possess and a gift—sending ghosts on—that gives her a sense of purpose.