“Something bad happened. I don’t like to think about it. Now it’s just me and my mom in the quiet house.” A young boy wants to be alone following an unspecified trauma. Shaded black and white illustrations, with red lines and accents, accentuate the somber mood. Seeking refuge in his room, the boy begins to dig, creating a tunnel from the floor of bedroom to his backyard. Standing outside in the moonlight, he looks in at his empty room, at his mom being comforted by his aunt, and wonders if he should disappear. Sitting with the feeling, he feels a shift and decides to tunnel back inside, for now. In his room, the boy’s mother wonders where he escaped. “I think she knows I need a secret place. She might have secret places of her own. I think she knows we sometimes travel far away. Alone, where we don’t have to talk.” The tunnel is an effective metaphor for affirming the importance of a space of safety and silence in this quiet, sensitive picture book. (Ages 4-8)

"After something bad happens, a child has trouble connecting with those around him. His loved ones try to reach out and talk to him, but he only feels like running away. So, from his room, he picks up a shovel and digs a tunnel deep down and out into the backyard. Outside in the dark, nobody knows where he is. He could just disappear. But, seeing his mom in the window, his newfound distance offers him enough space to see the connection he needs"--