The motivation for Jaime's action is child abuse. A victim herself, she is driven to protect others from what she endured. Part of her anger stems from the death of her lover Annie, who wasted away; Jaime seems to feel abandoned by her lover and by extension, by love itself. Believing she has nothing else to live for, she almost destroys herself in her dark pursuit of evil.

The kinds of abuse endured by children in "Bird Bones and Wood Ash" are mostly hinted at: sometimes the abuse is beatings, sometimes sexual, sometimes a mix. The very inclusion of the topic of child abuse in a story is likely to be controversial; it is a very sensitive social issue. Even so, it is an issue of importance to young adults—not only the ones who have been abused but to all young adults who may...