Module 5: Doll Bones

Book Summary:  This fantasy fiction novel is about three middle school friends who play fantasy games with toy dolls and figures everyday.  They make up these elaborate storylines and become the characters as they are playing.  Well one day Zach's father decides that he needs to grow up and throws the bag away that he carries all of his toy figures in.  When Zach goes to look for his bag to go and play with his friends, he finds out what his father did and is furious.  He doesn't want to tell Poppy and Alice that he can no longer play because it will ruin their lives AND the game.  Well Poppy has a porcelain doll who has become the Queen of their fantasy story and they decide because they can no longer play the game that they need to go bury her in her grave that is in East Liverpool. So they go on an adventure to try to get to East Liverpool and back home before their parents realize they are gone.  Things do not go as plan and they end up caught by a librarian in East Liverpool, who calls their parents to come get them.  While at this library Zach finds out the real story behind Queen and realizes that she was made from bones of a dead child.  They find the grave and bury the doll. They return home with a sense of pride knowing that they have finished their quest.

Reference: Black, H. (2013). Doll bones. New York, NY: Margaret K. McElderry Books.

Impression: When I saw the cover of this book I knew that I would be a fan.  I LOVE scary movies and fantasy fiction is one genre that I do not mind reading every now and again.  The sentences flow from one line to the next and the dialogue between the characters is on-going.  You practically run over the words to see what the other person will say as your reading. The spacing on the page is easy to read and the chapters are good lengths for the age level.  

The illustrations are in black and white and the way the expressions on the faces and over-exaggeration of the legs and arms, plays into the eeriness of the story.  The pictures are cartoon-like and pencil is used to give the drab appearance of the children's faces and actions.  The cover of the book gives you insight as to what to expect in the book. With the children in the foreground in a boat, to the doll sitting there so life-less.  The whole time I was reading, I would picture her face as seen on the cover and could understand the feelings the characters had about her.

Overall, I would have to say that I can see why Black was recognize for a Newbery Honor because she has you entranced from the first chapter to the last.  I would recommend this book to ages 9-12 and grades 4-8.

Professional reviews:
From Booklist

*Starred Review* A trio of adolescents goes on a quest to satisfy the demands of a ghost. Sounds like standard middle-grade fare, but in Black’s absolutely assured hands, it is anything but. Zach, Poppy, and Alice have been playing the same make-believe game for years, one involving pirates and mermaids and, of course, the Great Queen—a creepy, bone-china doll at Poppy’s house. Then Poppy reveals that she’s been haunted by a girl whose ground-up bones lie inside the Great Queen, so the doll must be properly buried. Begrudgingly, the three agree to play one last game and hope against hope for “a real adventure, the kind that changed you.” With heart-wrenching swiftness, Black paints a picture of friends at the precipice of adulthood; they can sense the tentative peace of youth that is about to be demolished. The tightly focused, realistic tale—bladed with a hint of fairy-tale darkness—feels cut from the very soul of youth: there is no sentimentality, no cuteness, only the painful, contradictory longing to move forward in one’s life without leaving anything behind. Stories about the importance of stories (“Maybe no stories were lies,” thinks Zach) don’t come much more forthright and affecting than this one. Wheeler’s sketches ameliorate some of the tension and dread—not a bad thing. HIGH-DEMAND BACKSTORY: Black’s best-selling Spiderwick Chronicles pave the way for this powerful stand-alone, which comes with an author tour, in-theater promos, and more. Grades 5-8. --Daniel Kraus

From Kirkus Review
A middle-grade fantasy dons the cloak of a creepy ghost tale to deliver bittersweet meditations on the nature of friendship, the price of growing up and the power of storytelling.
The lifelong friendship of Zach, Poppy and Alice revolves around their joint creation, an epic role-playing saga of pirates and perils, queens and quests. But now they are 12, and their interests are changing along with their bodies; when Zach’s father trashes his action figures and commands him to “grow up,” Zach abruptly quits the game. Poppy begs him to join her and Alice on one last adventure: a road trip to bring peace to the ghost possessing her antique porcelain doll. As they travel by bus and boat (with a fateful stop at the public library), the ghost seems to take charge of their journey—and the distinctions between fantasy and reality, between play and obligation, begin to dissolve....Veteran Black packs both heft and depth into a deceptively simple (and convincingly uncanny) narrative. From Zach’s bitter relationship with his father to Anna’s chafing at her overprotective grandmother to Poppy’s resignation with her ramshackle relations, Black skillfully sketches their varied backgrounds and unique contributions to their relationship. A few rich metaphors—rivers, pottery, breath—are woven throughout the story, as every encounter redraws the blurry lines between childishness and maturity, truth and lies, secrecy and honesty, magic and madness.
Spooky, melancholy, elegiac and ultimately hopeful; a small gem. (Fantasy. 10-14)

References:
Kirkus Review. (2013). [Review of the book Doll bones, by H. Black]. Retrieved from https://www.kirkusreviews.com/book-reviews/holly-black/doll-bones/

Schied, M. (2013). [Review of the book Doll bones, by H. Black]. Booklist. Retrieved from http://www.booklistonline.com/Doll-Bones-Holly-Black/pid=5889123

Library uses:
This would be an excellent book to use during fantasy and science fiction week or month in a school or public library.  The cover alone would look great as a display and to use as a book trailer for that week as well.  Find an old doll and post next to the book, would get all children grabbing for the book to read.