- Book Summary: Doll Bones is a suspenseful story about three friends who enjoy playing pretend with their action figures and dolls. The three friends, Poppy, Alice, and Zach, find themselves going on a real adventure when a spooky doll that sits in Poppy's mother cabinet starts to freak them out. The friends call the doll the "Queen" when they include her in their make believe game. They question if the doll is really haunted until one day, the three friends meet at 2:00 am to discover ashes and bones inside the doll. Poppy tell her friends that she has been awaken at night by the doll's spirit, Eleanor. Poppy convinces Alice and Zach that Eleanor's bones must be buried so that her soul can rest. They soon find themselves on a real quest to bury the bones at Spring Grove Cemetery where Eleanor's grave should be. On their journey they face trials and weird moments such as being harrassed on the bus by a strange man named Tinshoe Jones, having to sleep in the woods, scrapping up money to eat without spending their bus fare back home, falling into the Ohio River, and learning secrets about each other that caused some tension in their friendship. Going on their quest to bury Eleanor's bones seemed hopeless until Zach found a plaque in the library that helped uncover some of the mystery of Eleanor's death.
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- Impressions: With the exception of the creepy doll who the children call the Queen, and the main characters playing make believe with their action figures, the first four chapters of the book feels more like a mystery or teen novel than a Fantasy. For example, chapter 1 ends with the character Zach starring at the Queen. "While he starred at her, trying to figure out if he was imagining things, her lashes fluttered once, as if stirred by an impossible breeze" (Black, 2013, p. 15). This part of the book, left me wondering if the doll was possessed or not, but felt more suspenseful than fantasy. The book gets more mysterious in the fifth chapter as the character discover ashes and bones inside the doll's body. I enjoyed the way the author left room for the reader to decide if the events that the characters are going through are actually happening or not. For example, there were many moments where Alice and Zach thought Poppy was playing a trick and making the story about Eleanor up. As a reader, I continuously questioned if the characters were really being haunted of only dreaming or imagining scary moments. Overall, this book kept me on the edge of my seat and guessing what would happen next.
- Professional Review: Doll Bones Holly Black, read by Nick Podehl. Listening Library, unabridged, five CDs, 5.25 hrs., $ 35 ISBN 978-0-8041-2290-0When Zach's father insists that the games he--and friends Poppy and Alice--play with dolls must end, the three friends refuse to let their imaginations die. Instead, they set out on an epic adventure involving a china doll that just might be made from the bones of a murdered girl. And along the way, they discover that there could be more to what was once a simple backyard game. Narrator Nick Podehl delivers a fun- filled reading that will delight this audiobook's young- adult target audience. Podhel delivery is simple, his pacing steady, and his performance one that skillfully captures all the action of this imaginative tale. Ages 10- 14. A Margaret K. McElderry paperback. (May)
Reference: Doll Bones (2013). Publisher's Weekly. 260 (25), p. 168-169. Database: Book Review Digest Plus (H.W. Wilson).
- Library Uses - This book could be used during the month of October as a fun story for Halloween. After reading the book, students could use this book as an example or guide to write their own scary story.
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