by Holly Black
Amazon Description:
Zach, Poppy, and Alice have been friends for ever. They love playing with their action figure toys, imagining a magical world of adventure and heroism. But disaster strikes when, without warning, Zach's father throws out all his toys, declaring he's too old for them. Zach is furious, confused and embarrassed, deciding that the only way to cope is to stop playing...and stop being friends with Poppy and Alice. But one night the girls pay Zach a visit, and tell him about a series of mysterious occurrences. Poppy swears that she is now being haunted by a china doll - who claims that it is made from the ground-up bones of a murdered girl. They must return the doll to where the girl lived, and bury it. Otherwise the three children will be cursed for eternity...
My Thoughts:
I found the characters in Doll Bones to be extremely well-developed and the dark and mysterious plot of Holly Black's novel engaging and entertaining. Ms. Black is a veteran author having written the middle grade series: The Spiderwick Chronicles, as well as various young adult titles too. In Doll Bones, the author has penned a weird and spooky tale that, in a strange way, is also a coming of age story. This well-written upper middle grade novel has received nearly unanimous rave reviews. I would highly recommend Doll Bones to readers from the ages of ten to twelve.
(Addition! Doll Bones just won a Newbery Honor this morning! Congratulations to Ms. Black!)
To learn more about the award-winning author Holly Black, click here: http://www.blackholly.com/biography.html
