Black, Holly. 2013. Doll Bones. New York: Simon and Schuster. ISBN 9781416963981
Pennsylvania middle schoolers Zach, Poppy, and Alice have always played together. With their combined imaginations they have created elaborate stories of mermaids, pirates, and an evil Queen. The Queen is an old doll made of bone china and lives in the cabinet at Poppy’s house. When Zach suddenly backs out of the game one day due to pressure from his father, Poppy removes the doll from the case claiming her ghost is haunting her and she needs to be buried. The trio of friends set out in the middle of the night to see if they can locate her grave...in Ohio. Alice and Zach don’t entirely believe Poppy at first, but then strange things begin happening. Suddenly their quest becomes much more important and their safety much less sure.
Doll Bones was Holly Black’s first novel containing more middle school aged characters. She did a good job keeping the suspense present with just the right amount of spookiness without going overboard for the target audience. With 12 year old main characters, this book would appeal most to those within that age range or anyone who enjoys a good ghost story. The ending contained a resolution that solved the story’s main issue while also leaving room in the reader’s imagination to dream up what may have happened once it was over.
Holly Black is on the list of required authors.
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