Doll Bones

I'm going to start this blog post with a confession.  I couldn't read this book for more than six months.  It was sent to me by the publisher way back last June, and I was so excited to read it.  I do love Holly Black, and there had already been enough pre-publication buzz that I knew I wouldn't want to miss it.  But when I received it, the cover...well, it really freaked me out.  And I am a wimp about scary stuff.  So every time I would pick it up to read it, I would be afraid that I'd be up all night with nightmares, or...yeah, the cover really did it to me.

But that buzz I mentioned didn't go away, and it was quite often associated with the word "Newbery".  I knew I needed to get past my fear and dive in, because I would be sorry if I hadn't read it by the end of January.  Lo and behold, I finished it at the beginning of January and could grin when it won a well-deserved Newbery Honor.

The story begins with three friends - Zach, Alice and Poppy.  They've been friends for a long, long time, and one of the things they like to do best is play the game.  It's an ongoing, perpetually changing story that they tell and act out with a ragtag bunch of characters.  There are pirates, thieves, women raised by bands of carnivorous horses, and the Great Queen.  Most of the characters are action figures, bought at yard sales or thrift stores - the thief, Lady Jaye, is a repurposed GI Joe figure.  But the Great Queen is different.  The Great Queen lives in a glass-fronted display cabinet at Poppy's house.  She is a china doll who sits perched on the shelf. "Zach couldn't remember when exactly they'd decided that she was the Great Queen, only that they'd all felt like she was watching them, even though her eyes were closed..." (p. 8).  So they incorporated that creepy observation into their game.  The Great Queen had the ultimate power over the game - if a character displeases her, then they are cursed until they regain her favor.

This game has gone on and on, morphing in different directions over time.  But as the three friends turn twelve, things are changing.  Alice, who lives with her grandmother, is being noticed by boys.  Her grandmother is getting more controlling about what Alice wears and does.  Zach's father, who is back living with Zach's mom after having moved out three years ago, is focusing on Zach's basketball skill.  He doesn't approve of anything else.  "' You're growing up,' he said, which seemed to be one of those weird things adults would say sometimes, stuff that was really obvious and to which there was no reply." (p. 23).  And Poppy feels lost and left out more often - she has been growing up in a family with very little parental supervision, and she just doesn't seem to know where to go next.

Then Poppy and Alice come to Zach's house in the middle of the night and tell him an incredibly creepy story about the Great Queen.  Poppy has taken her out of the cabinet - "The Queen's dull black eyes were open, her gaze boring into his own.  He'd always thought she was creepy-looking, but in the reflected beam of the flashlight, she seemed demonic." (p. 62).  Then Poppy explains that she had a dream where she had seen a dead girl, who sat at the edge of Poppy's bed.  The dead girl told Poppy that she couldn't rest until her body was buried and that Poppy had to help her.  Even worse, it turns out that the dead girl is really the doll.  Her ashes have been made into the china doll.

There is a mystery surrounding this doll, of course, but there is also a quest.  The doll (and the girl) need to be buried in Liverpool, Ohio, which isn't far from where the three friends are.  So they set off to get her to Liverpool.  It's partly fear, sure.  The Queen (whose real name is Eleanor) told Poppy if she didn't help Eleanor, she'd get her.  It sounds ominous and no one wants to find out exactly what she means.  But even though they don't name it, they all know that this may be their last chance to play the game.

There is so much to talk about in this book.  One of Black's gifts is wiring a middle grade book that is scary, but not too scary.  There are definitely some creepy things going on.  At one point, Zach wakes up after they've spent the night outside, at a makeshift campsite.  "Turning, he saw the Queen resting in the dirt right behind his head, far from where she'd been the night before. ...Zach sprang up and scuttled away from her, his heart racing." (p. 113).  The campsite is trashed, with food scattered and a ripped sleeping bag.  There is never a real explanation for what happened - was it bears or other animals?  Was it the doll? The lack of a concrete explanation only ratchets up the suspense.  It doesn't help that just before he wakes to the mess, Zach has been dreaming about Eleanor as a little girl.  The fact that a china doll is seemingly controlling their trip through their dreams is also a little unnerving.  It's the sort of delicious discomfort and readers might enjoy without getting too scared.

One of the most interesting things about this book from my point of view is Black's choice of Zach as the narrator.  It's definitely not what a reader would expect, especially from the title and cover illustration.  They do indicate that the book will be scary (there are bones in the title and the doll on the cover looks very unsettling).  And yet the book is told from a boy's point of view.  As I continued to read and dwell on Zach as narrator, I realized he is actually a perfect narrator.  To the outside world, he is beginning to look like a jock.  He has grown very tall, and is playing basketball.  Poppy condemns him by saying "'You're going to be one of those guys who hangs out with their teammates and dates cheerleaders and doesn't remember what it was like to make up stuff.'" (p. 199)  But while Zach may appear that way to the outside world, we know that isn't the way he really is.  We know "That was why Zach loved playing: those moments where it seemed like he was accessing some other world, one that felt as real as anything.  It was something he never wanted to give up." (p. 3) So Zach isn't what he seems.  It makes him a really interesting character to me.

Another thing that struck me about the journey the three friends go on is how ingenious and creative they have to be to get anywhere.  They all pack quickly, and pack what they can get without alerting anyone to what they are doing.  It's the middle of the night, and they are trying to make the scheduled bus to Liverpool.  "When he finally went to the cabinets, he felt as though he was provisioning himself for one of those epic fantasy quests... " (p. 71).  And no matter how carefully they've planned (which isn't really very carefully at all), they are soon alone, out of money and supplies, and very far from home.  But the three friends believe in the quest, and each other.  They each have different reasons for agreeing to take this journey, but they are all determined to succeed.

This book was creepy, of course.  But it's also a great book about friendship, growing up, imagination, and creativity.  I would also note that there is a really awesome librarian in this book too!  Now I'll shelve this book with the cover facing the wall so I don't have to look at that doll.  But every once in a while, I'll want to check to see if it's moved.

Doll Bones.  Holly Black; with illustrations by Eliza Wheeler.  Margaret K. McElderry Books, 2013.

sent for review by the publisher

Hold Me Closer, Necromancer

I was going to start this post in the same way I start many posts.  I tend to tell you what I don’t like about a genre and then tell you about an exception.  And just maybe I’ve been wrong about what I really like.  Maybe what I like isn’t a particular genre, I really just like a well-written book and a good plot.

Hold Me Closer, Necromancer was on last year’s William C. Morris Debut YA Award shortlist.  I finally got around to reading it recently.  I am tired of supernatural books being all the rage, and this advertises its supernaturality right in the title.  It seems like every other book coming out this year is supernatural fiction.  On my nightstand right now I have a historical fiction title concerning magic, a book about werewolves and an adult title about vampires…and I’m not actively seeking out supernatural fiction!  So it has to be pretty special for me to really feel like it’s worth bringing to your attention.

Sam begins this book working in a fast food restaurant.  He has friends, but he’s always felt different than everyone else.  Sam (whose real name is Samhain) has dropped out of college and has given up trying to find his “thing” in life.  But then an ill-fated game of potato hockey in the parking lot brings a very creepy man into the restaurant.  The man starts accusing Sam of being and doing things Sam doesn’t understand.  Is it coincidence that the pouch of herbs Sam’s mother gave him, that he always wears around his neck, has broken that night?

One of my teen librarian friends says that Sam is one of the hottest teen male characters this year, and maybe that will get some of you to pick up the book.  It’s set in Seattle (where the author is from) and maybe that will get some of you to read it too.  Here’s what I think makes this book unputdownable…everything.  Sam is a great character.  Although he is a slacker, and can’t seem to find his groove in life, Sam is witty and clever.  He has a group of friends who are willing to just let him be himself – they are just along for the ride.  He has already dropped out of college, making him older than the normal teen hero, but he does have the typical teen problems.  He is trying to find himself, and nothing has ever seemed right.  Sam is human and relatable, even though he can commune with the dead.  A creepy situation, but not a creepy guy.

I dare you not to hum along to Elton John’s “Tiny Dancer” while you read this.  That’s not the only song title or lyric that McBride uses in a clever way in this novel.  All of the chapter titles are from songs as well.  They fit each chapter’s contents perfectly – they are witty and smart.  I can’t imagine how long it must have taken to come up with the perfect matches.

One of the other things that makes this novel stand out is its fresh take on the supernatural.  As the book goes on, many of the themes emerge that are in other supernatural books – uncovering the main character’s latent power, the battle between good and evil.  But McBride’s talent is in making Sam’s journey seem fresh and unlike what we have read before.  Sure, there is a Council, made up of representatives from several families – werewolves, the fey, necromancers, witches.  But it’s the characters within these families that make this novel interesting.  All of these characters are slightly quirky, but are strong, too.  They are willing to fight for what they love.  Sam’s friends fight to save him from a powerful necromancer because he is important to them – which says something about all of them.

And really, there is (among other hilarious/gross touches) a severed talking head and a zombie panda in this book.  It’s got the gore and death and action you would expect from a supernatural book.  It is a real winner, so pick it up today, especially if you love the supernatural.  I have to return it, though, to get “Tiny Dancer” out of my head.

Hold Me Closer, Necromancer.  Lish McBride.  Henry Holt, 2010.

Borrowed from the Lewis & Clark library

Guardian of the Dead

It's late and I'm trying to squeeze in a blog post before it gets too much later, but I wanted to write about this book before I have to return it.  I once again have a bunch of overdue books or books coming due in the next week, so I've got to get reading!

Guardian of the Dead was on the William C. Morris YA Debut Award shortlist this year, so it went on my reading list.  I had read a review of the book a few months ago, when I was still ordering books for the library, and it seemed intriguing.  It begins in a boarding school, and I am a total sucker for boarding school books.  The book also takes place on New Zealand, and the information about Maori culture and society brings a new life to supernatural fiction.

Ellie is at boarding school because her parents are on a year-long trip.  She is asked by a friend to help out in a nearby production of "A Midsummer's Night Dream" because she has tae kwon do experience and can help with the fight scenes.  It is through this play that she begins to become aware that some things around her are not adding up.  There's a mysterious boy who keeps confusing her, a woman without pupils, and a serial killer who is stealing people's eyes.

Her connection with the mysterious boy, Mark, becomes deeper as more of her own latent power is awakened.  This connects her as well to the world Mark represents - the world on the other side.  The biggest threat to this world comes from the patupaiarehe - beings who live in the mists around the island and are yearning to become immortal.  But if they gain immortality, it will threaten to bring destruction to all of New Zealand.

I felt like this book was unique in several ways.  First of all, the introduction to Maori culture and mythology is something that American readers don't have exposure to.  But Healey does a terrific job of giving the context to the unfamiliar language and cultural norms.  There is also a brief glossary of Maori terms that are used throughout New Zealand so that readers can refer to it - even non-Maori speakers use these terms regularly.   This book is strongly rooted in Maori mythology, but Healey draws parallels between Maori, Greek and Roman mythologies.  Ellie is a Classics student, so she explains the parallels to readers in a natural way.

Above all, this book is a suspenseful adventure.  It is complex, with many layers of story and characters.  And most importantly for me, it is intelligent.  I am not a big fan of supernatural fiction, so the addition of smart characters who are not afraid to be smart makes the supernatural more palatable.  Ellie is not the sort of female main character who will dither and wring her hands.  She's scared and unsure at times, but she is also exploring her power and trying to find her way through what is rapidly becoming a nightmare.

This is a really strong, smart book - I recommend it to you!

Guardian of the Dead.  Karen Healey.  Little, Brown and Co., 2010.
borrowed from Lewis & Clark library