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3.58 AVERAGE
3.58 AVERAGE
Good scary read for late elementary, or middle school age kids. Creepy, but not so creepy that you will have trouble sleeping (unless you have a porcelain doll in your room). I found it interesting that the setting was somewhat local for me making some of the setting easy to picture, though the author noted that she took some liberties in the exact locations of things.
The story of three friends on the cusp of teenage life embark on a quest. The doll, the Queen of all their games, is home to the ghost of the girl whose bones are mixed into the doll's porcelain skin, and she tells these kids to find her empty grave so she can at last be buried. The kids go but find that real life quests don't always go as planned.
I have to confess that I was a little disappointed in this book. It just didn't seem to have the zing of brilliance that I'm so used to finding in Holly Black's YA work. Still it was well written and probably would be enjoyed by younger readers.
I have to confess that I was a little disappointed in this book. It just didn't seem to have the zing of brilliance that I'm so used to finding in Holly Black's YA work. Still it was well written and probably would be enjoyed by younger readers.
adventurous
lighthearted
mysterious
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
A very sweet, quick story about that funny space between childhood and teenage. Fairy tales, quests, trial and error, conflict. The three kids were pretty charming and realistic, each dealing with their own secrets and issues in their own way. My only gripe would be the speedy end. It felt a bit rushed and somehow incomplete. Not unsatisfactory, mind you. The place they reached was well-won and I approve. I just wanted a bit MORE.
adventurous
dark
emotional
funny
hopeful
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
Couch pillows askew
Batman sheet drapes his shoulders
He's ready to fight villains
When I was in middle school, I used to babysit for M, a precocious little boy with a wild and active imagination. After watching the requisite episode of Arthur or The Magic School Bus, he would launch into an elaborate fantasy game with mysteries that had to be solved, villains (mostly robbers - it was a simpler time) who had to be foiled, and magic that could be used for the powers of good. I played in my role in these pretend scenes and helped him make his vision come to life. Once he remarked that his parents didn't like him to play pretend and thought he should focus on the real world. Even at my young age, I knew they were wrong. To inhibit this drive to explore imagined worlds would deny an essential part of his development. And I confess that these games helped foster my own imaginative play; I created an intricate fantasy world called The Dynasty that I used to sort through my adolescent drama and developed an understanding of narrative that I still use in the stories I write. It may seem counter intuitive, but by pretending, M and I actually dealt with our very real feelings and fears in a safe space where there were no wrong or dangerous choices, just ways of examining our own identities and inner world. We could pretend to walk a mile in someone else's shoes - and then return home for supper. And it would still be hot.
This was the memory that replayed in my head while reading Doll Bones by Holly Black. Zach, Poppy, and Alice are best friends who share wonderful games of swashbuckling and adventure with their action figures, the pirate, William the Blade and Lady Jaye, a thief. These games center around the machinations of The Queen, a creepy china doll who lives in Poppy's cabinet. But tragedy strikes our heroes when Zach's father throws away his action figures, which includes William the Blade. Like M's parents, Zach's father believes that Zach is too old for make-believe. Zach's heart is broken by his father's thoughtless decision and it propels him to reject his role in their fantasy play to deal with his pain. As the outside world infringes on their fantasy realm, Poppy reveals that she is being haunted by The Queen, who was created from the bones of a girl who was murdered, and can only rest once she is finally buried in her grave. The lines between fantasy and reality blur as the children embark on a real quest that tests their friendship at the edge of adolescence.
At 12, Zach, Poppy, and Alice are still at an age to embrace adventure and fantasy play, but inevitable changes loom that threaten the realm of childhood. Poppy, in particular, has difficulty accepting these changes, saying, "And I hate that both of you can just walk away and take part of my story with you and not even care...I hate that everyone calls it growing up, but it seems like dying. It feels like each of you is being possessed and I’m next.” Growing up is terrifying - and certainly feels like being possessed by an otherworldly force that makes you do and feel new and sometimes less than pleasant things. It takes an epic quest for Zach, Poppy, and Alice to start the process of sorting through this transition. The children need a space where they can try on new roles, especially when the ability to play is taken from them. My heart broke for Zach when William the Blade was thrown into the garbage. The pirate enabled Zach to feel brave and heroic, to take on an identity where he could sort through his own tangled relationship with his father through William's story. Without William, Zach bottles up his feelings and denies an essential part of himself. Children have so little control of the world around them, but during play, they are the masters of their destinies. During the quest, the children are brave and resilient, using their intelligence and creativity - and excellent research skills (thanks to a fabulous pink-haired librarian), I may say, to solve problems and the mystery of the china doll.
As educators and librarians, we can make our classrooms and libraries into spaces that value imagination and provide opportunities for play and creativity. Wonderful libraries like Evanston Public Library and Skokie Public Library have huge areas set aside for imaginative play, where children can interact in fantasy worlds, create fabulous towers and tools, and engage with their peers and/or caregivers in story-building. These efforts are promoted by professional organizations like ALSC, the Association for Library Service to Children. Play was one of the main topics discussed during the ALSC membership meeting I attended at ALA. They discussed the Read! Build! Play! initiative "designed to develop early literacy skills through play." Sue McCleaf Nespeca shared her white paper outlining the importance of play, especially constructive play. It is an essential resource about developmental and educational underpinnings for play programming in libraries. While it focuses specifically on play in the lives young children, its message can be applied to the experiences of older children and adolescents. Children can use play to take on STEM challenges, to explore and discover ways to solve problems and create tools and machines of their own. During Evanston Public Library's Teen Loft Fuse program, I have seen young adults come up with novel and creative solutions to hands-on challenges. What started with Legos and blocks as toddlers has turned into robots, circuits, and ringtones as teens. And believe me, the look of joy after creating something wonderful is the same, no matter the age. Inquiry-based programs like Fuse can help children engage in problem solving that is relevant and purposeful. Steven Wolk has developed an incredible resource, Caring Hearts & Critical Minds: Literature, Inquiry, and Social Responsibility, to provide educators with tools for creating inquiring-based units of study based on literature that help shape "human beings with intellectual curiosity as well as caring hearts." Wolk cites Deborah Appleman, saying, that reading in school is “a matter of creating and re-creating fresh and unrehearsed opportunities to make discoveries about texts, about language, about the world, and about themselves.” When children investigate the world through provacative questions that demand critical thinking and collaboration, they gain a deeper understanding of who they are in the process. From examining the right to life and abortion in Neal Shusterman's Unwind to government control and personal freedom in Pete Hautman's Rash, inquiry-based literature helps readers think about what it means to be human. Books help readers develop their own sense of self by experiencing someone elses's life and examining their reactions and emotions in these worlds. Esme Raji Codell made this experience tangible when she created a time travel machine for reading in her classroom in her memoir, Educating Esme. "For the rest of the day, the children took turns in the time machine. So far, nobody has said, 'It's just a box full of books.' " In Madame Esme's classroom and school library learning is more like play, a forum for exploration of things children are passionate about, and education is an act of imagination. Like Madam Esme, we can create spaces where refrigerator boxes can become time machines, where children can be become fearless adventurers, who can reunite ghosts with their loved ones, where children can act out stories without fear of ridicule or judgement. We can show that we value their imaginations and are ready to play.
Batman sheet drapes his shoulders
He's ready to fight villains
When I was in middle school, I used to babysit for M, a precocious little boy with a wild and active imagination. After watching the requisite episode of Arthur or The Magic School Bus, he would launch into an elaborate fantasy game with mysteries that had to be solved, villains (mostly robbers - it was a simpler time) who had to be foiled, and magic that could be used for the powers of good. I played in my role in these pretend scenes and helped him make his vision come to life. Once he remarked that his parents didn't like him to play pretend and thought he should focus on the real world. Even at my young age, I knew they were wrong. To inhibit this drive to explore imagined worlds would deny an essential part of his development. And I confess that these games helped foster my own imaginative play; I created an intricate fantasy world called The Dynasty that I used to sort through my adolescent drama and developed an understanding of narrative that I still use in the stories I write. It may seem counter intuitive, but by pretending, M and I actually dealt with our very real feelings and fears in a safe space where there were no wrong or dangerous choices, just ways of examining our own identities and inner world. We could pretend to walk a mile in someone else's shoes - and then return home for supper. And it would still be hot.
This was the memory that replayed in my head while reading Doll Bones by Holly Black. Zach, Poppy, and Alice are best friends who share wonderful games of swashbuckling and adventure with their action figures, the pirate, William the Blade and Lady Jaye, a thief. These games center around the machinations of The Queen, a creepy china doll who lives in Poppy's cabinet. But tragedy strikes our heroes when Zach's father throws away his action figures, which includes William the Blade. Like M's parents, Zach's father believes that Zach is too old for make-believe. Zach's heart is broken by his father's thoughtless decision and it propels him to reject his role in their fantasy play to deal with his pain. As the outside world infringes on their fantasy realm, Poppy reveals that she is being haunted by The Queen, who was created from the bones of a girl who was murdered, and can only rest once she is finally buried in her grave. The lines between fantasy and reality blur as the children embark on a real quest that tests their friendship at the edge of adolescence.
At 12, Zach, Poppy, and Alice are still at an age to embrace adventure and fantasy play, but inevitable changes loom that threaten the realm of childhood. Poppy, in particular, has difficulty accepting these changes, saying, "And I hate that both of you can just walk away and take part of my story with you and not even care...I hate that everyone calls it growing up, but it seems like dying. It feels like each of you is being possessed and I’m next.” Growing up is terrifying - and certainly feels like being possessed by an otherworldly force that makes you do and feel new and sometimes less than pleasant things. It takes an epic quest for Zach, Poppy, and Alice to start the process of sorting through this transition. The children need a space where they can try on new roles, especially when the ability to play is taken from them. My heart broke for Zach when William the Blade was thrown into the garbage. The pirate enabled Zach to feel brave and heroic, to take on an identity where he could sort through his own tangled relationship with his father through William's story. Without William, Zach bottles up his feelings and denies an essential part of himself. Children have so little control of the world around them, but during play, they are the masters of their destinies. During the quest, the children are brave and resilient, using their intelligence and creativity - and excellent research skills (thanks to a fabulous pink-haired librarian), I may say, to solve problems and the mystery of the china doll.
As educators and librarians, we can make our classrooms and libraries into spaces that value imagination and provide opportunities for play and creativity. Wonderful libraries like Evanston Public Library and Skokie Public Library have huge areas set aside for imaginative play, where children can interact in fantasy worlds, create fabulous towers and tools, and engage with their peers and/or caregivers in story-building. These efforts are promoted by professional organizations like ALSC, the Association for Library Service to Children. Play was one of the main topics discussed during the ALSC membership meeting I attended at ALA. They discussed the Read! Build! Play! initiative "designed to develop early literacy skills through play." Sue McCleaf Nespeca shared her white paper outlining the importance of play, especially constructive play. It is an essential resource about developmental and educational underpinnings for play programming in libraries. While it focuses specifically on play in the lives young children, its message can be applied to the experiences of older children and adolescents. Children can use play to take on STEM challenges, to explore and discover ways to solve problems and create tools and machines of their own. During Evanston Public Library's Teen Loft Fuse program, I have seen young adults come up with novel and creative solutions to hands-on challenges. What started with Legos and blocks as toddlers has turned into robots, circuits, and ringtones as teens. And believe me, the look of joy after creating something wonderful is the same, no matter the age. Inquiry-based programs like Fuse can help children engage in problem solving that is relevant and purposeful. Steven Wolk has developed an incredible resource, Caring Hearts & Critical Minds: Literature, Inquiry, and Social Responsibility, to provide educators with tools for creating inquiring-based units of study based on literature that help shape "human beings with intellectual curiosity as well as caring hearts." Wolk cites Deborah Appleman, saying, that reading in school is “a matter of creating and re-creating fresh and unrehearsed opportunities to make discoveries about texts, about language, about the world, and about themselves.” When children investigate the world through provacative questions that demand critical thinking and collaboration, they gain a deeper understanding of who they are in the process. From examining the right to life and abortion in Neal Shusterman's Unwind to government control and personal freedom in Pete Hautman's Rash, inquiry-based literature helps readers think about what it means to be human. Books help readers develop their own sense of self by experiencing someone elses's life and examining their reactions and emotions in these worlds. Esme Raji Codell made this experience tangible when she created a time travel machine for reading in her classroom in her memoir, Educating Esme. "For the rest of the day, the children took turns in the time machine. So far, nobody has said, 'It's just a box full of books.' " In Madame Esme's classroom and school library learning is more like play, a forum for exploration of things children are passionate about, and education is an act of imagination. Like Madam Esme, we can create spaces where refrigerator boxes can become time machines, where children can be become fearless adventurers, who can reunite ghosts with their loved ones, where children can act out stories without fear of ridicule or judgement. We can show that we value their imaginations and are ready to play.
More magic. But this is magic invented by three 12-year-old friends who are determined to keep their childhood game going because they’re not keen on growing up. As Poppy said, “…I hate that everyone calls it growing up, but it seems like dying.”
Zach, Poppy, and Alice have been playing one long, continuous role playing game since they were little. Their story world is filled with pirates and thieves, mermaids, warriors, and a delightfully frightening china doll they call the Great Queen. The doll itself really is real, and resides in a display cabinet at Poppy’s house. But it seems that this doll has a story of its own to tell.
Now Zach’s dad thinks Zach is too old for such imagination and play, and in an effort to force him to “grow up,” he throws away all of Zach’s toys. And Zach is embarrassed to tell his friends, so he goes along with what his dad is telling him, and quits their game. Until Poppy announces she’s been having dreams about the Queen – and the ghost of a girl named Eleanor who will not rest until the doll they’ve been calling the Queen is buried in an empty grave.
Is Poppy telling the truth about her dreams and this doll? Or is she just determined to keep their game going? The others decide not to take any chances and the three set off on a journey to calm the ghost girl in Poppy’s dreams and be rid of this doll that haunts them. They pirate a real boat and almost lose the Queen at sea. Along the way, their friendship is tested, their trust in each other is tested, and maybe grow up a little along the way after all.
Zach, Poppy, and Alice have been playing one long, continuous role playing game since they were little. Their story world is filled with pirates and thieves, mermaids, warriors, and a delightfully frightening china doll they call the Great Queen. The doll itself really is real, and resides in a display cabinet at Poppy’s house. But it seems that this doll has a story of its own to tell.
Now Zach’s dad thinks Zach is too old for such imagination and play, and in an effort to force him to “grow up,” he throws away all of Zach’s toys. And Zach is embarrassed to tell his friends, so he goes along with what his dad is telling him, and quits their game. Until Poppy announces she’s been having dreams about the Queen – and the ghost of a girl named Eleanor who will not rest until the doll they’ve been calling the Queen is buried in an empty grave.
Is Poppy telling the truth about her dreams and this doll? Or is she just determined to keep their game going? The others decide not to take any chances and the three set off on a journey to calm the ghost girl in Poppy’s dreams and be rid of this doll that haunts them. They pirate a real boat and almost lose the Queen at sea. Along the way, their friendship is tested, their trust in each other is tested, and maybe grow up a little along the way after all.
Yay! Another book on my currently reading list marked off! I had to make myself sit down and read this one because my daughter wanted me to see if it was too creepy. This isn't my usual genre, but the book was really fun. I liked the story behind it and even got a little creeped out myself! I'm still torn on whether or not my daughter would think it's too creepy. Probably, but I'll leave it up to her. Enjoyable, quick read. Well written characters. I felt their frustrations and fears. Good, fun, book.