About the Book
Doll Bones by Holly Black
Published on May 7, 2013 by Margaret K. McElderry Books
GoodReads 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
Lately, it seems that I have been reading books with the intention of bulking up my classroom library instead of bringing attention to books that have been more recently published. Doll Bones is another book that I read in the interest of student enjoyment. Luckily, this book did not disappoint me.
Zach was most definitely my favorite character. I loved that he was not only conflicted, but conflicted about things that many of my students deal with. This also made me chuckle a bit because the things that he considers the most important to him are definitely not the supernatural events happening around him. It's so typical for a middle school kid to have his head cemented in his own world while the real world goes on around him.
Although I liked the realism of Zach's character, I didn't feel like the romance between him and another character made sense. It just didn't seem necessary or planned out. The novel did not need this after thought of an idea to progress.
The supernatural aspect of this novel was very well-written. Another reviewer (sorry, I don't remember where I read this and I can't seem to find the quote) mentioned that they liked that the focus was on the kids and not on the supernatural things happening to them. I can't agree with this more. Black does a phenomenal job creating a world that happened to have magic in it. Her focus is in the exact right place in this book.
Overall, I really enjoyed this book. It definitely seems like something my middle school students will enjoy and has entered my classroom library.
Zach was most definitely my favorite character. I loved that he was not only conflicted, but conflicted about things that many of my students deal with. This also made me chuckle a bit because the things that he considers the most important to him are definitely not the supernatural events happening around him. It's so typical for a middle school kid to have his head cemented in his own world while the real world goes on around him.
Although I liked the realism of Zach's character, I didn't feel like the romance between him and another character made sense. It just didn't seem necessary or planned out. The novel did not need this after thought of an idea to progress.
The supernatural aspect of this novel was very well-written. Another reviewer (sorry, I don't remember where I read this and I can't seem to find the quote) mentioned that they liked that the focus was on the kids and not on the supernatural things happening to them. I can't agree with this more. Black does a phenomenal job creating a world that happened to have magic in it. Her focus is in the exact right place in this book.
Overall, I really enjoyed this book. It definitely seems like something my middle school students will enjoy and has entered my classroom library.
My Rating
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