Doll Bones

Black, H. (2013). Doll bones. New York: Margaret K. McElderry Books.

Poppy, Alice, and Zachary are friends that like to play imagination games.  It is their way to escape from reality.  One day, Zach’s father returns home after 3 years and throws all his action figure away, only leaving the ones that Alice and Poppy have.  He becomes unhappy and doesn’t want to play anymore.  Poppy decides that Zack needs a real quest to take him out of his misery. They run away from home on a real quest with the porcelain doll that Poppy’s mom has that his made from bones and ashes.  The doll is a ghost and want to be returned to her grave. They go on an adventure that tests their friendship dealing with many twists and turn.  Zach finally tells them why he stopped wanting playing with them and runs off.   Alice realized that the tombstone that Zach has been crying on is the doll's family grave and they bury the doll there.  They all  promise to keep the Story alive and going. I found this to be a good adventure book.  I like how they go out on an adventure and learn about themselves as well.   The appropriate age-group would be middle school students from the ages of 10-15.   I think a good paired reading for this book would be The Friendship Doll by Kirby Larson.  Students could then compare blog about the dolls and their reactions to the story.  The genre of this book is fantasy fiction because it deals with dolls, ghosts, and monsters.  The style the author chose to write this story is a third person point of view and shifts to narratives at times.  The theme of this book is friendship.  They begin with a strong friendship and during the adventure their friendship gets tested.  In the end, they realize that there are no obstacles that their friendship cannot conquer.