Promotional Information

An award-winning tale about ghosts, growing up and the power of stories, written by the bestselling author of The Spiderwick Chronicles, Holly Black. Now available in paperback.

Promotional Information

An award-winning tale about ghosts, growing up and the power of stories, written by the bestselling author of The Spiderwick Chronicles, Holly Black. Now available in paperback.

About the Author

Holly Black is the co-author of the New York Times bestselling series The Spiderwick Chronicles and has written many other contemporary fantasy novels for teens and children. The Spiderwick Chronicles were adapted into a film by Paramount Pictures, which was released in February 2008. To date, the Spiderwick books have been translated into 32 languages.

Her first book, Tithe- A Modern Faerie Tale, was published in 2002 and was named a Best Book for Young Adults by the American Library Association. She followed this up with Valiant, which was a finalist for the Mythopoeic Award for Young Readers and the recipient of the Andre Norton Award for Excellence in Young Adult Literature, along with Ironside, the sequel to Tithe.

Holly lives in Massachusetts with her husband, Theo, in a house with a secret library. For more information about her, please visit www.blackholly.com.

Reviews

Nobody does spooky like Holly Black. Doll Bones is a book that will make you sleep with the lights on.
*Jeff Kinney, author of the Diary of a Wimpy Kid series*

Spooky, melancholy, elegiac and ultimately hopeful; a small gem.
*Kirkus Review (Starred review)*

A little bit scary and full of heart, this story grabbed me and wouldn't let go.
*Rebecca Stead, author of Liar and Spy*

It's a deep, strange and compelling book, at times lovely, at other times heartbreaking and deliciously weird.
*New York Times*

With heart-wrenching swiftness, Black paints a picture of friends at the precipice of adulthood . . . The tightly focused, realistic tale – bladed with a hint of fairy-tale darkness – feels cut from the very soul of youth.
*Booklist (Starred review)*

Compelling, chill-at-the-nape tale with dynamics and emotional depth . . . The novel’s eerie vibe and eek-worthy plot may keep readers turning pages into the wee hours, but it’s the vivid characters and skillfully developed themes of identity, friendship and loss that linger long in the mind.
*The Washington Post*

[An] eerie, tender novel.
*Wall Street Journal*

Black poignantly and realistically captures how adolescence inherently brings change; how growing up affects the ways children play; and the inevitable tests friendships face.
*Horn Book*

It's as psychologically haunting as the ghost girl's physical haunting . . . Black begins with an ordinary experience of childhood and gives it a wicked twist to reveal the truth at the center of the impulse for storytelling.
*Shelf Awareness, starred review*

A darn good adventure.
*Publishers Weekly, starred review*

When Zach's father insists that the games he-and friends Poppy and Alice-play with dolls must end, the three friends refuse to let their imaginations die. Instead, they set out on an epic adventure involving a china doll that just might be made from the bones of a murdered girl. And along the way, they discover that there could be more to what was once a simple backyard game. Narrator Nick Podehl delivers a fun-filled reading that will delight this audiobook's young-adult target audience. Podhel delivery is simple, his pacing steady, and his performance one that skillfully captures all the action of this imaginative tale. Ages 10-14. A Margaret K. McElderry paperback. (May) (c) Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved.

Gr 4-7-At 12 years old, lifelong friends Zach, Poppy, and Alice are ferociously clinging to their childhoods. Using old Barbies, pirate action figures, dolls from Good Will, and their imaginations, they have created an exciting world of characters in an elaborate game. Figuring heavily in their plotline is the Queen, an antique doll of bone china that belongs to Poppy's mother and is strictly off-limits to the kids. She's also incredibly creepy. When Zach's dad throws away his action figures, the boy is so devastated that he ends the game abruptly, leaving the girls hurt and confused. Shortly thereafter, Poppy reveals that the Queen is made of the bones of a dead girl named Eleanor who has been communicating with her at night. The doll appears to be filled with Eleanor's ashes, and she has promised Poppy that she will make their lives miserable if they don't journey to Ohio, find her grave, and bury her properly. After much persuading, Zach and Alice agree to the journey. The Queen gets scarier and scarier as unexplained events begin to occur along the way. Black has created protagonists who readers will care about, and amusing secondary characters, like a pink-haired librarian and a crazy bus passenger who seems to be able to see Eleanor. This novel is a chilling ghost story, a gripping adventure, and a heartwarming look at the often-painful pull of adulthood. Black-and-white illustrations actually tone down the scare factor a little, making this a perfect starter story for budding horror fans.-Mandy Laferriere, Fowler Middle School, Frisco, TX (c) Copyright 2013. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.