Will I love Doll Bones?

I have never encountered a story that depicts the dread and heartbreak of growing up more authentically than Black has done in the pages of this Newberry-awarded novel for children.

It is both as brutal and as delicate as the creepy antique doll (which may or may not be haunted) at the center of the story. Three kids head out on their own, determined to lay the spirit trapped within the doll to rest while the all-to-real fears and quiet dangers of their regular lives snap at their heels.

It is a book of loss, acceptance, and courage that will… show more.

Who doesn’t love a creepy doll story, right? And in this book, it’s done perfectly. But even that, what’s most powerful about this story is the journey the group of kids goes through as they try to restore this doll to its proper place and lay it to rest.

So many middle grade books are about that transitional moment from childhood to…something more grown up. That’s very much the case in this book, but we look at that transition and that challenge via this journey to restore the dolls' bones from whence they came.