A Road Trip to Adolescence in Doll Bones

APA Citation:

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

Professional Resource: Dr. Melissa Gross

Age Range: 9-12

Summary:  In this novel, three twelve year-olds face the changes coming with adolescence while undertaking one final adventure:  to lay to rest a doll haunted by a murdered child.  Through the odds stacked against them on their spur-of-the-moment road trip from one state to another, the characters realize that they can still play games and have adventures regardless of the transformations that occur with growing up.

In Doll Bones by Holly Black, three preteens deal with the changes that come in relationships and parental expectations as they enter the teen years.  The friends, Zach, Alice, and Poppy realize that their relationships with each other are changing; leaving them yearning for the simplicity of their early friendship.  This book meets the information needs of children ages nine through eleven who are going through their own physical and relationship changes that come with puberty.  Readers will easily relate to the characters triumphs and tribulations while being introduced to a new genre of literature: the thriller.

            Zach, Alice, and Poppy can no longer play their action figure games once Zach’s father throws his figures away.  The turmoil that Zach faces in this action stems from the fact that his father feels he is too old for make believe games; a strong link Zach has to his childhood friends.  The bond between the three friends is changing due to complexities coming from the new physical attraction between Alice and Zach that leaves Poppy feeling slighted.  Readers will easily relate to the changes these characters face on their road to the teenage years as they are more than likely experiencing them in their own lives.

            The characters’ quest to lay the Queen to rest will be exciting to readers in this age group because they will be introduced to the Thriller genre of literature.  This book will allow feelings of delicious suspense and creepiness without the grisliness of details utilized in books for other older age groups.  Black’s novel plunges the reader into suspense with the uncertainty as to whether or not Eleanor’s spirit lives within the doll or whether Poppy has devised an elaborate scheme to keep the friends bound in adventure.