Doll Bones

by Holly Black
NEWBERY HONOR WINNER!!!

Genre: Fiction. Possibly realistic fiction. Sort of horror, I guess... Maybe thriller. Perhaps even fantasy.
Age group: 11+

Poppy, Alice, and Zach have been playing their game for years. In this game, they play different characters (who are actually figurines) who go on quests for the Queen, the old china doll who sits in Poppy's closet. The characters have lives, and it feels real to Poppy, Alice and Zach. But now they're getting older, and it's getting harder to play. Alice's overprotective grandmother freaks out and grounds her at the smallest things, and Zach's dad thinks he shouldn't be playing with dolls—he should be tough. When his dad throws away all of his figurines, Zach is forced to lie about why he's quitting the game. His friends, especially Poppy, are bewildered and hurt, and Zach feels upset too. For a little while, it looks like the game is over.
But then Poppy starts getting dreams—dreams about a girl whose bones were turned into the bone china in the Queen, a girl who wants to be buried in her grave. Zach and Alice aren't sure if Poppy's telling the truth or not—after all, their group just broke up, and she might just want attention. But the dream came with a threat, and it's not as if anyone wants to take a risk that could end badly. They set out on a final quest to return the Queen to her rightful burying place, but nobody knows how well this one will end.

This book was excellent because of two main reasons. 1) The suspense. Holly Black knows how to write chillingly. She throws in red herrings and creepy comments about certain events, which make you suspect one thing, but you never really know for sure what's going on. It's GREAT! 2) The fact that you never really know for sure what's going on! The book is totally unpredictable that way. While I was reading, I was constantly re-evaluating what I thought was happening. One minute it was: Poppy's lying. The next: Poppy's telling the truth. The next: Poppy's being influenced. The next: What the heck is going on here?!?!?! There is one flaw that kind of relates to this: You never actually find out exactly what was happening. You suspect, but you never know for sure. Because of this, the end can be considered annoying, but it's also hopeful and exciting as well. It leaves lots of ways for the story-beyond-the-book to continue, and signals more excitement and suspense to come (though not necessarily in another book).