The Kneebone Boy

redheadperson22 - Warning! This review contains spoilers. The Hardscrabbles live with their dad in a small town, where everyone avoids them besides annoying old lady. Otto is 13, and he doesn't talk; instead he uses strange hand motions. Max is 10 and is constantly sitting on the roof. Lucia is either 12 or 11 (they don't say her age) and she's constantly flaring her nostrils; it's not exactly weird, but it is annoying. When their dad goes on a business trip, they are sent to stay with their aunt, who lives in London. But it turns out that their aunt is on vacation, so they do what any sensible children would do: aimlessly journey through the streets of London. What I thought of the book: My favorite character was by-far Otto. Partly because Lucia was extremely pride full, which was annoying. And Max thought he knew everything , which was also annoying. The identity of the narrator was supposed to be a secret, but it was Lucia. I wish they hadn't made it so obvious. I kind of wish that Otto would have been the narrator because he was the weirdest. I'm glad that the author wrote it as though he actually was talking because if she hadn't, that would have been very confusing. Although the description says it's dark, it really isn't that dark. I think that there were a few curse words, though. Overall it was a very good book.

August 23, 2010
With a dark, witty absurdity suggestive of Lemony Snicket, Potter (the Olivia Kidney books) draws readers into this compelling mystery-adventure about a missing mother. "worn on pain of torture" not to reveal which of the quirky Hardscrabble children he or she is, the narrator writes in third-person with wry first-person asides: "Note to reader: if you ever want your life to turn topsy-turvy, say, ‘Things will go on just as they always—' Oops, I almost said it." Things certainly do go awry for Otto (mute, after his mother's disappearance), take-charge Lucia, and clever Max, when their father sends them to stay with an aunt who's on vacation. Danger follows them to the village of Snoring-by-the-Sea, home to an eccentric great-aunt, an eerie castle, a half-human boy held prisoner––and perhaps the answer to what happened to their mother. Potter's voice is distinguished by sharp, humorous, and poignant observations: " was so solemn. So sad. Was he always like that and she had never noticed?" Often laugh-out-loud funny, this tale quietly solves a deeper mystery: how to heal the hearts of this immensely likable trio. Ages 9–12.

Starred review from September 1, 2010

The Hardscrabbles of the English town of Little Tunks--silent Otto, the adventure-seeking Lucia and whip-smart Max--have become accustomed to their shy, rumpled father's absences since their mother's suspicious disappearance. (" 'She's dead,' Lucia said. 'She's gone missing,' said Max.") On one such occasion, Mr. Hardscrabble's miscommunication with a London relative leaves the trio perilously alone in the big city. Barely escaping the clutches of an angry tattooed man, they manage to track down their great aunt Haddie Piggit, a youngish, eccentric American with a penchant for Pixy Stix who lives in a child-sized version of the adjacent Kneebone Castle in Snoring-by-the-Sea. Could she be their mother? Does Otto, the oldest at 13, know and not say? Does the legendary, tower-bound Kneebone Boy really have bat ears? Narrated quite personably by one of the Hardscrabbles who refuses to be identified but is obvious, the story is fresh, funny and surprising. The sibling dynamics--alternately testy and touching--are believable, as are the wonderfully odd characters from the hulking taxidermist Saint George to the ethereal Sultan of Juwi. A quirky charmer. (Fiction. 11 & up)

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September 1, 2010

Gr 6-8-Otto, Lucia, and Max are the Hardscrabble children, and one of them is the unidentified narrator. Otto, the oldest, hasn't spoken out loud since he was eight, when the children's mother vanished. Their father, Casper Hardscrabble, paints portraits of royal families, returning with stories of their adventures to tell his children. When he sends them to London to stay with his cousin, who turns out to be away on holiday, they make their way to their great-aunt Haddie, who lives in a life-size playhouse castle behind a forbiddingly real castle, once owned by the Kneebone family. From their great-aunt and others, the Hardscrabbles learn about the Kneebone boy, locked away in a tower in the castle because of some unnamed deformity, and decide that they must rescue him. Instead, their mission leads to the resolution of their own family mystery. This odd book doesn't know if it wants to be an "Unfortunate Events" clone or a straightforward mystery. It's certainly not a fantasy, as the narrator takes pains to make clear that anything magical in the book only appears to be magical and has a rational, logical explanation. That makes sense with the rational, logical explanation presented for Tess Hardscrabble's disappearance, which is actually very sad and distressing. Ultimately, there is little to care about here; not the characters, the plot, or the resolution, all of which makes The Kneebone Boy a low-priority purchase.-Tim Wadham, St. Louis County Library, MO

Copyright 2010 School Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

September 15, 2010
Grades 5-8 Hilarious and heartbreaking, wild and down-to-earth, this story of dark family secrets starts off with all the conventional quest clich's. Since the three Hardscrabble kids mother mysteriously disappeared five years earlier, Dad will not talk about her, and the eldest, Otto, now 13, only communicates through sign language. After the kids get a hint that Mama may still be alive, they take off to find her, first in London and then in a small seaside town, where they search through a castle with dungeons, dragons, and secret passageways and try to save a young sultan held prisoner in a wild forest. Even fantasy fans may tire of the contrivances, but Potter keeps this genre adventure moving briskly, and the very end brings a huge surprise that Dads been in on all along. The combination of fantasy and realism makes a compelling story, and young people will relate easily to the characters struggles. As the author tells the reader, All great adventures have moments that are really crap.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2010, American Library Association.)