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Doll Bones

Discover the Penguin books that shaped us

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.

A little bit scary and full of heart, this story grabbed me and wouldn't let go.

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

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.

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.

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

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.

This novel is a chilling ghost story, a gripping adventure, and a heartwarming look at the often-painful pull of adulthood.

My name is Eleanor Kerchner. 
You can call me the Queen. 
I died in 1895. 
Now it’s time to play. 
 
A chilling ghost story by the bestselling author of The Spiderwick Chronicles, Holly Black. 
 
Recipient of a Newbery Honor Award. An ALA Notable Book. A Kirkus Reviews Best Book. A School Library Journal Best Book. A Booklist Editor’s Choice Books for Youth. A Publishers Weekly Best Children’s Book. A 2013 Goodreads Choice award nominee. A People Magazine 'Best New Kids Book'.

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.

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.

Doll Bones

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Nobody does spooky like Holly Black. Doll Bones is a book that will make you sleep with the lights on.

Spooky, melancholy, elegiac and ultimately hopeful; a small gem.

A little bit scary and full of heart, this story grabbed me and wouldn't let go.

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

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.

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.

[An] eerie, tender novel.

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

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.

A darn good adventure.

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