The Kneebone Boy

Children's Literature: The Hardscrabble kids are weird. Otto doesn't speak and perpetually wears a scarf around his neck; Lucia is shamelessly blunt and fiercely protective of Otto, and Max does his best thinking on the roof of their house in the town of Little Tunks, England. Their mother has been missing and presumed dead for many years and their father, Casper, leaves them for extended periods of time to paint portraits of deposed potentates around the world. Embarking on one of his trips, Casper sends the children to London to an aunt who unbeknownst to him is on vacation. Caught up in the seamier side of London, the trio escapes to the small seaside town of Snoring-by-the-Sea, home of an eccentric great aunt. There they learn of the eerie Kneebone Castle where a young boy with a hideous deformity is held prisoner. The three children gradually solve the mystery as they embark on an adventure to free the boy. Unwittingly they reveal a family mystery. Told by an unnamed narrator (one guesses it is Lucia) the elaborate plot moves briskly with plenty of plot twists and turns to keep readers guessing. The narrator keeps it on all track providing humorous asides to break the tension. Filled with quirky characters it is a blend of realism and fantasy although at time the fantasy does not ring true. Once the Hardscrabbles are at the castle the action bogs down a bit causing the reader to wish the denouement would hurry along. While the resolution is heartbreaking it is comforting to the Hardscrabbles and they are grateful that at last their lives can move forward. The moody cover art of three dark, gloomy children and a five-legged cat will draw readers to pick it up. They will not be disappointed. Reviewer: Beverley Fahey