The Kneebone Boy

Ellen PotterPublisher: Feiwel and Friends , New York , 2010
ISBN:9780312377724 Classification: JPot

Kirkus Reviews: 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)

Lisbon Public Library
45 School St.
Lisbon, NH 03585
(603)838-6615
Karla@lisbonpubliclibrary.org

Operating Hours:
Monday 11:00-5:00
Wednesday 11:00-5:00
Thursday 2:00-6:00
Friday 11:00-5:00

Karla Houston, Librarian