Haley's Reviews > The Kneebone Boy

Ellen Potter's The Kneebone Boy is a children's book set in the town of Little Tunks (there is no Big Tunks), England, starring the three Hardscrabble children: the oldest, Otto, who everyone believes murdered his mother but since he is mute and the body never turned up, no one can be for certain; the middle child, Lucia (pronounced Lu-CHEE-ah and don't you forget it!) who loves to flare her nostrils indignantly and considers life in Little Tunks boring as she never goes on any grand adventures; and the youngest, Max, who puzzles out problems and is only useful for squeezing boils on old ladies' necks. (I'm sorry, was that a terrible visual? Imagine poor Max having to do this every time his father Casper goes out of town to paint one of many desposed royalty, which he does with little complaint.) 

But one day, the usual boring lives of the Hardscrabble's gets thrown for a loop when their father sends them to stay in London with their cousin Angela who happens be in Germany at the time. Stranded in the city with dwindling money, the children decide on a whim to stay a day - and night - out by themselves, which obviously leads to an disastrous end. With no other choice other than to head back to Little Tunks, the three decide on whim once more to visit their unknown Aunt Haddie, who lives in Snoring-by-the-Sea. After their arrival in the back of a funeral carriage and a rickety descent into a castle folly, thus begins the Hardscrabble's adventure to solving their own past and the mystery of the Kneebone Boy.

The characterization for this book is spot-on. As the baby sibling, I know what it is like to be singled out, to feel left out, and to be made to do all the dirty chores because I'm too little to say no or otherwise. In short, I know what it's like to be Max. Lucia and Otto are inseperable, having contrived a secret sign language that not even their father can sort out with Lucia as the headstrong and brash mouthpiece.  The three's squabbles are perfect, and their dynamic even more so when they finally decided to all work together. Even Casper, who is mostly off-screen, seems to stand on his own, as does the rest of the colorful cast.

While this story has a lot of magical ingredients, including old scary legends and castles, the story is set entirely in a non-fiction world, the bittersweet ending making this all the more evident. The book was somewhat slow to start in the beginning, but as the Hardscrabble's adventure began, the pages seemed to fly by. While some may become suspect of the story and the characters partway through as I did, where questions of what really happened to the Hardscrabble's mother, and how Otto, his scarf, and his mother's disappearance were all connected and discover the answer before the ending, it's worth finishing even if it is somewhat tearful.

So why three stars, you ask? Simply put: while the characters were unique and the story very Lemony Snicket-y (whose books I love), the overall feeling I was left with was bland. The mystery wasn't very mysterious, the magic set in the story was slightly offset by the very real-world ending, and sometimes I felt as though the "narrarator" was trying too hard to be whimsical. I most definitely enjoyed this book, but I wasn't too impressed with it either. Regardless, my hat's off to Ellen Potter for nothing other than bringing back the memories of my childhood, both the good and the nasty.