Customer Reviews

The Skull of Truth: A Magic Shop Book

5 star:		(13)
4 star:		(7)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(2)

 

 

After reading Jeremy Thatcher Dragon Hatcher and Jennifer Murdley's Toad, you'd think there couldn't be any book better. Yet the Skull of Truth was awesome. One problem? WHen I tell people that this is one of my favorite books, they laugh at the title and won't read it. Bruce Coville writes beautiful, captivating books, yet sadly, people might not take them seriously because of titles. I didn't until I read one1 Once again, Mr. Coville, you wrote another "winner"!

THE SKULL OF TRUTH, by Bruce Coville is a very interesting book to read. Bruce has written many books such as JEREMY THATCHER, DRAGON HATCHER. He usually writes scary books that send a chill down your back. He is the winner of the New York State Knickerbocker Award, for quality in children's literature.

I give this book four stars, because this book was interesting and all, but some parts were there that shouln't have been. This book also teaches a lesson the lesson is never to lie.

The main characters were Charlie, the skull Yorick, Mr. Elves, Gilbert, and Uncke Bennie. My favorite from them all was Yorick, the skull because he was funny and he never lied, he had a great personality. These characters show a real meaning of friendship.

This book also explains that the truth can help you in some situations. for example, Charlie gets cursed with the truth when he finds the skull and has to tell the truth all the time. The lies will not come out of his mouth. One day Charlie tells his best friend, Gilbert, he looks funny with his bald head and Gilbert is mad at him. The next day Charlie goes to Gilbert's house to apologize, he tells the truth to Gilbert what was in his heart and Gilbert fogives him.

The books main settings are at the swamp, the school, and at Gilbert's and Charlie's houses. I like a lot of parts, but the best part I like was when Charlie finds a skull and the skull never shuts-up, just to annoy Charlie. It is funny!

Another good thing about this book is how the author gives a lot of descriptions. For example, Charlie squashes a bug and the gooey guts and blood come out.

I recommend this book for people who like stories with gruesome descriptions and magical things. I enjoyed reading this book!

I love the way Coville uses such a mixture of feelings, from Charlie's friend with cancer to the humorous skull Yorick, Coville uses so many real emotions that it seems as if you could really feel Charlie's compassion, annoyance, & love. A great book. It's a worthy sequel to Jeremy Thatcher, Dragon Hatcher, & Jennifer Murdley's Toad.

Charlie Eggleston cries out in the book The Skull of Truth!

"Hold on to your skull"!

When Charlie Eggleston is running from a school bully, He runs through a swamp to get to freedom. While he is running the swamp ends. Then he sees the most odd and old magic shop.

While he is in the magic shop he starts looking around. He is looking for a pay phone to call his parents. When he is in the shop looking for a phone he hears a voice in the back room. The voice is really deep.

I thought this book was really good. It was funny in some parts. There were some sad parts too. Charlie Eggleston is a really funny kid. I really recommend this book to anybody who likes scary books or for people who like funny books too. It was really funny.

I would recomend this book to anyone, it is fantastic and funny. It made me laugh. It really took my imagination on an adventure. You really need to read this book.

The Skull of Truth
by Bruce Coville
N. Morris
P.5

A boy named Charlie is trying to save the swamp he enjoys. An arch nemesis of his, Mark, doesn't care about the swamp. His father is the one that is going to destroy the swamp, to make room for new "industrial buildings." One day while Charlie is playing by the swamp, Mark and his goons start to chase him. He eventually gets away, and then he comes to this mysterious shop, owned by an old man named Mr. Elives. He finds a strange looking skull inside the shop, and somehow it seems to lure him toward it. He steals the skull and runs away. One interesing thing about the skull is that it talks. One interesting thing about Charlie is that he never tells the truth, and he's always getting in trouble. After he gets the skull, all that changes. The skull makes Charlie or anyone else around the skull tell the truth. The skull and Charlie get into all sorts of adventures, including a flashback to the skull's life, meeting with a mysterious lady, helping save the swamp, and many more. At the end, the skull gets taken (with its permission) by a mysterious force called Truth. Charlie becomes a regular person again, not a person running around with a skull.

I liked this book because it was interesting and had a lot of adventure. New things kept on happening really quickly.

(Truth) "You have earned the right to ask me one question."
(A rat) "Finally, in a small but fiercely insistent voice, it shouted,"Charlie Eggleston you silly twit! Open the window and let us in."

My favorite part of the book was when Charlie and the skull saw a flashback of the skull's lifetime. There were a lot of funny and interesting characters.

It's been a long wait. I read the first three Magic Shop Books when I was nine or ten years old. It was only recently that I learned of a fourth one in existence; I've heard there's a fifth as well. The passage of time has not diminished the author's skill, however. "The Skull of Truth" is every bit as sharp and funny as the earlier volumes.

Charlie Eggleston is on a quest. A greedy real estate developer is seeking to bulldoze his favorite swamp. That man's son and his friends are out to beat him up. They chase Charlie through the swamp and he ends up at the rustic shop run by Mr. Elives. A few minutes later he emerges with the titular skull, though the process by which he gets it is somewhat different than what you'd expect. He takes it home and is not exactly pleased when it begins talking to him, much less when it magically forces him to not lie.

It goes without saying that Charlie will eventually place the skull inside the podium when the greedy real estate developer is giving a public presentation, thus producing an embarrassing series of revelations and saving the swamp from destruction. The fun is all in the getting there, and the book is full of unpredictable twists and turns. Coville works in a classic family dinner scene where all the old secrets spill out, a brief appearance by Jennifer Murdley, and even a scene from Shakespeare for good measure.

I purchased this as an Accelerated Reader book for my 8-year-old; we both found it delightful. Yorick was a perfect image for his imagination and the fantastic quality of the story kept him constantly involved; I found the book both entertaining and thought-provoking. The truths that the skull forces people to tell gave us the opportunity for a number of real-life discussions. Coville is a terrific writer for all ages -- unlike many writers of "youth" books, he goes beyond the obvious yucky stuff that interests 8-year-old boys and brings so much more to life (even to a discussion of Shakespeare and the Tragedy of Hamlet!)

Very satisfied with dealer. Book arrived within a week and in good condition. We bought the book, The Skull of Truth: A Magic Shop Book' at a fraction of it's original cost and although my son didn't particularly like the story, it was still worth it because now we can provide different authors and books for him without spending a lot.

This story is about a boy named Charlie. He lies a lot and finds a magic shop with a magic skull inside that forces people to tell the truth all the time. But Charlie finds out that he can get in to as much trouble by telling the truth as he can when he lies. But the skull ends up helping him learn about the truth and saves the swamp in his town from being destroyed.

I would recommend this book to other kids because they will really like Yorick the talking skull. He is a chatterbox and is always telling jokes. Charlie's aunt and uncle are funny by being boring all the time and that was good too.

I would rate this book with 5 stars because it is a really good book