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The Kneebone Boy Paperback – December 20, 2011
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Life in a small town can be pretty boring when everyone avoids you like the plague. But after their father unwittingly sends them to stay with an aunt who's away on holiday, the Hardscrabble children take off on an adventure that begins in the seedy streets of London and ends in a peculiar sea village where, according to legend, a monstrous half-beast boy roams the woods. . . .
In this wickedly dark, unusual, and compelling novel, Ellen Potter masterfully tells the tale of one deliciously strange family and a secret that changes everything.
- Reading age9 - 12 years
- Print length304 pages
- LanguageEnglish
- Grade level4 - 7
- Lexile measure850L
- Dimensions5 x 0.69 x 8 inches
- Publication dateDecember 20, 2011
- ISBN-100312674325
- ISBN-13978-0312674328
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Editorial Reviews
Review
“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.” ―Kirkus Reviews, Starred Review
“Metafictional flourishes keep us amused and on our toes as Potter tackles some (at book's end) serious topics from a position both gothic-cheeky and compassionate.” ―Horn Book Magazine
“Potter's voice is distinguished by sharp, humorous, and poignant observations. . . . Often laugh-out-loud funny, this tale quietly solves a deeper mystery: how to heal the hearts of this immensely likable trio.” ―Publishers Weekly
“Dark, delicious, biting, sarcastic, arch, and smart. The story itself is smart--almost deceptively so--and with the many layers, I can easily see this appealing to middle school kids. . . . I shivered with the wonderful deliciousness of it all.” ―Elizabeth Burns, SLJ.com
About the Author
Product details
- Publisher : Square Fish (December 20, 2011)
- Language : English
- Paperback : 304 pages
- ISBN-10 : 0312674325
- ISBN-13 : 978-0312674328
- Reading age : 9 - 12 years
- Lexile measure : 850L
- Grade level : 4 - 7
- Item Weight : 8.3 ounces
- Dimensions : 5 x 0.69 x 8 inches
- Best Sellers Rank: #1,268,016 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
- #3,741 in Children's Siblings Books (Books)
- #7,995 in Children's Mystery, Detective, & Spy
- #24,053 in Children's Action & Adventure Books (Books)
- Customer Reviews:
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About the author

Ellen Potter is the author of many award-winning middle-grade novels, including the BIG FOOT AND LITTLE FOOT series, the PIPER GREEN AND THE FAIRY TREE series, the OLIVIA KIDNEY series, PISH POSH, SLOB, THE HUMMING ROOM, OTIS DOODA, and THE KNEEBONE BOY.
Her novel OLIVIA KIDNEY was awarded Child magazine's "Best Children's Book Award" and was selected as one of the "Books of the Year" by Parenting magazine.
SLOB was selected for the Junior Library Guild Spring 2009 List and the 2010 Texas Lone Star Reading List.
Her nonfiction book SPILLING INK; A YOUNG WRITER'S HANDBOOK (co-authored by Anne Mazer) was a New York Public Library Top 100 Children's Book for 2010 and a Children's Literature Assembly 2011 Notable Book.
Web site: http://www.ellenpotter.com
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This book works as a mystery, as an Enid Blyton style adventure, as a fantasy, as a bittersweet memory piece, and as meta-fiction. How's that for a double hat trick?
The book is ostensibly a story being told after the fact by one of the Hardscrabble children. Accordingly, many observations and asides are aimed directly at the reader, as a reader, including a number of observations about the difficulties involved in telling the story and writing a book. Usually I don't care much for this device because the authors who do it, (from Pseudonymous Bosch to David Foster Wallace), usually can't resist being cute, coy or patronizing. Well, in this case the author is charming, observant, generous and briskly efficient. There is an awful lot of deadpan humor, and this is the first middle grade book I've read that can be described as "droll", where that's a good thing. I just have not read, recently or maybe ever, a book like this with such an engaging and charming narrator.
Now, that alone is enough to recommend the book. The plot is clever, the adventure is in the grand style, (hidden passages, a castle, a tiny castle folly, secrets and discoveries, and so on). The solution to the mystery is satisfying. And, as a bonus, many of the secondary characters are well developed and interesting. Even more, just the conversations among and between the Hardscrabble children are entertaining.
But, here's the real bonus. This is a story about older brother, middle sister, younger brother. Each has a very distinct personality, and each personality is tweaked to avoid the usual conventions. But these three siblings are totally supportive of and loyal to each other. There is a lot of amusing banter back and forth and some conflicts played for laughs. But overall it is clear that they admire each other, they care for each other and they are willing to protect and defend each other. I can't tell you how many books I've read for middle graders where the siblings either ignore each other, or subvert each other, or are just mean to each other. It was remarkably refreshing to have characters who worked as a team, who forgave each other, and who rooted for each other. What a bonus.
So, I don't know where this book has been hiding or why it hasn't gotten more buzz, (Feiwel and Friends is a small publisher, but it's an imprint of MacMillan). Maybe the book was viewed as too literary or a little too idiosyncratic for a big marketing event. Whatever the reason, if you're reading this you've found it now, and that is a very good thing. At a minimum, try the free sample first chapter above. You'll be glad you did.
By
Ellen Potter
My "in a nutshell" summary...
Three odd children...Otto, Max, and Lucia...pronounced Loo-Chee- ya... entertain themselves by partaking in a very odd adventure.
My thoughts after reading this book...
Love this book...love the way the author talks to the reader...the author shares his worries and concerns about the book with the reader and just causes the entire experience to be an amazing amount of fun! The three siblings are quirky, they have a weird father, a gross baby sitter and a mother who has disappeared without a trace! Plus they have a great aunt named Haddie who is not much older than they are. And we have not even talked about the Kneebone Boy yet! Whew!
Oh...and I totally forget to mention Chester...the cat with five legs and the fact that Otto refuses to take off his scarf and doesn't speak!
What I loved about this book...
I loved the chapter subtitles...my favorite one...Chapter 11 of which there are no vampires or ghosts but you will love it anyway.
I loved the story and the reality of this book. I love the way it is presented to its reader...sort of in a personal intimate manner...pretty cool!
What I did not love...
I expected more fantasy.
Final thoughts...
A fascinating story about an odd little family...I get the feeling that we are not quite finished with the Hardscrabbles and that is a good thing!
There's something on every page to astonish and delight: a phrase, an idea, a Viking taxidermist named St George.
Upon actually reading it properly, we discovered that The Kneebone Boy is Lemony Snicket meets E. Nesbit in a rollicking, hilariously strange family adventure story. What begins as our heroes' "vacation from being Hardscrabbles" becomes a quest for their missing mom--with an astonishing resolution.
Besides the Viking taxidermist named St George, you will meet the three Hardscrabble children (Otto, Lucia, and Max), their peanut-butter-and-marshmallow-fluff-loving great-aunt (best great-aunt ever!), and a five-legged, twenty-one-toed cat. (Otto is our favorite. He always wears that scarf. And his bond with the cat is oddly touching.)
Plus you, like the Hardscrabble children, will really want to know: Who is the Kneebone Boy?
I'm keeping this review short and sweet, because honestly it's that simple--the book is great. The writing and characterization is awesome, and the voice completely sucked me in. And, as the title of my review states, I laughed out loud in so many places.
Top reviews from other countries
Life for the Hardscrabble children is remarkably boring as nothing really exciting happens in their town. Otto, the oldest and oddest one who is described as a tall, thin, slippery jointed whose hair was as pale as his skin and eyes, and always happened be wearing a long black scarf that he never took off, but whats even more strange is that he never said a single word. Then there was Lucia, wishing for something interesting to happen and always up for an adventure. She had long thick black hair as well as thick dark eyebrows. Lastly, there was Max who you could say was the optimist smarty pants who happened to know everything. The three children now to live with their father due to their mother's inexplicable disappearance are usually left with their neighbor waiting for their father to return with yet another of his exciting stories, but this time they were sent by train to stay with one of their relatives yet to realize she wasn't really there, she happened to be on vacation. In need of some adventure, the Hardscrabbles take this situation as a chance, and from there they take off. Leading them to maybe more than just an adventure but maybe to the unsolved mystery of their mother disappearance and everything underneath it.
I think that this book can be read by young people and even adults because I feel like the more times you read this novel the more things you discover or manage to untangle. If you happen to be into adventure and mystery I am sure that this dark and strange book might suit you.
On s'attache très vite au trio principal, à l'histoire. Je n'irai pas jusqu'à dire que l'histoire fait peur mais il y a une petite ambiance surnaturelle plus que convaincante! Le plot twist de la fin est absolument magnifique! Je peux mettre ce bouquin dans la liste des rares scénarios qui m'ont surprise.
Je recommande vivement ce livre!
(en plus, la couverture est superbe ^^)






