Ghost Stories and Growing Up with Doll Bones by Holly Black

When I was young, I wanted ghosts to be real. It was both a thrilling and terrifying prospect. My neighborhood friends were no different. We all swapped stories of floating phantasms in our basements, pesky poltergeists in attics, and we all shared a special obsession with the small tool shed that sat on top of a hill, overlooking the nearby elementary school. It was our opinion that the small shed was indeed haunted and that if you went up there at a particular time of night, you would see a yellow apparition flying rapid circles around the steel antennae that protruded into the sky like a divine spirit catching rod built for the soul purpose of harnessing spirits.

Yes, we loved Ghostbusters.

The point is, is that we all told lies about being chased out of the shed by unearthly voices. We bragged about how the tools came to life from the walls and tried to cut us to bits. We spun yarns about the one armed man who owned the property who would lock you in the shed if he caught you. We each took each other's word for truth. No one questioned your Haunted Shed story. It was that ingrained into our lives.

We also loved to play pretend. Most of our games were based in fantastical realms with weapons made from neon orange yard markers, aluminum T-ball bats, and random fallen branches or sticks. Anything that cold be dexterously wielded with one or two hands was transformed into an instrument of battle. We engaged in the hordes of the underworld, ghastly skeletons, Devilish denizens from another plane, enormous insects, we fought them all and won. But one day, it was all over.

I was very awkward in my tween days. From 11-14 I found it very difficult to fathom why everyone around me was changing. It felt cruel to me that when I would seek out friends, that I could no longer simply ask "Want to play?", but instead had to add on a random sport or video game so I wouldn't be the one who still wanted to pretend. Growing up during that time was brutal to say the least. It was as if I was caught in limbo. Too young to drive, too in-athletic to seriously play sports, to shy to make new friends, but too old to still play pretend. Stuck is how I felt. Just plain stuck.

Holly Black's 2014 Newbery Honor book Doll Bones is a story that is much like my own. It is a coming of age tale that is disguised as a ghost story/epic adventure. It tells the tale of Poppy, Zach, and Alice. Three friends who grew up together playing an imaginary adventure game together simply called "the game". The game consists of the three friends making up an epic story arc for their favorite action figures and toys. The creativity shown by the three youths is incredible and their dedication to "the game" is admirable. As they go through elementary school, nothing can separate them from the game. It is one spot where they can escape their reality and escape to a new one of their own making. Poppy's parents are overworked and have given up trying to reign in their obnoxious boys. Zach's father has moved out of and then back into Zach's life in the past 3 years, and Alice is in the care of a vastly overprotective grandmother after her parents are killed. All is well in their childhood, until now.

Hitting middle school, the three friends find their relationship full of hairline fractures. For some time the game is able to act as adhesive and hold them together, however, things still seem to be slipping away from them. Zach is getting more and more involved with the school basketball team, which he has quite a bit of talent for. Alice is discovering boys, in particular, Zach. The only one who doesn't seem to be changing is Poppy. Holly Black does a wonderful job of conveying the uncertain awkwardness that comes from being in this limbo stage of social/emotional growth.  It echoed within me the way few books have before. Anyway, the changes within the group come with the swift violence of a hurricane when Zach's father throws away all of Zach's beloved action figures. This causes him to tell Poppy and Alice that he quits the game. It also causes him to lash out angrily at them both as he sorts through his feelings for his dad.

The following night, Poppy and Alice come to Zach's window with a quest. Apparently, Poppy has had dreams involving the ghost of a girl named Eleanor Kerchner whom she believes to be haunting her Doll, known only as The Queen. They convince Zach to get on a bus bound for East Liverpool, Ohio from Pennsylvania to find her grave and put her spirit at rest. But are the dreams real? Was Eleanor Kerchner a real person, or is Poppy leading them on a wild goose chase so she can play the game one last time?
During the trip, their friendships are all individually tested. Secrets are revealed between them, and we get learn more about each character's inner workings. The action is steady, the plot is believable at most points. Black admits that she did alter some things about the geography of the area in order to make the plot work. The climax is heartfelt and satisfying and the ending is ambiguous like it needs to be. The final sentence of the book is Poppy asking "Want to play?" You don't know if the kids will continue the game after their great adventure to Eleanor's grave or will they go their separate ways the way many young friends do.

This book is easy to read, but don't be fooled. This is not just a mere ghost story. This book has a lot of substance within. The characters are real and very likable. It has genuine heart and a ton of emotion behind it. Doll Bones also feels like a very personal novel for Holly Black. It gives the impression that she put much of her own experiences into the three young characters here. I would recommend this book for anyone in the upper elementary age who wants a good ghost story, or someone who might be going through something similar with their own group of friends.