![]() ![]() ![]() It features the three Hardscrabble siblings. 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. Ellen Potters latest novel, The Kneebone Boy, is a darkly humorous middle grade mystery/adventure sure to appeal to fans of the Lemony Snicket books and Lois Lowrys The Willoughbys. 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. 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. Hardscrabble's miscommunication with a London relative leaves the trio perilously alone in the big city. ![]() 'She's gone missing,' said Max.") On one such occasion, Mr. 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. Publisher: Feiwel and Friends, New York, 2010 ![]()
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