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    The Kneebone Boy
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    The Kneebone Boy
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    The Kneebone Boy
    Ebook254 pages3 hours

    The Kneebone Boy

    By Ellen Potter

    4/5

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    Currently unavailable

    Currently unavailable

    About this ebook

    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 legend has it a monstrous creature lives who is half boy and half animal. . . .

    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.

    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherMacmillan Publishers
    Release dateSep 14, 2010
    ISBN9781429941198
    Unavailable
    The Kneebone Boy
    Author

    Ellen Potter

    Ellen Potter is the author of more than twenty award-winning novels for children and young adults, including Olivia Kidney, Slob, the Big Foot and Little Foot series, the Piper Green and The Fairy Tree series, the Squirlish series, the Hither & Nigh series, The Humming Room, Pish Posh, and The Kneebone Boy. Several of her books have been chosen by the New York Public Library for their Best 100 Books for Children list and have appeared on numerous state reading lists. Her nonfiction writing book, Spilling Ink, A Young Writer’s Handbook, coauthored with Anne Mazer, was also chosen by the New York Public Library as a Best 100 Books for Children. Ellen lives in upstate New York with her family. For more information about Ellen and her books, visit EllenPotter.com.

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    Reviews for The Kneebone Boy

    4/5

    18 ratings17 reviews

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    • 3/5
      A hard book to get into, with too many genre nuances it took too long for me to become engaged. However, I am a curious person and the Hardscrabble children’s characters intrigued me and kept me reading. I wanted to know what had become of the Hardscrabbles’ mother and why Otto (the eldest son was such a reclusive, oddball character than never spoke and had a scarf as a comforter. Max the youngest appears to be the most logical (although a know-it-all) and escapes to sit on top of the roof to read and solve the problems of the world around him. Lucia is the middle child, a girl and has taken on the maternal role now that their mother has disappeared????? Lucia is the most confident of the three.Otto is the oddball, he collects oddities (a cat with an extra leg – don’t quite know how this fits in the story), he never takes his scarf off and never talks (apparently he used to talk) preferring to communicate through Lucia using sign language or body language.Caspar Hardscrabble (the father) is a travelling artist who paints portraits of unfortunate royalty from far away countries. He often is away and the children are looked after by a supposedly caring neighbor, Mrs Carnival (whom they dislike and she is not fond of them either). Sadly the Hardscrabble family are the talk of the town, the people of Little Tunks often gossip about Caspar’s frequent away trips, the unusual behaviors of the children and strange disappearance of the mother. When Caspar has to go away the children are not sent to Mrs. Carnival, but are sent to London to stay with their cousin Angela. When Angela is not there to meet them (she has gone away) the children have to find their way to another family great aunt, Hattie whose name they have heard mentioned (in riddles) as living at ‘Longing at Sea’. This begins another adventure in the book with the introduction of a castle and a smaller replica folly castle etc. It is not until the end of the book that all of these nuances make sense and you realize ‘Of course’ now it makes sense, the nuances are symbolism. This book could create very good discussion around mental health issues affecting families, genetics and lifestyle.
    • 2/5
      Not my style, drab, boring, and just not very well laid out in my opinion
    • 4/5
      4.5 stars. I loved the narrative voice in this story--sharp, clever, youthful, and very stream-of-consciousness a la a 10 year old child. A fun little mystery that pulls you in with interesting characters you think you already know and are dying to be friends with. It begins feeling a little like "Series of Unfortunate Events," but you forget that by the second chapter. Loved the twist at the end..

      1 person found this helpful

    • 3/5
      What a treat this book was. It had such a unique voice.

      1 person found this helpful

    • 4/5
      The Hardscrabble children of the small English town Little Tunks are….well, it may not be the most polite thing to say, but they’re odd. Max is a bit of a know-it-all who likes to sit on the roof of their house. Lucia longs for adventure, or at least for something interesting to happen. Otto is the oddest by far though. Otto likes to collect oddities (things like one-eyed frogs and lobsters with extra claws), he never takes his scarf off, and most of all he never talks. The Hardscrabbles’ father, Caspar, is odd too – who ever heard of a job painting portraits of down-on-their luck royalty? What makes the people of Little Tunks really talk though is the mysterious disappearance of the Hardscrabbles’ mother. The whispers of the townsfolk echo in the children’s heads: “Has she run away? Been taken? Could she be dead? Did Otto have something to do with it? Is that why he’s so odd? Did the scarf that he never takes off play a part?” The Hardscrabbles are tired of being outcasts and the subject of gossip but it looks like things will never change – until their father gets a new job and has to leave town again (painting royalty requires a lot of traveling). A stay with nasty neighbor Mrs. Carnival looks inevitable, but Caspar announces that instead they will be traveling to London by train to stay with their cousin Angela. A train ride on their own! A stay in London! At last, it’s the adventure Lucia has craved and the change of scenery they’ve all wished for! Except, no one meets them at the train station when they arrive. The Hardscrabbles make their way to cousin Angela’s only to discover the truth: there’s been a miscommunication and Angela isn’t there! Angela has gone on vacation leaving Max, Lucia and Otto alone in London with nowhere to stay and no one they know. And that’s when the adventure really begins…

      This went places I didn't really expect it to, and I have my suspicions that multiple readings may be needed to really appreciate all the nuances. I also think maybe it was trying to be too many different kinds of books at once - an adventure, a mystery, a problem novel - with incomplete success - at times it felt like the tone was all over the place. Still, it was a really enjoyable story with fantastic characters that I would not hesitate to recommend.
    • 5/5
      The Kneebone BoyByEllen PotterMy "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!Sent from my iPad2 by Patty!!!
    • 3/5
      Interesting to see the mixed reviews of this book. I am definitely on the thumbs-down side. It's well written, the voice is fun and snarky, and the characters are interesting and very unusual. But I didn't find the plot very compelling and never finished it the first time around. Then I picked it up two years later and it took me two chapters to realize that I had read it before, and not really all that long before. A totally forgettable book. Note to author: don't assume that your reader will stick with you just because you hooked them on the beginning. Note to self: Don't check this book out again!
    • 3/5
      The chracters are wonderfully quirky (and seem like they'd fit into the Addams family quite well). The book is a very enjoyable read, but the ending someone seem incongruent with the rest of it--to have mystery and adventure lead up to discovering that your mother's gone mentally. The strong bonds and relationships between the siblings are a real plus as well.
    • 4/5
      An excellent story. Dark and different. Can't wait to start reading it to Lindsey tomorrow.
    • 5/5
      This book follows the story of three siblings on their adventure in the castle folly and the Kneebone castle. After being sent to a relative in London -- and finding she was really in Berlin -- the Hardscrabble children end up journeying to a small town on the coast in search of a great aunt none of the three had met -- or knew existed! While there, they learn amazing secrets that will change their lives.I'm not sure what I expected when I got this book from the library. From the over and the description, I definitely predicted the dark, strange children that the book follows. Even though the children were strange, I found them extremely endearing! Though I guessed who the narrator ultimately was, I felt that keeping the narrator unnamed really did add to the story. We are told, "I can't tell you which Hardscrabble I am . . . because I've sworn on pain of torture not to. They said it's because the story belongs to all three of us . . ." This was a good choice!When everything is fully revealed, it makes perfect sense. However, I didn't see it coming! I felt as though I was swept up into the adventure with the three children. It was hard to put the book down, because I was dying to know what would happen next.This book was lovely! The writing style is simple, yet it doesn't lack or want for anything. The characters are extremely different and amazingly colourful! This was a very well craft story, and, I must say, it has been one of the better books I have read this year! I would highly recommend it!
    • 4/5
      Otto, Lucia and Max are the three Hardscrabble siblings. Their mother left mysteriously (or died - no one knows) years ago, and they don't remember her. Their father is a traveling artist who leaves them in the care of others several times a year. The kids have all been labeled "weird" in their tiny English town: Otto doesn't talk, communicating through hand gestures, an he ALWAYS wears a black scarf. There's a rumor that he strangled his own mother with it. Lucia tells it like it is, whether anyone wants to hear it or not. Max parks a lawn chair on top of the chimney and sits there for hours. When their father has to leave suddenly, he accidentally sends them to London, to stay with Cousin Angela... who's actually on vacation in Berlin. The siblings camp out under a tree, get in a fight with a tattooed ruffian, and decide to make their way to visit Great-Aunt Haddie in Snoring-By-The-Sea. Haddie is unusually young for a great aunt, American, and a complete nutjob to boot. The castle folly where she's staying is a smaller, children's size version of the KneeBone castle, where rumor has it that the family is hiding a bat-eared, furry crazy firstborn son. Mysteries upon mysteries, secrets upon secrets! Narrated by one of the three (but we're not allowed to know which one), the voice in this novel is outstanding. Lots of British humor and adventurous situations -- for 6th grade and up.
    • 3/5
      If you're looking for a mix of Lemony Snicket, Neil Gaiman, and Roald Dahl, then you'll find The Kneebone Boy to be a good fix. It features the Hardscrabble children, Otto, Lucia, and Max, three oddball British kids who live with their father, an artist who paints portraits of deposed royalty. Their mother mysteriously disappeared when Otto, the oldest, was only eight, and the other two children barely remember her. Rumors fly around their small town about the missing mother - was she murdered? Strangled by her own son? Or did the father kill her? Or has she just perhaps abandoned her family? Regardless, it's been many years without their mother and the children have accepted life as it stands: Otto doesn't speak and constantly wears a scarf, Lucia speaks for Otto and fights to keep order, and Max is a quiet daydreamer who spends time on the roof, thinking. When their father is suddenly called to a job, the children are sent to London to stay with an aunt. But she's not home... she's out of the country. Suddenly the children find an adventure thrust upon them. They discover a mysterious great-aunt, who lives in a folly castle, a mysterious creature called the Kneebone Boy, a 25-toed cat, and the secret behind their missing mother. The writing for this book is clever... sometimes a little too clever for its own good. While I enjoyed reading it, the language often made me want to take a break after a chapter or two. It's snarky and very conversational, often taking the time to tell us how the story should be composed (and why it isn't written that way) or reassuring us that it may sound like a ghost is in the chapter but, because it's a book about real stuff, there wouldn't be any actual ghosts. Except there would be, but in a later chapter. The pacing was also a bit slow, with a lot of build-up on how boring their town is and their family history. There's a point in the book where a short chapter is used to apologize for the slowness of the plot line, with promises that, since the reader was already hooked and wouldn't be stupid enough to put it down, the next part would be even more exciting. Well it was, but it all came very quickly, particularly compared to the start of the book.The characters are terrific and the narration sets a great tone for the book. The resolution regarding their mother is not really a happy one, and while it answers a great deal of questions, I feel like it raised more that weren't addressed. The scenery of the book, from the Hardscrabble's house to the folly castle to the foggy beach and forests in Snoring-by-the-Sea are vivid. Overall, I would recommend this book, but wouldn't say it's a must-read. For grades 5 - 9.
    • 3/5
      Had a really hard time sticking with this book. Enjoyed the first chapter, but then it took such a long time to develop into anything, and it really bogged down for me when they found their aunt. I had trouble visualizing the folly, and perhaps, if I knew more about one, it would have made it easier to follow. Did not see the ending at all, which I liked because I hate predictable books, so the redeeming feature, for me, was the ending.
    • 4/5
      Three not so normal children go out and do some not so normal things. Sounds about normal for many books these days, right? Not like this it isn't. The three Hardscrabble children are not just abnormal, they are very abnormal, the oldest (and my personal favorite) doesn't speak. At all. He and his younger sister have devised language through hand signals that Otto uses to communicate directly to Lucia. The youngest Max, who is brilliant, and can sometimes read Otto's sign language reminds me of the boy in The Series of Unfortunate Events. He is most observant, and he has the ability to recall almost everything he comes across perfectly. This story shows bravery, kindness, and a longing for adventure. One other things I think people will walk away thinking about it that just because a story doesn't end the way he or she wants it to end doesn't mean it isn't the right ending. This story had me wondering about the ending of it for quite some time. One other thing that I adored about this book was the narration of the book. The narrator was actually talking to the reader, and making personal comments about things along the way. I find this type of narration engaging and fun to be a part of. I will definitely be looking for more books from Ellen Potter, if they are written in this manner, I will have found another author I can't live without!
    • 4/5
      I wasn’t wild about the ending of this one, but it was certainly unexpected and I think will appeal to a certain type of reader. However, the ride that the Hardscrabble children take to get to that ending is a terrific one. The narrative voice is definitely the star here – although Great-Aunt Haddie and her castle folly threaten to steal the show.
    • 5/5
      I got a copy of this book through the Amazon Vine program. The synopsis sounded right up my alley; a threesome of quirky siblings with an eccentric father left to their own devices in a mysterious castle... It was a wonderful book. The narrator tells the story in a fun style, the descriptions are wonderful, and the mystery surrounding the children's mother and the folly castle they visit is also fantastic. I loved it.Otto, Lucia, and Max are all a bit strange. Otto, the oldest, obsessively wears a scarf around his neck and speaks only in hand signs, refusing to talk. Max, the youngest, thinks of things no one else can puzzle out. Lucia is a reader, who kind of serves as the go-between for the two brothers, and is constantly looking for the grim and fantastic in life. Their father paints disgraced royalty for a living and is gone intermittently, and their mother is missing. When he leaves on one of his trips he sends the kids to London to stay with someone who ends up being on holiday themselves. This leads the kids through a rather scary adventure in London and out to visit their great-Aunt Haddie who lives out in a folly castle in town of Snoring-by-the-Sea. There they discover more mysteries to unravel.The book is beautifully written with a lot of wonderful descriptions, one of the kids narrates and adds in snarky comments throughout to keep things light. The characters in this book are amazing; they all have their quirks, but are full of caring and depth in their own way. The mystery in the book is well done and much of the book is a bit eerie and creepy in tone; nothing ever gets too scary though. The conclusion to the mystery was fabulous.Overall this book was all I hoped it would be and more. I really loved it. There is some great mystery here, quirky characters, adventure, and some great lessons about accepting people for who they are. It is a dark story and has a bittersweet ending; but I really enjoyed it.
    • 5/5
      This book is not a fantasy; there is no magic. Weird things happen and you think that they MUST be magical/paranormal/fantastical, but there is a rational explanation for all of it. Weird creaky (not squeaky) rats that run on the same path all the time? Taxidermy-ed miniature zebras? A hole in the floor that goes forever? A cat with five legs? All explained. Well, not the cat, but he's the most believable bit to begin with. Still, this is certainly not realistic fiction. It is precocious-kids-left-on-their-own fiction, or rich-people-are-crazy fiction. Lemony-Snicket-type fiction. Let's just call it unrealistic fiction, shall we?Even though they live with their father, the three Hardscrabble children are pretty used to fending for themselves. Since their mother mysteriously disappeared (and both Otto and their father were suspected of killing her and burying her in the garden), their father has been sad. He's also been taking more portrait clients; former royals who have been kicked off their thrones and who don't often pay their bills. Still, the Hardscrabbles manage.Adventure upon adventure, the kids all end up in Snoring by the Sea, a small town outside of London, where their secret great-aunt Haddie is staying. They meet a taxidermist who could easily be mistaken for a Viking invasion reenactor, take up lodgings in a castle folly with Haddie, suffer through some ghastly American food (even though Haddie never gets her hands on the "fluff" to make fluff-r-nutters), and hear the local legend of The Kneebone Boy. The local aristocracy, the Kneebones, sent all of their children to grow up in the castle folly, back in the day. That way they adults could do adult things and the kids could do whatever their hearts desired. It also kept the Kneebone children from the oldest child of each generation, the Kneebone Boy, born half-human half-animal. The Kneebone Boy was kept, every generation, locked in a tower in the castle. This is all just legend, of course. But there is something weird going on in the forest surrounding the castle and the castle folly. The Hardscrabbles are certain that the Kneebone Boy is real and that he has escaped, and they're determined not to let him be captured and locked away in his tower again.Unrealistic fiction has the most awesome and memorable characters, and Otto, Lucia and Max are no exception. They are all precocious, sarcastic, and quick-witted little monsters, constantly attacking each other, but not in a mean way. They're all just too smart for their own good, or at least each is trying to prove to the other two that he or she is the most knowledgeable of group on any given subject (Max usually wins). Lucia, the middle child but still clearly the leader of the group, is used to Otto going along with her, her ideas, and her adventures, especially as she is his translator. She's also still stuck in the thinking that Max is just little. Too little to be of help, too little to be a friend the way that Lucia and Otto are friends, too little to make decisions for the group. Through their adventure, each of the Hardscrabble children gets more of a will of their own, and instead of making them grow up and grow apart, they realize that they not only need each other but truly like each other as well.Book source: ARC picked up at ALA.