A Box of Bones

A Box of Bones
Cohen, Marina
Roaring Book Press/Macmillan, May, 2019
288 pages
Grades 4-6
Fantasy

Very practical Kallie attends the town's "Festival of Fools" with her grandfather, where she encounters a strange girl dancing in the rain and an even stranger faceless man who gives her a mysterious magical box before vanishing into thin air. It is a puzzle box and Kallie becomes obsessed with figuring out how to open it. The school year begins and Kallie is reunited with her equally practical best friend, Pole, and meets the new girl: the same one from the rainstorm. Anna insists on being called "Anastasia" and invents stories about her glamorous life and her circus performing parents. Further investigation reveals that Anna is a foster child living in compromised accommodations who makes-up stories as a coping mechanism. Kallie is unsympathetic until she discovers the truth behind the death of her own mother and the secrets that her father has been keeping from her all of her life. Meanwhile, alternating chapters tell the story of Liah from fairy tale days, who unearths a magical bone, which brings doom to herself and her master and leads to a battle with an evil queen. The two stories come together by the end, as Kallie finally comes to terms with her family's secrets and allows herself to delve into her creative side.

Cohen's latest offering will be a perfect choice for fans of magical realism, contemporary problem stories, and those who like their fantasy a little dark. The atmospheric tale will be perfect for fans of Doll Bones by Holly Black or Coraline, although not quite as creepy. It begins with a quote from Neil Gaiman, which is an immediate plus in my book, stating "Sometimes fiction is a way of coping with the poison of the world in a way that lets us survive it". Love this quote and am living it! Cohen goes on to demonstrate exactly how this can work through the character of Anna. With Kallie she shows how releasing our creativity can be therapeutic and living only for practicalities is half a life. Readers will find the story-with-in-a-story interesting. The fairy tale-esque portion is in italics, so readers will not be confused as to which story they are reading. The important threads of the plot are sewn up, such as the truth behind Anna, the real whereabouts of Kallie's mother, and how the two tales intersect. A few questions remain by book's end and a few plot points seem a bit unrealistic, yet readers probably won't notice or care. A Box of Bones is perfect for a rainy day by a fire and will be enjoyed by both committed fantasy lovers and those new to the genre.