 | Bonebag Author: Elliott, David | |
| Price: $23.98 | ||
Summary:
Trapped in a dark forest with his cold-hearted parents, Bonebag leads a cruel and isolated existence. When Bonebag discovers a locket that burns him to the touch, and a ghostly girl beckons him into the deep woods, he must grapple with the riddle of where he came from and how he came to be.
Reviews:
Kirkus Reviews (+) (05/01/26)
Booklist (+) (04/01/26)
Full Text Reviews:
Booklist - 04/01/2026 *Starred Review* For the boy, life in the tangled woods known as the Scura min Scurse affords few pleasures. His time is spent doing chores for Modor and Faeder, a stern pair, quick to mete out punishments. But beneath his mattress are his Tatters, scraps of paper containing fragments of wonderful stories that convince Bonebag, for that is the boy’s name, that a better way of life exists beyond the Scura min Scurse. The opportunity to find out comes after a horrifying development forces Bonebag to flee for his life with the help of a kind ghost girl. The world Bonebag stumbles into is reminiscent of Dickensian London, starkly divided into haves and have-nots, where a pickpocket named Toby Lightfingers takes Bonebag under his wing. All orphans, the pickpocket gang makes its home in an abandoned subway tunnel, safe from the clutches of the police-like yellowjaks. As Bonebag learns the ropes, he never loses sight of his objective to find his real parents—not the cruel substitutes that raised him. David Elliott (Bull, 2017) and his son E. M. Elliott combine their talents to tell a dark, immersive tale that never loses its sense of hope. Friendship and family emerge as themes as plot threads come together in surprising ways, but the visceral descriptions, entertaining pickpocket parlance, and original folklore are what make the story unforgettable. - Copyright 2026 Booklist.
