The Bone Magician

Gr 6—10—Crispin "Pin" Carpue must make ends meet on his own. His mother passed away and his father has been accused of murdering his uncle. Pin finds work as a corpse watcher. One night, his vigil is interrupted by Benedict Pantagus and his assistant, Juno, who come to raise the dead for one last goodbye. By coincidence, Pin ends up living in the same rooming house as the bone magician and Juno, along with a cranial topologist and a potato-throwing, poetry reading dwarf. Pin befriends Juno, determined to discover the secrets of their bone magic. Things take a dark turn when Pin is accosted by The Silver Apple Killer one night and almost sacrificed to the odiferous Foedus River. Will Pin be able to help find the killer whom many assume is his father, save himself, and clear his father's name? F. E. Higgins's tale (Feiwel & Friends, 2008) is set in a dark, macabre world, fascinating in its details and character sketches. Narrator James Daniel Wilson vividly evokes the murky, ghoulish setting. He uses very similar tones for both Pin and Juno, and in several passages it is difficult to determine which character is speaking. Overall, however, the audio version is well done. A supplementary purchase.—Jessica Miller, New Britain Public Library, CT