Higgins, F.E. The Bone Magician, 266 pgs. Square Fish, 2008. $14.95. Language: G; Mature Content: PG; Violence: PG
Pin is a young man living in the city of Urbs Umida, a city known for the River Foedus whose stench fills the air and only adds to the depressed lives of its inhabitants. With a father on the run for a murder he may or may not have committed and a new job as a corpse watcher at the local funeral parlor, Pin has a life that few envy. As he tries to survive the mean streets of the city he meets new friends and is introduced to the Bone Magician who has the power to raise the dead and could hold the key to Pin’s future.
This book has a clever and well-written plot. The story is dark, but with just the right hint of the absurd to keep it from becoming too bleak. Even though the lives of the characters are quite depressing, they avoid becoming merely sad people who have more sadness thrust upon them. They are lively and humorous and the reader will find the hope of a happy ending reasonable.
EL (4-6)/MS—ESSENTIAL. AEB Social Studies Teacher
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