plorentz's Full Review: Joseph Bruchac - Skeleton Man
I became acquainted with author Joseph Bruchac by way of his historical fictions for young adults based on American Indian history – richly researched, deeply felt and politically nuanced books like Geronimo about the legendary Apache chief and The Winter People, a fictionalized account of the massacre of the Abenaki village of Odanak by the British in 1759. But another facet of the career of this very prolific writer is his ongoing series of horror stories for kids based on the tribal legends Bruchac himself heard of as a child.
Bruchac’s 2001 book Skeleton Man is one such story. Written in a breathlessly urgent first person, it’s the story of a sixth-grader named Molly, who is being held captive in the home of a creepy old man who claims to be her uncle, following the sudden, mysterious disappearance of her parents. The story itself has a contemporary setting, full of references to pop culture (her dad, for instance, is a “freak for The Eagles”) and the internet, but it’s colored by Molly’s memory of an old legend her father used to tell her about the Lazy Uncle who, while his family has gone out hunting, has decided to stay behind and do nothing, and in a combination of boredom and hunger, starts to eat his own flesh.
Despite the fact the old man feeds her well and seems genuinely concerned for her health, Molly knows that there’s something fishy going on when she discovers that her “uncle” locks her into her room at night, and when she spies him going out to a work shed in the backyard. But determined as she is, she has a hard time convincing Child Protective Services that she’s in danger. The only one who listens is her teacher Ms. Shabbas, a woman whose penchant for using Broadway showtunes as part of her lesson plan has earned her the nickname Ms. Showbiz. Ultimately, Molly has to use the lessons of her father’s story and her own strength and ingenuity to not only escape from the creepy old man keeping her prisoner but also to find out what has happened to her parents.
Unlike his historical fictions, Bruchac’s Skeleton Man seems designed for a quick and easy reading. Not only does the story clock in just over a hundred pages, its chapters are brief and punctuated with the occasional illustration. Although the legend the story is based on sounds grotesque, it’s telling here has a slightly comic feel to it – you can imagine Molly giggling through her “eww”s while her father told it to her – Bruchac’s story is actually more suspenseful than violent, and true to his own storytelling tradition, it makes for really good, curled-up-on-the-sofa-on-a-late-fall-evening out loud reading – just scary enough to be fun without inducing night terrors in the little ones.
Ever since the morning Molly woke up to find that her parents hadvanished, her life has become filled with terrible questions. Where have her parents ...More at HotBookSale
Molly wakes up one morning to find her parents have vanished. Social Services turns her over to the care of a great-uncle, a mysterious man Molly has ...More at Buy.com Marketplaces
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