The Boneshaker
by Kate Milford
Thirteen year
old Natalie Minks lives in Arcane, Missouri, a town near the
crossroads in the early 1910s. Strange things happen at
crossroads
and Arcane,
Missouri is no exception. Natalie Minks loves all things
mechanical, from the automaton clockwork flyer her father is helping
her build to the weirdly perfect bicycle, the boneshaker, her father
created. Natalie's life is all gears and yarns, machines and
stories, each with their pieces finely integrated. Natalie knows
all the stories of her town just like she knows the insides of
machines. When Doctor Jake Limberleg's Nostrum Fair and
Technological Medicine show comes to Arcane, Missouri, Natalie
knows something is not right. Can she use her knowledge of
machines and storytelling to figure out the mystery behind the show
before it
is too late? Can she save her town from the evil that threatens
to destroy it?
Kate Milford's debut historical fantasy THE BONESHAKER is a delight
from start to finish. The initial stories of Arcane's history,
the old deserted village and Tom Guyot's encounter with the devil all
build up an eerie atmosphere in which truth and fiction, real and not,
are not easily discernible. Within this atmosphere, the reader
meets Natalie, a girl with imagination and a bit of daring but also a
girl whom science and engineering fascinate. No one else in the
town seems to have the ominous feeling about the medicine show but as
Natalie looks closer and closer, the more scary she finds Doctor Jake
Limberleg and the men who follow him. The pace quickens as the
danger mounts until the thrilling edge of the seat twists at the
end. On one level, THE BONESHAKER is an exciting, eerie race to
prevent a disaster. On another level, THE BONESHAKER is an
especially beautiful story of a daughter's growing independence and
maturing appreciation of her family. Both her mother and
her father give her different skills and different doors with which to
enter her adventure. Just as the town's stories give a legacy to
those who come afterwards, Natalie's parents give her a special legacy
that makes her uniquely suited to solve the mysteries before her.
Scenes with her parents are poignant without being sappy.
Though historical fantasy with bit of a steampunk edge, THE BONESHAKER
is also an imaginative coming of age story that honors both machine and
the imagination, fantasy and history, storytelling and human
relationships.
THE BONESHAKER is a book that can be enjoyed by both young and
old. Some sensitive children might find the some of the details
frightening but otherwise THE BONESHAKER will appeal to a wide audience
from the scientifically-minded to the poetically imaginative. The
writing style itself is beautiful. I highly recommend THE
BONESHAKER to those adult readers who appreciate the beauty of a story
well-told. In the beauty of the intricate mechanics of the story,
THE BONESHAKER exceeds many books marketed to adults. Excellent
black and white illustrations by Andrea Offermann add to the character
of the story while still leaving room for a reader's imagination.
An excellent combination.
Publisher: Clarion Books (May 24, 2010)
Illustrator: Andrea Offermann
Reviewed by Merrimon,
Merrimon Book Reviews
Review Courtesy of Amazon Vine
