Here’s another middle grades book that might scratch a fantasy loving kid’s readerly itch.

Grimsly is the only regular kid in Quiver Hollow, where being extraordinary is the norm. His friend Ollie can bend spoons just by looking at them. Another friend can levitate at will. The waterfalls flow up, and magic is everywhere. Still, orphaned Grimsly feels like he’s found his niche with his adopted wizard guardian and his part-time job as pet funeral director. In fact, he’s one of the most popular kids at his school — which, he worries, may be causing major problems when the town’s magic starts to drain away. The problem turns out to be even more sinister, and Grimsly must set out on a quest to restore the weirdness to his adopted hometown before it disappears forever.

The best thing about this book is its Tim Burton-ish vibe, which resonates through the book in weird and delightful ways. It’s fun to see the trope of a magical kid in the real world subverted: Grimsly’s total ordinariness is completely out of place in the fantastic community of Quiver Hollow, but it may turn out to be what makes him special. There’s a little icky creepiness, a deliciously evil headmaster at a particularly nasty school, and just enough danger and tension to keep you on the edge of your seat, but it’s the world building and the characters that really shine. The worst thing? The villain feels a little cartoonish — his motives aren’t satisfactory at all — and there are a lot of questions that never get answered about Grimsly’s origins and family history. (There are hints and explanations, but they don’t really gel into anything coherent by the end of the book.) Also: I am not a fan of people murdering rabbits, even — perhaps especially? — in literature. Save the rabbits! But definitely consider this book for a middle grader who isn’t quite ready for something like Miss Peregrine’s Home for Peculiar Children or Neil Gaiman’s more grown-up stuff.

Kids who enjoy magic in their stories will love this book! It's not Harry Potter, but has a fun mystery to solve. 3rd-5th graders will like it!

This middle grade book features a magical town, and my kids usually like magic, but they found this one to be a tad too bizarre. It's a solidly average book, and others might enjoy it slightly more than we did.

This is a lovely middle grade fantasy in which 11 year old Grimsley, the only non-magical person in Quiver Hollows must save the town's magic, but he can't do it without the help of his friends. Will a boy with no magic whose only skill is to be a pet funeral director be able to save the town's magic before it is too late? I highly recommend this book!

I received a copy of this book from Netgalley, thank you to Netgalley, to the Author and to the publisher.
This is a really good middle grade book. I really enjoyed it. It was fast paced and kept my interest. I would recommend it for grades 4-6.

The Bone Thief by Alyson Noel is a middle grade fantasy novel. Compared to other more ordinary towns, Quiver Hollows is a very strange, very curious place. It is also home to longtime friends Grimsly, Ollie, Ming, and Penelope. In a town where everyone is spectacularly abnormal, Grimsly feels bad about being terribly, unforgivably normal, as the town's pet funeral director. So when a series of strange and disturbing mundane occurrences begins plaguing Quiver Hollows, well, Grimsly fears his growing celebrity just might be to blame since everyone knows that the things you focus on the most have an uncanny way of shaping your world. The group of friends also learn that the bones in the pet cemetery are thought to be the source of the strange magic that binds the town of Quiver Hollows. With the bones now gone, the town's magic is quickly dissipating. Will it ultimately become as common and ordinary as everywhere else?

The Bone Thief is a solid adventure with plenty of character growth and magic. Grimsly has wanted nothing more than to be magical like his friends, but he has his own role to play. I like that Grimsly thought his pet funerals were nothing unusual when compared to magical abilities, feathers, or scales. I also like that even when he was facing danger he was scared and faced his fears rather than just ignoring the danger at hand. Too often in fantasy the hero just ignores the danger and jumps in, thinking they will deal with the consequences later. Grimsly thinks things through and weighs options and how he can do the best for the greater good. I did wish I had more information or growth with the secondary characters, both in Quiver Hollows and when Grimsly is facing danger in the outside world. I enjoyed the world building and the story as a whole, but it just never grabbed me so much that I had trouble putting down the book. Maybe I just was not in the mood for fantasy when I finally picked it up, it had been sitting in my Netgalley queue for far too long. It was still a solid, enjoyable read.

The Bone Thief is an engaging middle grade coming of age novel with plenty of magic and character growth. I can think of many elementary and middle school students that will love this read.

Well now. Much of the tone of this book is quirky and light. Its a story of wonder and magic and finding your place in the world. And then Noel gives us grinding up and consuming the bones of dead pets, a room full of the remains of dad women, and villains who are basically cast into the bowels of the earth. Its a weird dichotomy and can be rather jarring.

I was never able to download this because of personal circumstances keeping me away from my computer. However, I got my hands on a copy so I could post a comment on here.

It was a really fun and interesting read. I loved the concept of it. I believe fantasy middle grade is the best. It is a type of book I will never grow out of no matter how old I get. I hope to read more books by Alyson Noel in the future.

I really liked this story about a boy who thinks he doesn't fit in. The setting was hilarious, the characters were interesting and likable and the problem was universal. I think kids are going to like this one a lot.

I need to preface this review with the admission that books written in first person present tense are often really hard for me to get into. So it was hard for me to get into this book. Noel periodically would use past tense and it kind of jolted me out of the story. But, that's on me.

The story itself is interesting and I'm glad I stuck with it. This is a fantasy with a likable protagonist, danger, adventure, and some pretty slimy villains. There are some gruesome parts so I would not recommend this for younger than upper elementary.

Cute little book, definitely a book meant for the young readers out there, I would say probably 12 years of age and under. I really enjoyed the second half of the book better than the first half.
I thought it was interesting that the magical world ,were losing their magically abilities and why or how that was happening. I really liked Grimsly and his magical and non-magical friends. I thought the bad guy was really just plain greedy, and a major jerk. The reason why he said he was doing this, was just his way of trying to make you think he had was justified. And that he wasn't the one that was in the wrong, and so you would also feel bad for him.
I thought the book ended the way it should have for the age group that the author was looking for. And why I wouldn't buy the book for myself, I would buy it for someone younger, like a niece or nephew.
I would like to thank the author, publisher, and netgalley for allowing me to read and review this book, I had a lot of fun reading the book.

This was such a delightful and fun read. I loved the characters and the plot just kept me spell bound from the beginning to the end. There has been no indication that it is the start of a series, but I certainly hope that it is. I really want to spend more time with this group of friends and in Quiver Hollows.

Grimsly is such an interesting character. He doesn’t have any magical qualities like his friends, but he has found his niche as the town’s pet funeral director. I love that he walks around in a suit and tie with a messenger bag, he is just so adorable. His friends are also very likable and I would love to have some of their talents. Unfortunately we don’t see as much of his Quiver Hollow friends in the story as I would have liked. When Grimsly goes out into the ‘normal’ world his friends stay behind. It is all left up to him and his new friend Frankie to figure out what is wrong with his town and how to save it. Frankie is adorable too, and maybe has some qualities that will help Grimsly solve his mystery.

The bad guys in this story are pretty evil. They are bullies and the ring leader, Headmaster Moonsliver deserves what he gets in the end. Grimsly is not treated very nicely by the boys he meets at the academy, but once you understand that Moonsliver is behind all of his mistreatment and that some of the boys truly don’t want to be bullies, you start to hope that Grimsly can turn them around. What the bad guys are doing with the bones they steal from Quiver Hollow, is quite gruesome and has a high ick value, that really makes you cringe as you read it.

I highly recommend this book with some very adorable characters, and some evil nasty ones. The plot is entertaining and fast moving with twists and turns that will keep you turning those pages.

I enjoyed this book and have recommended it to many people. Those that like magic and funny/bizarre images will enjoy reading this book. It is an easy read and easy to follow along with what is going on.

received this ARC copy from Netgalley in exchange for an honest review. So thank you netgalley and publishers.
So this is my first book by this author, I read it to my almost 4 year old, I know it's a "middle grade" book but she really enjoyed it. ( I've also been reading to her since she was a newborn so she has developed a love for books for sure )
The main character Grimsly, Is a orphaned kid, and a pet funeral director.  Another character, Penelope, gets visions and can communicate telepathically. Ollie can bend spoons and metal using his mind. Ming levitates and does ballet moves above the ground.
They live in a normal town where nothing normal happens :)
If your a Tim Burton fan then you will love this book!

My kids and I LOVED this book. This book follows a boy who lives in the un-ordinary but doesn't fit in. He isn't odd, doesn't look different, and has no "special" talents like his friends. He doesn't let that stop him for being different in his own way. He is the towns pet director. He took it upon himself to make sure every pet has a proper burial, a job he tales very seriously. Until the town starts becoming "normal" and the town blames him. He doesn't know why but he does know it is his job to figure out whats going on and how to set his beloved town back to rights. With the help of his friends he faces obstacles and enemies while uncovering mysteries and getting answers.

It's hard being normal when you live in a magical town like Quiver Hollows. Grimsly has friends who bend spoons, use telepathy, and even levitate but he can't do anything. Then all of a sudden the magic in the town starts disappearing and Grimsly discovers that he is the Keeper and he is supposed to be in charge of keeping the bones of all the magical creatures in Quiver Hollows. But someone has stolen the bones and now Grimsly has to find them. In doing so he uncovers his own history and a terrible curse. Can Grimsly save the home he loves?

So I liked this at first but then it got a bit weird for me - when some of the bones ended up being human and when people were eating the ground up bone powder (just animals). It also annoyed me that Grimsly felt so guilty about failing as the Keeper when no one had ever even told him he was.

I love Alyson Noel and this book was no exception! Loved everything about this book! It stole my heart!

Any book that opens with a John Lennon Quote has to be good and Alyson Noel makes good on that impression which should come as no surprise since she’s a prolific author who has written across genres and for different age groups.

This is the kind of book that kids will get excited about it and want their friends to read to share in the adventures. She grabs your interest from the first page with vivid descriptions and makes you feel like there is someone sitting right in front of you spinning an intriguing tale of magic and fantasy.

The main character Grimsly, an orphaned kid, is a pet funeral director who gives lovely, poetic eulogies like when a goldfish dies. Another character, Penelope, gets visions and can communicate telepathically. You have to know you’re going to be in for an interesting ride. Ollie has been able to bend spoons and metal using his mind since he was an infant. Ming levitates and does ballet moves above the ground as well.

It’s cute the way the author flipped things around. Instead of having a normal town where magically odd things happen you are treated to an unusual town where spoon bending seems to be their national past time because their ‘normal’ is the equivalent to our odd. Their odd is the equivalent to our ‘normal’ such as their town actually quivers so to not shake is weird or a Labrador which gave birth to a litter of pups without one purple piglet in the lot. That is the foundation of the story; an abnormal town suddenly becoming normal which is freaking everyone out.

Described as the perfect story for Tim Burton fans, I’d have to say that’s fairly accurate and would love to see what he could do with this on the big screen. Although there are some creepy parts it ends in this incredibly beautiful sunny way that leaves your heart happy.