Perfect for the reader who prefers solid mystery with a dose of magical realism. The mystery arises with the question of Kallie's mother's disappearance all those years ago, and the magic which emanates from a mysterious puzzle box she received at a street festival. The cast of characters ranges from Kallie who believes in schedules, logic,and organization she despises reading The Lion and which and the Wardrobe. The new girl in the class is Anna and she thrives on creativity, music and art. ,Kallie's doting grandfather loves fishing and boating, and is a nice contrast to her rigid father who believes creativity is a waste of time. In a parallel universe is Laiha, the bone carvers apprentice from another century, and while Kallie and Laila's stories are related, they never meet. Excellent plot and characters, with much to discuss and consider.

This was a thoroughly enjoyable book, and I would highly recommend to middle-grade readers. The story is interwoven with another story set in another time and place, and it is fun to see how the two stories become grow together despite being separate stories. The main character, Kallie, is very logical and has no interest or patience for anything imaginative and not based in the bare facts, until she comes across a mysterious puzzle box. She becomes obsessed with figuring out how the box works, and why it seems to be causing so much disaster in her day-to-day life. This was a fun read, and I enjoyed how the author developed the main character through her struggles and the side story. I give this a 4 out of 5 stars.

I often ponder the possibility of writing a book and then read a book so filled with craft, voice and imagination that I jettison myself out of the possibilities. A Box of Bones is such a book. Juxtopositions reign supreme in this fantasy novel by Marina Cohen. Ancient times and modern times; magic and truth; foster care and loving families; death and life; abandonment and connection.
Kallie is raised by a father who buries himself in reality to avoid the pain of losing his wife and her grandfather who dreams bigger than the state of Vermont. At school she has a friend she has known since kindergarten who like her, beleives only in facts, science and mathematics until Anna moves in filled with stories that hide what she can't face. Throw into the mix is a magic puzzle box made of bone that once opened, may (or may not) cause events to take place. Mix in a story of a bone carver, his arentice and an empress and this mesmerizing story fully captivates even the most ardent non-believers. A must read!

What an absolutely marvelous story. The characters are sweet and well drawn out. The two stories are both wonderful, and a little bit creepy. The ending was just perfect and satisfying.

Kallie is such a delightful little girl who is very practical and doesn’t put up with any nonsense. Facts and truth are her comfort, she reads physics books for fun! She doesn’t know what to make of this faceless man who gives her this box. But she soon figures out the secret of the box, and what it contains will eventually change her life.

I loved Kallie’s relationship with her grandfather. You could tell from the start that although they believe in different things, they have a bond that is very important and loving. Kallie’s relationship with her father was also loving, but less demonstrative.

Anna is a girl in Kallie’s story who is the complete opposite of her. She delights in making up stories and going on adventures. She compliments Kallie and although their relationship is a struggle at first you can tell that this is the beginning of a life long friendship.

Liah was a very strong willed and smart young lady. She takes magic as a normal part of her life. Her journey is totally different from Kallie’s but it is just as important. And that Queen she meets, she is truly wicked and nasty. She would kill you just for looking at her. Liah is also very brave and kind. She also has a wonderful relationship with her master that although he is strict with her is also loving.

The two stories do not ever come together, but rather they mirror each other. Things happen in Kallies’ life that are then reshaped to fit Liah’s story and vice versa. The story moves along at a pretty quick pace and there are no slow spots. The ending is quite surprising and little bit spooky. Both girls show a tremendous amount of growth by the end.

A wonderful story that is a middle grade gem. I can’t wait to add it to my library’s collection and introduce it to my students. They will love it.

Great middle grade book. The story is original and captivating, the characters are nice and grow which is great! An amazing thriller/mystery book!

I really enjoyed the creepiness of this novel for middle school students. It makes the readers think about the connections within the box of bones and how they spin together to create a story that unravels with each cube.

Kallie is a very rational thinker but when she's at a festival one day and faceless man hands her a mysterious box, she's a little wigged out AND intrigued. The box seems to be mechanical in nature, although there's no key hole and no obvious way to open it. After a lot of methodical trial and error, the box opens and she finds that there are cubes inside, along with a long slender stick? Letter opener? Pencil? Then she meets a really strange girl who is telling all sorts of fanciful stories, and against her better judgement, she befriends her. Additionally, there is a separate storyline about a girl named Liah, who is a bone carver. There's some excellent intrigue, some good plot twists, and satisfying ending. I think the kids are going to like this one.

While categorized as horror, I did not find anything at all in A Box of Bones horrific. Or even scary in the least. That may be a good thing, though, because it is an intelligent book with a twist at the end I did not see coming that is uncharacteristic of thrillers, which is the genre this book should have been given.

Readers meet a strangely obsessed 12-year-old named Kallie, who loves order, precision, and things she can see with her own eyes and quantify with science and math. She leaves nothing to the imagination and lets nothing spark her imagination. Until she goes to a carnival with her grandfather and meets a faceless man who gives her a box.

The entire book centers around Kallie and the box, how the box affects her, and what she discovers about the world through that box. And while the title sounds ominous, many parts of the novel are quite endearing. I recommended Kallie’s story to any reader with a taste for spooky and mysterious without unnecessary gore and horror.

My thanks to NetGalley for the ARC, for which I give my own opinion.

Often when I read this age range of book I wish it was for an older audience so that I could get more meat from it. I didn't get the relevance of the Jackal. It didn't seem to be good or bad, or even an omen, which I think is what it was meant to be. I like the story idea and the characters. I would have liked more story told in the parallel universe. What happened to the past empress and so on. the biggest take away for me was the setting. I HAD to Google Lake Champlain, Champ, and the bike ferry. I am intrigued and desperately want to go. (I think it s a little unbelievable that she rode her bike over 14 miles (with a rescue swim in the middle) and then back again when she hadn't ridden in a long while. I frequently ride 22 miles round trip to a nearby town every summer and am worn out the first time. That's without the swim.) I guess she was significantly late home and she was tired. That just rubbed me wrong.

This book was received as an ARC from Macmillan Children's Publishing Group in exchange for an honest review. Opinions and Thoughts expressed in this review are completely my own.

When I first read this book, I did not know what to expect. Then as I read on and learned about Kallie and her belief that every myth, legend, and fantasy can be proved by science and that everything happens for a reason until she receives this magic box that unlocks a secret world that is becoming part of hers. This story reminded me a lot of the TV show on Nickelodeon Are You Afraid of the Dark and this would be the perfect story to feature on that show. Children will have their interest invested in the story as they follow along with Kallie as she unlocks the box and defeat the evil it entails.

We will consider adding this book to our JFiction collection at the library. That is why we give this book 5 stars.