I've always wondered about characters after the last page of their story. I've never read Moby Dick, but it is on my TBR pile (very near the bottom) and I once saw bits of the movie version with Gregory Peck, Richard Basehart, Leo Genn, and others. The only characters that stick in my mind are Ishmael, Starbuck, and Captain Ahab. The story didn't grab me for some reason, although I've always remembered the first line, 'Call me Ishmael."—It's hard to beat as a first line: short, direct, and begs you to read the next one. But I did wonder what happened to Ishmael.

I was mighty pleased when Jane Yolen's Arch of Bone came to my attention. Ishmael has a very small part to play and then the book centers on Josiah Starbuck, the son of the Pequod's First Officer and Ishmael's friend. Ishmael seeks out Starbuck's family to inform them of Starbuck's death. He feels it is his duty as the only survivor of the Pequod.

Josiah has been the man of the house since his father left on the voyage and he's immediately suspicious of Ishmael and his claim to be the only survivor. It doesn't help him come to terms with things as his mother, who is Quaker to her core, offers Ishmael a room to stay in, food, and, in return, asks for the story of what happened. Josiah quietly simmers and feels his mother is too kind and too fond of this stranger who just might have killed his father--in his angry and resentful opinion.

Josiah makes some very, very poor decisions, as do all those who act in anger and haste. He takes his sailboat and his dog and is determined to sail his anger away. In some ways, this might have worked, if a storm wasn't brewing, and if he remembered to follow his father's rules of preparation. Of course, the storm comes up and Josiah's small sailboat wasn't a match for its fury. The bulk of the book concerns Josiah's fight for his survival, his efforts to clear his mind of hate, follow his mother's Quaker teachings, and solve the mystery of the bone arch looking out over the sea and haunting his dreams.

Yolen has a way of getting into the minds of her young characters and portraying them as rational, thoughtful, and yet totally their age as members of their era, class, and society. Josiah feels real, in other words. He doesn't act as I would but he does act as a youth of his times would with the news that he received. It's one thing to know any voyage could be his father's last and another to learn that it was his final voyage—his father was never coming back. Grief drives most of his later actions along with a fear that he wouldn't be able to step up to support his mother.

I enjoyed the story and Josiah's struggle to understand what he'd been told without the filter of his anger, and to move forward and deal with his grief and his doubts.

Jane Yolen's book, "Arch of Bone," places us at the end of Moby Dick. However, this became a survivor story when Josiah and his dog were stranded on an island. I don't particularly enjoy this trope in fiction, but think there is promise here to hook interested young readers.

Thank you to NetGalley for this e-ARC in exchange for an honest review. All opinions are my own.
This book is a reimagining of what happened after the events of Moby Dick when Ishmael returns to Nantucket to inform First Mate Starbuck’s family of the tragedy. This includes Starbuck’s wife and 14-year-old son, Josiah. Josiah thinks Ishmael is getting entirely too comfortable in his home and joins his friends down near the harbor. He decides to take his small boat out to clear his head but he gets caught in a sudden storm and blown off course away from Nantucket. Josiah and his dog, Zeke, are marooned on a small island with little provisions but they soon find a small fisherman’s hut and a large arch of whale bone. When Josiah falls asleep next to the arch, he has very vivid dreams, which could be clues to his survival.
I usually enjoy survivor stories – I loved Gary Paulsen’s Brian series – but this one just didn’t work for me. It was incredibly slow getting started, I almost put it down. The story did pick up once Josiah was stranded. However, the book is full of fishing and nautical terms that took away from the story telling. It’s very rare that I cannot recommend a book and, unfortunately, this is one of those times.
#NetGalley #ArchOfBone

I love Jane Yolen and really thought I would like this book. I ended up not being able to finish this. I did not like the writing style or tone for this book. Rare to have a miss for Yolen and me. Sad. Arrr!

Arch Of Bone by Jane Yolen is a good piece of historical fiction for young readers. It deals with the timeless themes of survival, grief, dealing with loss, importance of having skills and being self-sufficient, making decisions, love, empathy as well as relationships.
Josiah, the main character, is a 14-year old boy who dreams of joining the crew of a whaling ship one day, following in his father’s and grandfather’s footsteps. Then, one day, a knock comes at the door along with a stranger and news that effects him dramatically and his whole world is turned upside down. He makes the difficult decision to take off on an adventure with his dog, Zeke with hopes of finding his father.
Read the book to find out what happens on Josiah’s adventure with Zeke. Will he find his father?

Arch of Bone picks up some threads from Moby Dick and weaves them into a children's adventure story about a boy (the son of Starbuck from Melville's classic) stranded at sea with just his dog for company. Before we get to the adventure story, though, there's a not inconsiderable amount of summary of the original, via Ishmael explaining to Starbuck's widow and child what took place on the ill-fated whaler. It’s a novel (pardon the pun) way to abridge a story, and works relatively well, essentially recapping Moby Dick for children who can’t reasonably be assumed to have read it, before moving into the original story that’s focused on Starbuck’s son, Josiah. Some of the little asides and bits of commentary from Josiah and his mother during this recap portion are amusing (like snide comments on how long-winded Ishmael’s own asides on whale anatomy are), others feel heavy-handed, a mix that characterizes the entire book. There’s the drama and excitement of a boat lost at sea, a sailor (well, dog) overboard, a boy trying to survive in the wilderness. But there are also some slightly tedious repetitions that feel unnecessary in a fairly short book, and the slightly more...spiritual, I suppose, aspects of the story feel like they come out of nowhere. The first half of the story doesn’t really set one up for paternal spectres and psychic dreams, so it feels kind of disjointed.

On the whole, I’d say Arch of Bone does its job of creating a Moby Dick-esque tale for younger readers competently, albeit not brilliantly. But I honestly wish there was less attempt to drag so much of the actual Melville into it - let it be a spin-off or sequel, but let it stand on its own a little, too. Kids who read and love Arch of Bone might read Moby Dick someday (speaking from experience, as the kind of kid who was obsessed with historical and especially nautical adventure stories!), but this feels a little too much like trying to teach the classic by means of a more child-friendly tale.

Thanks to NetGalley and Tachyon Publications for an advance copy in exchange for an honest review.

Arch of Bone
by Jane Yolen, Ruth Sanderson (illustrations)
Tachyon Publications
Children's Fiction | Historical Fiction | Middle Grade


I am reviewing a copy of Arch of Bone through Tachyon Publications and Netgalley:


Josiah Starbuck is a fourteen year old who dreams of joining the crew of a whaling ship someday, just like his father and his grandfather had. But when a ragged sailor arrives on his doorstep, Josiah’s world turns upside down.



The Sailor is named Ishmael, and he has terrible news: Josiah’s father, the first mate of the Pequod, is dead, along with the rest of the crew. Ishmael claims they were led to their doom by the mad Captain Ahab and Ahab’s hunt for the legendary white whale Moby-Dick.




But Josiah feels there is something more to his Fathers death, and he can’t understand how Ishmael survived when all the other crew died.



Grief-stricken, Josiah sets sail with his dog, Zeke, in order to find the truth of his father’s death. Can he and Zeke discover the secrets of the Pequod at the mysterious Arch of Bone?


I give Arch of Bone five out of five stars!



Happy Reading!

Middle-grade readers who enjoy historical fiction will love this homage to Moby-Dick. When Ishmael himself shows up at the home of the Pequod's first mate Starbuck, to inform Starbuck's wife and son of the loss of the Pequod, Starbuck's son Josiah flees. He's fleeing loss, and this interloper, and grief. Fleeing in haste, though, leads to repenting in hardship, as Josiah takes his boat out and gets lost in a storm. He wakes on a small island that is not Nantucket, and, accompanied by his dog, lives out the next few weeks trying to repair the boat and decide what to do. Echoes of the Pequod haunt his dreams. There's a hint of the mystical about this deserted isle tale, but realistic fiction fans who enjoy Gary Paulsen will also find lots to like here, as a young person develops skills and self-sufficiency. With plenty of drama, Yolen's homage to Melville introduces a sympathetic young person attempting to cope with a great grief. This is a quick read, but it will linger.

Apparently this is book 401 of Jane Yolen's long, award-winning career... I've had my eye on her for a very long time, I suppose it's finally time I gave her a chance, eh?

This was a very good book. It reminded me of Patricia McKillip A Changeling Sea: also sea-based, with a dead parent, and a child trying to grieve. This focuses less on the heavy stuff, but it's still there. It's mostly a fun adventure story, a boy-and-his-dog story, and the story of a boy longing for the sea. Or not necessarily the sea... just somewhere away from home, away from his father's death.

I dare someone to make their kid read Moby Dick and then this. I know which one they'll like more.

It's a bit of a survival story, even though it never feels like Josiah is in any real danger. With the help of his dad (what? not his actual dad, but dreams he has of his dad, at the titular arch of bone) he learns how to repair his ship and return home.