Saskia's Skeleton

Saskia, a one-eyed 10-year-old girl, meets a skeleton in the Spooky Woods and, delighted with his tailcoat and the bird nesting in his ribcage, befriends him; together, they go on to have many horrible adventures and find themselves in a lot of wonderful trouble. Saskia lives in a castle with her Princess and Franz (a nice-cat-turned-nasty-human), attends Bastilly’s School for the Ungifted, Average, and Unchosen, and dreams of becoming a circus acrobat. Apart from her being frequently bullied by her proper classmates, Saskia’s life is charmed—that is, until she invites a skeleton over for dinner. Before she knows it, proper grown-ups kidnap Saskia and take her to the Prison for Children Who Did Something Wrong. There, Madam Horridan, who Saskia suspects might be a wicked hag, tries to convince the girl that her castle is a decrepit eyesore, her Princess is sick and needs to take metal pills, and her friends Franz and Skeleton aren’t real. Saskia, Skeleton, and Charlie (another prisoner, who can run faster than anyone else despite having a wooden leg) must use their talents to escape from the Prison and rescue the Princess before she receives the Extra Painful, Ultra Dangerous, and Occasionally Effective Lightning Treatment. The Princess’s well-being is not the only thing at stake: Madam Horridan is determined to turn Saskia into a proper child and separate her and the Skeleton forever.