Bone by Bone by Bone – by Tony Johnston
by Sam Arnold-Boyd on Jan.13, 2008, under Abuse, Adult Read, Bullying, Historical Fiction, Multicultural Fiction, Real life, Sam's Reviews
Who would like this book? Teens and adults interested in the racist reality of the south in the 1940s. Anyone who appreciates Harper Lee’s To Kill a Mockingbird will not want to miss this book.
Why? David’s father, Dr. Franklin Church, is the doctor of their Tennessee town. Dr. Church is also an extreme racist and member of the local Ku Klux Klan. From David’s birth, his father has planned his life for him: he hung a skeleton above David’s crib so that his infant son could start learning the bones and grow up to be a doctor. It does not go down well with him, then, when David (as a young boy) befriends Malcolm, an African American. Dr. Church lays down the law harshly, forbidding David to see Malcolm. Of course, the two young boys can’t stay away from each other, and their friendship blossoms as they pursue imaginative adventures together. In a setup such as this one, the reader knows that the outcome will not be a good one, but let me reassure prospective readers that Malcolm does not die. I also need to warn prospective readers that the language is raw, true to what would be used in the 1940s in the south. Dr. Church does not use “African American;” he uses the “n-word.” Johnstone has based this story on her own experiences growing up in the south. From them, she has crafted a stunning, riveting work that left me breathless and in tears. Read it for the history, for the well-drawn characters, and for David’s final decision (don’t peek).
The details: 184 p. 2007
