A Box of Bones
A Box of Bones
“But…I don’t write stories. I told you. I can’t. I only write facts,” said Kallie coldly. “Stories are lies. I write the truth.”
The teacher seemed taken aback. She stopped, and a look of concern creased her brow. Something about her had changed. Her frazzled state seemed to dissolve, and she deflated a bit.
“I see,” said the teacher softly. “But I’m afraid you’ve got something terribly wrong.” She placed a gentle hand on Kallie’s shoulder and looked her deep in the eye. “Truth doesn’t lie nestled snugly within fact. It runs wildly through it, it dances around it, and wriggles in its frayed fringes. Never make the mistake of believing truth is synonymous with fact, my dear. They are not the same thing.”
Meet Kallie, a 12-year-old girl who hates stories and lies. She prefers facts, and she believes in the inherent principles of reason and logic. So, it should come as no surprise that she is always prepared for what will come her way. Until, one day, her grandfather takes her to the town’s Festival of Fools, and she meets a faceless man who gives her a tiny box.
At first, Kallie is none too pleased with the box, but when she finds out it is a puzzle box, she sets out to crack the code. Once she opens the box, she finds nine smaller boxes within it, each depicting a different symbol. Stranger still, something gets unleashed into her world that throws her life off balance.
Kallie’s life gets entangled with that of a young bone carver named Liah. Liah is travelling with her master to meet with the evil Empress. It is Liah who created the box, and it was she who created the symbols that keep popping up in Kallie’s life. Unbeknownst to Kallie, the symbols that Liah created have a special meaning. They are telling a story, one that will ultimately bring Kallie to her destiny.
Written by a master storyteller, A Box of Bones is all about truth, lies, and the stories we tell each other in order to survive. It is definitely a slow read. The story begins at a slow pace, and it does take a while to understand how Liah and Kallie are connected, but once you do, the story will really absorb you. For those who love a fast-paced read, this book is not for you. But for those who love a slow build to your stories, then you should check out A Box of Bones. It’s a good one.
Teresa Iaizzo is a librarian with the Toronto Public Library in Toronto, Ontario.