The Bone Taker

October 4, 2021
Arlo Vreeland, who has tan skin and red hair, is a medical enigma: ever since he was a child, his skeleton has slowly been disappearing. He’s now “missing up to forty percent of bones” and is “losing more all the time,” giving him elastic abilities. But his own missing bones soon take a backseat to the presumed-stolen skeleton of Creeposaurus Rex, a “newly discovered” fanged theropod. When Arlo’s sixth-grade class visits its small town of Triosset’s “so-called ‘Museum of Natural History,’ ” run by Arlo’s eccentric uncle Leo, Arlo and his best friend, cued-Black amateur filmmaker Darius Moreland, learn there might be more than meets the eye to the museum’s collection of fossils, the newfound dinosaur, and two of their cued-white classmates—Craig Stetler, Arlo’s bully, who has alopecia, and silver-haired Kayla Caine, Arlo’s childhood best friend turned crush. When the foursome unexpectedly stumbles across an ominous Sorcerer’s Tomb in the museum, Arlo realizes that what sets him apart might just be a welcome, powerful skill. Charles’s vibrant, memorable voice shines through in this Creeptown sequel; the plentiful eerie twists and comedic turns will engross young horror readers. Ages 8–12.