The Boneshaker (2010)

Great book! ( )

There are not many YA novels that are genuinely creepy/scary--this one definitely is. Fun read that asks some very profound questions. Highly recommended. ( )

Natalie is the thirteen year old daughter of the bicycle repairman at the turn of the century Arcane, Missouri. She has inherited her father's love for mechanical things and is even building her own automaton. She has grown up listening to her mother tell mysterious tales about Arcane and the ghost town nearby, but even Natalie is caught off guard when Dr. Jake Limberleg's Nostrum Fair and Technological Medicine Show comes to town. She is drawn to all of the clockwork machines that Dr. Limberleg brings with him, but soon she begins to suspect that these snake oil salesmen are not what they seem. I loved reading this book. Kate Milford is a great storyteller who draws a reader into her historical fantasy world. There is the battle between good and evil, magic, and the devil himself. Natalie is a wonderful heroine who overcomes her fears and learns to look evil in the eye. I would definitely recommend this book. ( )

Natalie is the thirteen year old daughter of the bicycle repairman at the turn of the century Arcane, Missouri. She has inherited her father's love for mechanical things and is even building her own automaton. She has grown up listening to her mother tell mysterious tales about Arcane and the ghost town nearby, but even Natalie is caught off guard when Dr. Jake Limberleg's Nostrum Fair and Technological Medicine Show comes to town. She is drawn to all of the clockwork machines that Dr. Limberleg brings with him, but soon she begins to suspect that these snake oil salesmen are not what they seem. I loved reading this book. Kate Milford is a great storyteller who draws a reader into her historical fantasy world. There is the battle between good and evil, magic, and the devil himself. Natalie is a wonderful heroine who overcomes her fears and learns to look evil in the eye. I would definitely recommend this book. ( )

A small town set at a crossroads in Missouri gets turned upside down when a traveling medicine show appears unexpectedly one day. Natalie, the daughter of the local mechanic, is fascinated, and also repelled, by the carnival-esque show and all the mechanical do-dads. But all kinds of weird things make Natalie think twice about the show-shadowy conversations, men with hypnotic and headache-causing eyes, and Natalie's strange new abilities to SEE things she shouldn't be able to know about. It's a fun, and slightly scary, steam punk story for preteens. I really enjoyed it, even though there were some parts that were slightly confusing. At some points it felt like the conclusion took too long to happen. ( )