Bone Garden

Age range 9+

With echoes of Neil Gaiman'sThe Graveyard Bookand Jonathan Auxier'sThe Night Gardener,debut author Heather Kassner crafts a gorgeously written story humming with magic, mystery, and dark imaginings.

A dark, compelling debut fantasy about a mysterious girl seeking the truth about the magic that brought her to life. Made of dust and bone and imagination, Irreelle fears she's not quite real. Only the finest magical thread tethers her to life - and to Miss Vesper. But for all her efforts to please her cruel creator, the thread is unravelling. Irreelle is forgetful as she gathers bone dust. She is slow returning from the dark passages beneath the cemetery. Worst of all, she is unmindful of her crooked bones.

When Irreelle makes one final, unforgivable mistake by destroying a frightful creature just brought to life, Miss Vesper threatens to imagine her away once and for all. Defying her creator for the very first time, Irreelle flees to the underside of the graveyard and embarks on an adventure to unearth the mysterious magic that breathes bones to life, even if it means she will return to dust and be no more.