Arch of Bone
Recommended Ages: 9-13
Yolen writes “Melville’s novel Moby-Dick was based on a real event. However, my book follows those left behind in Melville’s telling —the widow Starbuck and her son Josiah.”
Arch of Bone is Yolen’s newest novel bringing her to over 400 published works. Readers may already be familiar with her popular titles such as The Devil’s Arithmetic and the How Do Dinosaurs...Series. My son was a HUGE fan of the Dinosaur picture books. I totally picked this title off the shelf of the newest arrivals at our local library because it was Jane Yolen. This novel may not be for everyone, but it is unique.
Yolen sets up the novel in the Forward. If you are one that sometimes skips this portion of the book, it would be better that you did not. One of Yolen’s favorite novels is Moby-Dick by Herman Melville. Yolen writes “Melville’s novel Moby-Dick was based on a real event. However, my book follows those left behind in Melville’s telling —the widow Starbuck and her son Josiah.” Some aspects of the story are borrowed from Melville’s tale, but she ultimately weaves together a tale about the loss of a father and coming of age. This story is not one that will bring you to tears over the loss of a dear father, even though Josiah misses him very much, but rather follows the thoughts and actions that come from grief in a 14-year-old boy. The story is very well-written (would you expect anything less) and offers a glimpse into a tale of grief, adventure, perseverance, and will to survive.
Ishmael Black turns up at Josiah’s home to relay the events that lead to his father’s death. Josiah’s mother is hospitable to this intruder; meanwhile, Josiah is angry and not sure how to handle all of his feelings and emotions at the news of his father’s death and this new visitor. Josiah decides he needs to clear his head by taking his boat out to sea for a short time. However, a storm appears suddenly, takes him off course, and ultimately causes him to land on an uninhabited island with the Arch of Bone. It is at this arch that Josiah has dreams of the events that lead to this father’s demise. The story does not end coming full circle, so if you want all the loose ends wrapped up nicely at the end of the story, then this book isn’t for you, but I enjoyed how she left if open at the end full of hope and anticipation for Josiah as he has wrestled with his grief and thoughts.
Mentionable items for families:
On page 7 Josiah remembers a time when he saw men leap out of bed naked with a necklace of shrunken heads. The character is reflecting on how it didn’t make sense to him because the men were so different from those he has known growing up. The mother, in response to the event reminds her son that “all people were made in God’s image.”
On page 10, Josiah is thinking and uses the word “damn.” “But damn the man who has brought her to such a pass, Josiah thought.”... “Then, he immediately swallowed the curse...at the un-Quakerly use of the Biblical word damn.”
The story centers around a Quaker community and there are several references to God, the Bible, and charitable actions based on Biblical teaching.
On page 48 there is profanity as a group of boys gather. “Don’t be an ass,” Rayburn said...”
On page 50 Josiah begins thinking that maybe his father was wrong and didn’t really know about things. “Maybe if Father was wrong about them, he could have been wrong about other things, too.”
On page 73, as Josiah is lost in a storm, he believes he hears his Father’s voice whispering commands in his ear. This can come across as his Father is speaking to him from the dead or as a reminder of commands from their past voyages together. Josiah takes it has his father is actually speaking to him.
On page 108 Josiah recalls a time his mother spoke at the First Day’s Meeting reciting Matthew 17:20.
On page 110 Josiah hears an unexpected voice. Yolen doesn’t state that it is the Spirit of God speaking to Josiah but given the context of the story, it can certainly be read that way. “And there, all unexpected, was a voice in his ear, saying ‘You asked for stones instead of food. I give you both’”.
I truly enjoyed this story and think it offers a brief glimpse into the feelings of loss and sorrow that some young people may feel. Some stories open the window to other worlds and experiences allowing readers to develop empathy and understanding. This is one such story.
