The Bones of Me

by Kel Duckhouse

Overview

The go-to mystery thriller to cozy up with this season, for fans of YA gems like Clap When You Land by Elizabeth Acevedo and The Crossover by Kwame Alexander. Told in dynamic verse and prose!

"The combination of verse and prose keeps the pace moving, and colloquialisms add to the sense of place. A textured coming-of-age story deeply rooted in a working-class community."
—Kirkus Reviews

“Dynamic verse and sincere prose...Prominent messages about classism and forgiveness add layers to this insightful rendering of the amateur boxing world.” —Publishers Weekly


"An uncompromising and unflinching novel that certainly packs a punch." — Brian Conaghan, author of The Boy Who Made it Rain

"Gutsy, gripping and dangerous yet full of heart, truth and soul. Duckhouse's exceptional debut floats like a butterfly, stings like a poet." -— Keith Gray, author of Ostrich Boys and The Climbers

The Bones of Me is a thrilling debut YA novel about friends and family amid the world of amateur boxing. Living on an East London council estate has its worries - and life for 15 year old Molly hasn't always been easy. But she has a dream, a dream to be a boxer just like her older brother Denny. When he agrees to train her, she couldn't be more excited. But one night everything changes. There's an assault outside Molly's local boxing club, Denny's nowhere to be found and the police are after him. Molly must prove her brother's innocence and delve into the underbelly of East London, and her family history where new and old secrets are revealed...

The winning sports gift this season: a boxing book that packs a punch, ideal for the athlete of the family!

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781914343032
Publisher:	Flying Eye Books Ltd.
Publication date:	10/04/2022
Pages:	208
Sales rank:	494,640
Product dimensions:	5.30(w) x 8.50(h) x 0.60(d)
Age Range:	14 - 17 Years

About the Author

Kel Duckhouse was born in Leytonstone, London. She currently lives with her three children in Wiltshire, where she works as an Author, Poet and Spoken Word Artist. Kel graduated with distinction from Bath Spa University, where she studied a Masters in Writing for Young People. Kel started her career as a poet and performer and loves works with musicians to put her poetry to music. The Bones of Me is her debut novel. When she’s not writing, she’s campaigning for social causes or dying her hair pink. Her dream is to buy a camper van and travel the UK and Europe writing.

Editorial Reviews

09/05/2022

Using dynamic verse and sincere prose, debut author Duckhouse chronicles teenage boxer Molly Levine’s past and present in this “old school East End”–set London mystery. Chapters titled “The Before Days” take place in Molly’s past, depicting her close relationship with older brother Denny, also an amateur boxer, who starts coaching Molly at a local fitness center while hiding her training from their disapproving, mercurial father. Chapters titled “Nowadays” center Molly’s present and Denny’s unexplained disappearance the night before her first fight, her desperation to find him, and her boxing aspirations. When police release a warrant for Denny’s arrest in connection with an assault that occurred near their fitness club, Molly enlists fellow boxer Kwaku to help find him before the cops do, and prove his innocence, even as she secretly trains for her upcoming match. Duckhouse slyly drops clues about Denny’s disappearance, their father’s mysterious past, and an increasingly sketchy situation that culminates in Molly’s tense climactic match, all told in cockney-slang-laden and sensory verse. Prominent messages about classism and forgiveness add layers to this insightful rendering of the amateur boxing world. Ages 14–up. Agent: Julia Churchill, A.M. Heath Literary. (Oct.)

Publishers Weekly

Included in the CBC's October 2022 Hot Off the Press reading list

"The combination of verse and prose keeps the pace moving, and colloquialisms add to the sense of place. A textured coming-of-age story deeply rooted in a working-class community."
—Kirkus Reviews

“An emotional thread that packs a wallop fit for the boxing ring. With an unshakable sense of place and a quick one-two punch ending, this is a novel that appeals most to a specific reader but that will open up a new world for others who give it a try.”
—Booklist

“Dynamic verse and sincere prose...Prominent messages about classism and forgiveness add layers to this insightful rendering of the amateur boxing world.”
—Publishers Weekly

"An uncompromising and unflinching novel that certainly packs a punch." 
—Brian Conaghan, author of The Boy Who Made it Rain


"Gutsy, gripping and dangerous yet full of heart, truth and soul. Duckhouse's exceptional debut floats like a butterfly, stings like a poet."
—Keith Gray, author of Ostrich Boys and The Climbers


"Brave and bold, a proper right hook to the senses."
—Phil Earle

From the Publisher

2022-07-27
In the boxing ring, “unlike in real life, / no matter where you / was born, / who you are / what dolla’ you got, / youcan actually / win.”

Molly Levine rages against a world that tells her people like her can’t make it, can’t dream. Growing up in poverty on a council estate in London’s East End, her older brother Denny’s the only one in her corner, teaching her to box, to stand up and make something of herself. When Denny disappears on the day of her first fight, sought by the police on suspicion of assaulting a man, she’s beyond shattered. With help from her best friend, Kwaku, Molly vows to find Denny and clear his name, in the process unravelling a mystery older than she is. The triumphant underdog arc isn’t surprising; more interesting are the plotline surrounding Denny’s disappearance and the gradual reveal of supporting characters’ inner nuances as Molly comes to understand that she’s not the only person with problems. While she adores Kwaku, who also boxes at her gym, Molly’s resentful of his family’s relative wealth. The Levines are proper Cockneys, and gentrification is explored but not racism or immigration. Molly comes off as realistically belligerent, self-absorbed, and distraught in ways that may resonate with many teens. The combination of verse and prose keeps the pace moving, and colloquialisms add to the sense of place.

A textured coming-of-age story deeply rooted in a working-class community. (Fiction. 14-18)

Kirkus Reviews