Scorched Bone by Vince Ford

There are some folk who view series with a cynical eye, assuming they are produced with on-going sales in mind. But for the school librarian/teacher, who is wanting to capture and hold that reluctant reader, a good series is a god-send.

And so we have Vince Ford’s Scorched Bone, the first of what I believe is a proposed Chronicles of Stone trilogy. After the visit of a traveller from the north, twins Souk and Trei feel they have a calling to explore the regions he speaks of. Trei wishes to find out how it can be that men are able to hunt such enormous creatures as mammoths. And Souk, who is training to be a shaman, does not quite understand what it is that pulls her on this journey, but is determined to go. They set off with their friend Crien who has his own reasons for leaving.

Vince Ford has a smooth, unpretentious, easy-to-read style which I have always liked – his Handful of Blue is one of my very favourite kid’s books for its achievement of portraying the feel of New Zealand coastal geography and summer weather.

In Scorched Bone he tells a good pre-historic story along the lines of Michelle Paver’s Chronicles of Ancient Darkness but without the fantasy element. He has obviously done his homework – there are nice descriptions of how people lived from day to day; ways they cooked and how they kept themselves warm, sheltered and fed in pre-historic times.

I look forward to the next, and I bet there are lots of readers out there who are hooked for the next two.

Suitable for readers from Year 5 and up

Reviewed by Beth

Published by Scholastic