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Skeleton Man #1
Skeleton Man
Trust your dreams. Both my parents said that. That's our old way, our Mohawk way. The way of our ancestors. Trust the little voice that speaks to you. That is your heart speaking. But when those feelings, those dreams, those voices are so confusing, what do you do then?
Molly wakes up one morning and discovers that her parents have vanished. Social Services turns her over to the care of a great-uncle, a mysterious man Molly has never met or even heard of before. Now she's started having dreams about the Skeleton Man from a spooky old Mohawk tale her father used to tell her...dreams that are trying to tell her something...dreams that might save her, if only she can understand them.
5 cassettes - 8.5 hours (Unabridged)
9 pages, Audiobook
First published August 21, 2001
About the author
Joseph Bruchac
289 books605 followersJoseph Bruchac lives with his wife, Carol, in the Adirondack mountain foothills town of Greenfield Center, New York, in the same house where his maternal grandparents raised him. Much of his writing draws on that land and his Abenaki ancestry. Although his American Indian heritage is only one part of an ethnic background that includes Slovak and English blood, those Native roots are the ones by which he has been most nourished. He, his younger sister Margaret, and his two grown sons, James and Jesse, continue to work extensively in projects involving the preservation of Abenaki culture, language and traditional Native skills, including performing traditional and contemporary Abenaki music with the Dawnland Singers.
He holds a B.A. from Cornell University, an M.A. in Literature and Creative Writing from Syracuse and a Ph.D. in Comparative Literature from the Union Institute of Ohio. His work as a educator includes eight years of directing a college program for Skidmore College inside a maximum security prison. With his wife, Carol, he is the founder and Co-Director of the Greenfield Review Literary Center and The Greenfield Review Press. He has edited a number of highly praised anthologies of contemporary poetry and fiction, including Songs from this Earth on Turtle's Back, Breaking Silence (winner of an American Book Award) and Returning the Gift. His poems, articles and stories have appeared in over 500 publications, from American Poetry Review, Cricket and Aboriginal Voices to National Geographic, Parabola and Smithsonian Magazine. He has authored more than 70 books for adults and children, including The First Strawberries, Keepers of the Earth (co-authored with Michael Caduto), Tell Me a Tale, When the Chenoo Howls (co-authored with his son, James), his autobiography Bowman's Store and such novels as Dawn Land, The Waters Between, Arrow Over the Door and The Heart of a Chief. Forthcoming titles include Squanto's Journey (Harcourt), a picture book, Sacajawea (Harcourt), an historical novel, Crazy Horse's Vision (Lee & Low), a picture book, and Pushing Up The Sky (Dial), a collection of plays for children. His honors include a Rockefeller Humanities fellowship, a National Endowment for the Arts Writing Fellowship for Poetry, the Cherokee Nation Prose Award, the Knickerbocker Award, the Hope S. Dean Award for Notable Achievement in Children's Literature and both the 1998 Writer of the Year Award and the 1998 Storyteller of the Year Award from the Wordcraft Circle of Native Writers and Storytellers. In 1999, he received the Lifetime Achievement Award from the Native Writers Circle of the Americas.
As a professional teller of the traditional tales of the Adirondacks and the Native peoples of the Northeastern Woodlands, Joe Bruchac has performed widely in Europe and throughout the United States from Florida to Hawaii and has been featured at such events as the British Storytelling Festival and the National Storytelling Festival in Jonesboro, Tennessee. He has been a storyteller-in-residence for Native American organizations and schools throughout the continent, including the Institute of Alaska Native Arts and the Onondaga Nation School. He discusses Native culture and his books and does storytelling programs at dozens of elementary and secondary schools each year as a visiting author.
He holds a B.A. from Cornell University, an M.A. in Literature and Creative Writing from Syracuse and a Ph.D. in Comparative Literature from the Union Institute of Ohio. His work as a educator includes eight years of directing a college program for Skidmore College inside a maximum security prison. With his wife, Carol, he is the founder and Co-Director of the Greenfield Review Literary Center and The Greenfield Review Press. He has edited a number of highly praised anthologies of contemporary poetry and fiction, including Songs from this Earth on Turtle's Back, Breaking Silence (winner of an American Book Award) and Returning the Gift. His poems, articles and stories have appeared in over 500 publications, from American Poetry Review, Cricket and Aboriginal Voices to National Geographic, Parabola and Smithsonian Magazine. He has authored more than 70 books for adults and children, including The First Strawberries, Keepers of the Earth (co-authored with Michael Caduto), Tell Me a Tale, When the Chenoo Howls (co-authored with his son, James), his autobiography Bowman's Store and such novels as Dawn Land, The Waters Between, Arrow Over the Door and The Heart of a Chief. Forthcoming titles include Squanto's Journey (Harcourt), a picture book, Sacajawea (Harcourt), an historical novel, Crazy Horse's Vision (Lee & Low), a picture book, and Pushing Up The Sky (Dial), a collection of plays for children. His honors include a Rockefeller Humanities fellowship, a National Endowment for the Arts Writing Fellowship for Poetry, the Cherokee Nation Prose Award, the Knickerbocker Award, the Hope S. Dean Award for Notable Achievement in Children's Literature and both the 1998 Writer of the Year Award and the 1998 Storyteller of the Year Award from the Wordcraft Circle of Native Writers and Storytellers. In 1999, he received the Lifetime Achievement Award from the Native Writers Circle of the Americas.
As a professional teller of the traditional tales of the Adirondacks and the Native peoples of the Northeastern Woodlands, Joe Bruchac has performed widely in Europe and throughout the United States from Florida to Hawaii and has been featured at such events as the British Storytelling Festival and the National Storytelling Festival in Jonesboro, Tennessee. He has been a storyteller-in-residence for Native American organizations and schools throughout the continent, including the Institute of Alaska Native Arts and the Onondaga Nation School. He discusses Native culture and his books and does storytelling programs at dozens of elementary and secondary schools each year as a visiting author.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 546 reviews
August 18, 2011
Note to self: Don't start just any book at 12:30 am! Even though this is definitely a tween book, it still packs plenty of creepy inti 110 pages. I had to finish it in one go just so that I knew the ending and could go to sleep!
November 12, 2009
I've heard Joe Bruchac tell stories of his Abernaki heritage - and this reads just the way the talks. Wonderful story - even though it's aimed at a juvenile audience, no reason they should keep it all to themselves. A good story, well told, is still a good story, no matter the age group. And this is a good story well told.
Also the sequel, Return of the Skeleton Man
Also the sequel, Return of the Skeleton Man
September 17, 2021
I read this book as a child probably a hundred times. It scared the bejeezus out of me and I kept coming back for more. Now, over a decade later, I think about looking it up on Goodreads and it's a SERIES?
Time to be that terrified child again.
Time to be that terrified child again.
February 9, 2019
3.0 Stars
An interesting middle grade horror novel with a few fairly creepy moments. I struggle to effectively rate and review because I am clearly much older than the intended audience.
An interesting middle grade horror novel with a few fairly creepy moments. I struggle to effectively rate and review because I am clearly much older than the intended audience.
March 15, 2011
There's an old Mohawk tale about a man who was so hungry that he ate himself; limbs, torso, everything until only a skeleton remained. Relishing the taste of flesh, he also ate his family. The only relative who evaded his skeletal hands was his niece.
Molly heard this tale from her father, who grew up on a reservation. She leads a typical life in the city until her parents vanish one day. She is forced to live with her great-uncle, a man she's just met, who mysteriously appears after her parents' disappearance. Her uncle is bone-thin and creeps her out. He locks her in her bedroom at night. Between her instincts and nightly dreams, Molly knows something bad is brewing. She has to use her wits to escape her uncle and find her missing parents.
I purchased this on a whim. I received a gift card and looked for a book that matched the exact amount of the card. I narrowed my choices down to two books, and this was one of them. Wow, I'm glad I picked this. It has a great blend of Native American legend and modern day mystery and horror.
Molly heard this tale from her father, who grew up on a reservation. She leads a typical life in the city until her parents vanish one day. She is forced to live with her great-uncle, a man she's just met, who mysteriously appears after her parents' disappearance. Her uncle is bone-thin and creeps her out. He locks her in her bedroom at night. Between her instincts and nightly dreams, Molly knows something bad is brewing. She has to use her wits to escape her uncle and find her missing parents.
I purchased this on a whim. I received a gift card and looked for a book that matched the exact amount of the card. I narrowed my choices down to two books, and this was one of them. Wow, I'm glad I picked this. It has a great blend of Native American legend and modern day mystery and horror.
July 15, 2018
A very solid book for the tween audience. For an adult enthusiastic reader the book will definitely be off target when it comes to mature emotional involvement, but I am confident it is very immersive for the appropriate target audience.
Honestly speaking, it is always hard to judge the book below and above our age limit, but the novel showcases some strong points. First off, the main character is spirited, independent, resourceful, and is both "book smart" and "hand smart", so basically a dream character.
Another plus is that the book is based on Abenaki mythology instead of typical over explored Judo-Christian mythology and fairy-tales that are so ubiquitous nowadays. It is indeed a book with empowering quality as it helps people of a different ancestry relate to their cultural experience instead of forceful cultural appropriation of the imposed values.
Personally, the book did not touch me in the way other books for children did, but I can still see its value for its target audience.
Honestly speaking, it is always hard to judge the book below and above our age limit, but the novel showcases some strong points. First off, the main character is spirited, independent, resourceful, and is both "book smart" and "hand smart", so basically a dream character.
Another plus is that the book is based on Abenaki mythology instead of typical over explored Judo-Christian mythology and fairy-tales that are so ubiquitous nowadays. It is indeed a book with empowering quality as it helps people of a different ancestry relate to their cultural experience instead of forceful cultural appropriation of the imposed values.
Personally, the book did not touch me in the way other books for children did, but I can still see its value for its target audience.
October 24, 2023
A nice, creepy middle school appropriate story for spooky season
January 15, 2021
I started reading this late last night at 11 pm. I had just picked the book up to glance at the first page, which obviously was a bad idea because then I got hooked! I read the whole thing in about 75 minutes so I was done about 12:15 am. The story was intense enough it kept me reading.
This is a modern retelling of a native American legend / myth. The author is a member of a Vermont tribe, the Nulhegan Abenaki but the tale itself may be from the Mohawks as the main character is related to that tribe. Anyway I think it's just brilliant how he rewrote the tale and updated it for a more modern audience so they can relate better to it. And this story definitely is creepy!
It's a creature story and I love those! In here the young girl must use her wits and bravery to survive the skeleton man who is always hungry (and he likes to eat people!). The writing style actually reminds me of RL Stine so it's a fast pace. Very real danger and trills too.
I plan to read more books by this author. Hopefully they'll be just as great as this one.
This is a modern retelling of a native American legend / myth. The author is a member of a Vermont tribe, the Nulhegan Abenaki but the tale itself may be from the Mohawks as the main character is related to that tribe. Anyway I think it's just brilliant how he rewrote the tale and updated it for a more modern audience so they can relate better to it. And this story definitely is creepy!
It's a creature story and I love those! In here the young girl must use her wits and bravery to survive the skeleton man who is always hungry (and he likes to eat people!). The writing style actually reminds me of RL Stine so it's a fast pace. Very real danger and trills too.
I plan to read more books by this author. Hopefully they'll be just as great as this one.
October 19, 2009
When Molly's parents disappear she is put into the custody of her "Uncle". She knows something is amiss when he treats her very differently from everyone else. the uncle is a very small character but at the same time one of the most important.he unintentionally gives molly clues into where her parents disappeared to. She begins to have dreams about the skeleton man, the one whom her dad told stories about. Uncle is very discreet in what he does and where he goes. Can he be the skeleton man that her father was always telling her about.........?
November 13, 2017
Started out strong but never went anywhere. I appreciated the cultural infusion but it wasn’t enough to leave me satisfied.
January 9, 2022
If you have middle grade readers looking for a creepy story, Skeleton Man is definitely one I would recommend.
October 8, 2022
Oooh! A creepy one that kept me reading it until I was done! My middle schoolers will love it - and it’s so quick!
May 18, 2019
A contemporary young Mohawk girl, sixth-grader Molly loves to listen to her father retelling the legend of Skeleton Man, a terrifying figure who becomes so hungry that he devours his own flesh before turning on his family. But when her parents disappear, and she is given into the care of an emaciated "uncle" she has never heard of before, Molly begins to fear that the story has become a reality...
The talented and prolific Joseph Bruchac, a Native American of Abenaki heritage, gives the middle-grade horror novel an indigenous twist in Skeleton Man, which successfully combines the "scary story" with elements of folk legend. Given the popularity of this genre, which tends to be dominated by more formulaic series, Bruchac's well-written offering should be most welcome.
The talented and prolific Joseph Bruchac, a Native American of Abenaki heritage, gives the middle-grade horror novel an indigenous twist in Skeleton Man, which successfully combines the "scary story" with elements of folk legend. Given the popularity of this genre, which tends to be dominated by more formulaic series, Bruchac's well-written offering should be most welcome.
August 9, 2016
Simple but effectively creepy.
May 3, 2023
*3.5 stars
August 22, 2022
I read this in elementary school and couldn't stop even though I was absolutely terrified!
December 8, 2023
this shit is still fire thank you to the librarian who recommended this to me like 13 years ago <333
June 2, 2021
This book is for middle grades. It was creepy, but it was interesting.
December 26, 2021
Okay, reading this as a nineteen year old, it’s definitely not as scary as I remember, but it was pretty decent.
Pre review:
I recall reading this as a kid and it freaking me the fuck out, so I think it’s time to reread
Pre review:
I recall reading this as a kid and it freaking me the fuck out, so I think it’s time to reread
June 16, 2017
Read my full, illustrated review here: http://diversityhorror.blogspot.com/2...
I'm so used to getting my scares from more mature media I often forget how scary "kid friendly" horror fiction can be, and get completely caught off guard. Supposedly terrifying films like Jaws, The Blair Witch Project, and Poltergeist have all failed to phase me. But Return to Oz, a PG Disney film, still gives me nightmares. And don't even get me started on the first time I saw Over the Garden Wall.
The problem is, I seem to have selective memory when it come's to being traumatized by children's books and television. So of course, when I picked up the young adult book Skeleton Man, by Joseph Bruchach, my first thought wasn't "Huh, R.L. Stein says this book gave him nightmares, this might actually be scary". Nope. It was "Tch, kids books can't frighten me! I've seen all the Alien movies!" "And hey" I mused, determined to keep up my string of poor decision making, "I might as well read the whole book at night, during a thunderstorm, when I'm home alone. That seems like a good idea. Yup."
This quick, suspenseful story stars Molly, a clever and resourceful Mohawk girl, who wakes up one day to discover her parents are missing. The police seem to have no leads about their disappearances, and Molly is sent to live with a sinister man who suddenly appears, claiming to be her uncle. Soon, the events in her life begin to parallel an old Mohawk tale about the Skeleton Man, until the legend seems to bleed into reality.
While the fantastical elements in the story are creepy, the truly terrifying part was the apathy shown by most of the adults in the story towards Molly's predicament. They completely disregarded her concerns because of her age, and placed her in a dangerous situation. The sense that she was alone, helpless, and ignored by those who were supposed to help and protect her was realistic enough to make my chest tighten in fear for her. Seriously, who hands a child off to some random stranger without a proper background check?
Thankfully, Molly does have one adult who listens her, her teacher, Ms. Shabbas, who provides both guidance and emotional support to the frightened young girl. Just knowing her teacher believes her and is there to help is enough to give Molly the courage to free herself and find her parents.
The book reminded me a lot of Neil Gaiman's Coraline, a creepy and atmospheric children's story about a brave little girl who saves her parents from a monster. Except in Skeleton Man it's never clear wether Molly's monster is magic or mundane. And I like that. It leaves things open to interpretation and it's a lot creepier if you don't wether the villain is a creature from myth, or just an evil, greedy man. Either way, it's a fun, quick, read, perfect for a dark and stormy night. Or in the middle of the day with all the lights on. You know, whichever.
I'm so used to getting my scares from more mature media I often forget how scary "kid friendly" horror fiction can be, and get completely caught off guard. Supposedly terrifying films like Jaws, The Blair Witch Project, and Poltergeist have all failed to phase me. But Return to Oz, a PG Disney film, still gives me nightmares. And don't even get me started on the first time I saw Over the Garden Wall.
The problem is, I seem to have selective memory when it come's to being traumatized by children's books and television. So of course, when I picked up the young adult book Skeleton Man, by Joseph Bruchach, my first thought wasn't "Huh, R.L. Stein says this book gave him nightmares, this might actually be scary". Nope. It was "Tch, kids books can't frighten me! I've seen all the Alien movies!" "And hey" I mused, determined to keep up my string of poor decision making, "I might as well read the whole book at night, during a thunderstorm, when I'm home alone. That seems like a good idea. Yup."
This quick, suspenseful story stars Molly, a clever and resourceful Mohawk girl, who wakes up one day to discover her parents are missing. The police seem to have no leads about their disappearances, and Molly is sent to live with a sinister man who suddenly appears, claiming to be her uncle. Soon, the events in her life begin to parallel an old Mohawk tale about the Skeleton Man, until the legend seems to bleed into reality.
While the fantastical elements in the story are creepy, the truly terrifying part was the apathy shown by most of the adults in the story towards Molly's predicament. They completely disregarded her concerns because of her age, and placed her in a dangerous situation. The sense that she was alone, helpless, and ignored by those who were supposed to help and protect her was realistic enough to make my chest tighten in fear for her. Seriously, who hands a child off to some random stranger without a proper background check?
Thankfully, Molly does have one adult who listens her, her teacher, Ms. Shabbas, who provides both guidance and emotional support to the frightened young girl. Just knowing her teacher believes her and is there to help is enough to give Molly the courage to free herself and find her parents.
The book reminded me a lot of Neil Gaiman's Coraline, a creepy and atmospheric children's story about a brave little girl who saves her parents from a monster. Except in Skeleton Man it's never clear wether Molly's monster is magic or mundane. And I like that. It leaves things open to interpretation and it's a lot creepier if you don't wether the villain is a creature from myth, or just an evil, greedy man. Either way, it's a fun, quick, read, perfect for a dark and stormy night. Or in the middle of the day with all the lights on. You know, whichever.
September 17, 2009
Molly is a 13 year old girl who wakes up one morning to find that her parents never came home. Even a few days later they still do not come home. Molly somehow knows that her parents are out there somewhere and they will come back.
When social services comes, Molly tries to tell them that, but they aren't convinced and they place her with a great-uncle, who she has never met or heard of before. Molly doesn't want to go and live with him, but they give her no choice. There is something strange about him, he is very bony and to Molly, doesn't look human. Nevertheless, she has to live with him.
The house isn't really creepy, it's just this man who is supposed to be her uncle. While living there she tries to avoid him as much as possible by staying in her room. Every day he leaves her food to eat, but she doesn't eat it because Molly thinks he has drugged it, and every night he locks Molly in her bedroom. Molly has to use her intuition and listen to her dreams.
This book is actually based on an old native american legend, which interested me greatly since I am part native america. I wouldn't say the book scared me, I don't get scared very easily though. It was just creepy, I guess you could say and at some parts I just went "Wow!" especially right in the first chapter when Molly told the story of Skeleton Man. I don't know if this book will scare anyone, but even if it doesn't you still want to read more and find out what happens. At least I did. This is a perfect read for Halloween.
When social services comes, Molly tries to tell them that, but they aren't convinced and they place her with a great-uncle, who she has never met or heard of before. Molly doesn't want to go and live with him, but they give her no choice. There is something strange about him, he is very bony and to Molly, doesn't look human. Nevertheless, she has to live with him.
The house isn't really creepy, it's just this man who is supposed to be her uncle. While living there she tries to avoid him as much as possible by staying in her room. Every day he leaves her food to eat, but she doesn't eat it because Molly thinks he has drugged it, and every night he locks Molly in her bedroom. Molly has to use her intuition and listen to her dreams.
This book is actually based on an old native american legend, which interested me greatly since I am part native america. I wouldn't say the book scared me, I don't get scared very easily though. It was just creepy, I guess you could say and at some parts I just went "Wow!" especially right in the first chapter when Molly told the story of Skeleton Man. I don't know if this book will scare anyone, but even if it doesn't you still want to read more and find out what happens. At least I did. This is a perfect read for Halloween.
September 3, 2017
So this short scary tale based of a Native American legend took about two hours to read and comes with a review by R.L. Stine promising nightmares and thrills..I admit to neither but will say Joseph Bruchac can tell a great story, one that makes you interested from beginning to end in what will happen..So Molly is happy child from two Native American parents with little to no family aside of the three of them. They live happily enough with stories and legends and even scary tales of a Skeleton Man who eats people and was once tricked by a girl and a rabbit. When one day mysteriously Molly’s parents go missing and she is turned into a ward of the state and eventually handed over to a great uncle coincidentally back in town. More than a little suspicious of this new uncle Molly moves into his old house and finding out who this man is, what he wants and what will happen make the pages turn and hmm it wasn’t bad just not a favorite though I could see it translating into a nice readaloud..if only I could get my 5th graders to sit still sometimes LOL..will be on a Halloween display for sure and I will book talk for scholars, let them judge it for themselves..
May 18, 2017
What a perfect story to tell late at night, sitting around the fire, in the middle of the woods. I love Molly and her fierce dedication to her beliefs, dreams, instincts. The way she didn't let adults back her down, and I really appreciate that Joseph Bruchac wrote a good relationship between parents and child and also gave Molly an adult ally. It's hard to find a book for kids in which the adults aren't all against the kids and, as a result, the kids are forced into being their own hero. In this tale, Molly is proactive because she was raised with the knowledge that she is brave and capable.
4 stars
From the Acknowledgments: "They have helped me understand even more deeply how different the strong women in our traditional American Indian stories are from the dependent damsels of European folktales who hope for a prince to rescue them. Not only do our Native American heroines take care of their own rescues, they often save the men, too!"
4 stars
From the Acknowledgments: "They have helped me understand even more deeply how different the strong women in our traditional American Indian stories are from the dependent damsels of European folktales who hope for a prince to rescue them. Not only do our Native American heroines take care of their own rescues, they often save the men, too!"
December 11, 2020
This is a fun read, a great mystery for middle grade or YA readers. Bruchac is a Nulhegan Abenaki citizen, and an incredible storyteller. Skeleton Man is based on Native American Legend. The main character, Molly, and her father have Mohawk heritage. Her favorite of her dad's stories is about the Skeleton Man. When her parents disappear, she moves in with an uncle who she doesn't know. She starts to think that she is living the Skeleton Man story.
This is a fast-paced story, easily read, and hard to put down. I would definitely recommend to young reader who loves mysteries and action.
This is a fast-paced story, easily read, and hard to put down. I would definitely recommend to young reader who loves mysteries and action.
September 22, 2024
My 5th grade teacher read this aloud to us and I remember that it scared me so much! I recently had it as a part of my Spooky, Scary, Skeletons display at work and decided that I wanted to read it for myself. It wasn't nearly as creepy as I remember it being but it wasn't bad! I definitely see how 5th grade me was terrified!
June 22, 2020
"oooh, this tastes good!"
February 1, 2026
4⭐️ ~ This was a fun, quick read! It wasn’t very scary though, at least in my opinion.
June 29, 2023
When I was a kid, I read this for a book discussion and it was easily one of the scariest things I had ever read! I was so freaked out by this story. I came across it again, about twenty years later, and decided to give it another go.
So, the question is: did this book hold up to how I remembered it? Yes and no. It was still really interesting, but not nearly as scary as it's been in my memory. But, at the same time, there were some genuine chills that appealed to me as an adult, as well as a child. So, it was scary on multiple levels, which is always a plus.
So, the question is: did this book hold up to how I remembered it? Yes and no. It was still really interesting, but not nearly as scary as it's been in my memory. But, at the same time, there were some genuine chills that appealed to me as an adult, as well as a child. So, it was scary on multiple levels, which is always a plus.
February 27, 2022
This book reminded me of the category of middle grade books that would have been available to me when I was a child (back in the dark ages). It was a pretty generic read with short sentences and a quick moving plot.
What stood out to me was the Native American viewpoint, which I've rarely read in a middle grade book. I appreciate the weaving in of native folklore to form the story.
In order to give a book like this a higher rating, I would have liked to see more heart and a takeaway or lesson learned.
What stood out to me was the Native American viewpoint, which I've rarely read in a middle grade book. I appreciate the weaving in of native folklore to form the story.
In order to give a book like this a higher rating, I would have liked to see more heart and a takeaway or lesson learned.
Displaying 1 - 30 of 546 reviews