The Bone Witch

---

Rin Chupeco

I recently came across a children's book author who did not have an "author" web site and I could find very little biographical background for her -- the same cannot be said about Chupeco.  In fact, go to her Bio page for a delightfully sassy introduction. There is nothing I could write which would do her justice.

Her young adult novels include The Girl from the Well duology, The Never Tilting World duology, Hundred Names for Magic series, the Hungry Hearts Anthology, and the Hideous Heart Anthology (a retelling of Edgar Allen Poe's The Tell-Tale Heart.)

---

World Relevance

Growing up different is daunting. Tea's story begins at the age of 12 when she discovers she isn't just magical, but is one of two rare Bone Witches. Even in a fantastical world, that's bad news for a preteen girl.

Developmentally, young teens are quite aware of whether they are similar to or different from their peers. It is also developmentally true that young teens do not really understand "normal" is not one thing, but a wide range of physical, mental, emotional, and social/ cultural markers. Supporting children through puberty - affirming their differences as wonderfully unique and helping them to learn more about their own development -- is a challenging task for parents and teachers.

Let me be clear: I never intended to raise my brother from his grave, though he may claim otherwise. If there's anything I've learned from him in the years since, it's that the dead hide truths as well as the living. I have not been a bone witch for very long, whatever the stories you've heard, but this was the first lesson I learned.

I understand now why people fear bone witches. Theirs is not the magic found in storybooks, slaying onyx-eyed dragons and rescuing grateful maidens from ivory towers. Theirs is not the magic made from smoke and mirrors, where the trap lies in the twitch of the hand and a trick of the eyes. Nor is theirs the magic that seeds runeberry fields, whose crops people harvest for potions and spells. This is death magic, complicated and exclusive and implacable, and from the start, I wielded it with ease.

---

Synopsis

Tea is taken from her home to train as a Bone Witch -- a dark asha -- when she accidentally raises her brother from the dead. Dark Asha are part of a powerful tradition of geisha-like women who serve as diplomatic and military forces in the Eight Kingdoms. Tea is trained to fight the daeva -- monsters -- who plague the kingdoms, but ends up raising an army of daeva when she is exiled on an island. Tea's story continues in The Heart Forger andThe Shadow Glass.

---

Learning Connections

• Young Teens Development (12-14 years old), CDC -- excellent online resource list at the end of the article.
  
• Teens (15-17 years old), CDC -- again, excellent online resources at the end of the article.
• Teen Brain Curriculum, Franklin Institute, Center for Neuroscience and Society, University of Pennsylvania -- 8 modules specifically for students ages 13-18.
• An Adolescent Mental Health & Wellness Curriculum,  DeMaso & Gold, Children's Hospital Boston and McLean Hospital, Belmont, Massachusetts -- this curriculum is designed for use in school settings, but can be adapted for individual family use.

Ages: 13 and up, young adult novel, 416 pages. A dark fantasy of scorned witches, sinister curses and resurrection.

---

Disclosure: I am an affiliate of Bookshop.org and I will earn a commission if you click through and make a purchase.