Creeptown #2: The Bone Taker by Scott Charles

My name is Arlo, and my uncle's museum has lost a dinosaur skeleton. How does anyone do that? Luckily, my class is taking a field trip to the museum even though it's a crime scene. However, my best friend Darius is obsessed with movies and wants to film an adventure film starring me. It's kind of cool, and he convinces me to do things I'd never do on my own. Like jumping into a river of creepy, snapping bones or running at a pair of glowing, red eyes. That may sound brave, but I can't get up the nerve to ask Haley to co-star in the movie. She's pretty, awesome, and I've known her since we were little kids. Still, she's been acting different toward me recently, and she's hanging around with the class bully. Darius and I are still determined to solve the mystery of the missing bones and finish our movie if only we can survive the Creeposaurus rex that's terrorizing the museum.

This book is part of a Creeptown series, but it looks like each one can stand alone. I'm not sure how to describe the story in The Bone Taker. The conflict boils down to Arlo finding the Sorcerer's Tomb while surviving attacking bones and skeletons. The twist is that Arlo is missing 30% to 40% of his own bones. He's normally able to move like anyone else, but he sometimes collapses to the floor as a blob. Other times he's able to squeeze himself through small openings, which comes in handy at times. The weird thing is his classmates think his lack of bones is gross, but it doesn't really freak them out. It's almost normal. The story is a nice mixture of adventure, humor, silliness, and drama. The most entertaining part is Darius, as he won't let anything keep him from finishing his movie. Actually, most of Arlo's bravest moments don't come from his bravery but are a result of Darius's prompting as the movie director. Despite the funniness, the plot has a "serious" side to it, and the author saves some surprises for the climax. Overall, the book is very entertaining, and I recommend you give it a shot.