Review: Corps of the Bare Boned Plane by Polly Horvath

When cousins Jocelyn and Meline's parents are killed on a trip in Zimbabwe, the two tween-aged girls are dropped off to stay with their affluent, solitary and eccentric uncle in his mansion on a remote British Columbian island. The two cousins are as different as can be; Jocelyn is a proper British girl and has disadain for anything that is not, whereas cousin Meline is a "hippy" vegetarian dreamer and fixer kind of girl.

Shortly after their arrival and several weeks of eating macaroni and cheese with hot dogs, uncle Marten decides that his culinary and social skills are insufficient. Over dinner, he inadvertently divulges that the island has a grizzly history; a manaical air captain decided to train his corps by stripping the planes of radar or any instruments. As a result, many young pilots died in an effort to either fly off the island or to land on it. Their bodies are buried on the island.

Uncle Marten hires Mrs. Mandelbaum, a Holocaust survivor, to cook for the makeshift family, to clean the 11 bedroom mansion and to care for the girls. Jocelyn and Meline, however, have decided to find out if the local legend about the Corps of the Bare Boned Plane is real, and try to find enough parts from crashed airplanes in an effort to fly away from their perceived imprisonment.

They wake in the middle of the night, searching in the cold and wet, for the parts they need to be able to complete their mission. When Mrs. Mandelbaum decides that she can no longer care for the girls and the house alone, she places an ad for a butler. Ghostly Humdinger appears and takes over on many duties, the least of which are caring for the girls. Suddenly, Meline develops pneumonia and must remain abed while prim and proper Jocelyn takes up the challenge to find plane parts outside in the dark.

Mysterious Humdinger seems to see all, but never says anything about what the girls may be doing. The seasons change, and Christmas comes and goes, while Meline improves in health and Jocelyn becomes bedridden; lost in nightmares of the train crash that killed her parents.

Mrs. Mandelbaum becomes ill, Jocelyn's health deteriorates; and Mrs. Mandelbaum administers some questionable remedy. Jocelyn becomes addicted to the family remedy and slips in and out of consciousness while Meline continues her search for parts. While searching, Meline comes across the graves of a number of the pilots, and the better part of a wrecked plane. Now all she needs to do is finish putting it together. When she does, she tries to taxi off the runway, but she doesn't fly... and survives.

This story is exceptionally well-written and a pleasure to read. The voices of each of the characters, which tell the story in their own chapters, are enough to make this reader break out into giggle fits (at appropriate times) and cry at others. I especially loved the scene when Uncle Martens was discussing what gifts would be appropriate for Christmas.

It is no wonder that Polly Horvath has won a National Book Award for Everything on a Waffle. Perhaps she will garner the 2007 Canadian Library Association's Young Adult Book of the Year for this novel. It is my sincere hope.