Joseph Bruchac: Hello. This is Joseph Bruchac, and I'm the author of Skeleton Man. Skeleton Man is a novel that uses the traditional theme of scary story, which is part of American Indian culture. We would tell frightening stories to our children, not just to scare them, but also to point out some really important things. One, that life is dangerous and you need to be careful, and another is that you can learn from your elders and from stories those things that you'll need to know to survive.

This novel takes place in contemporary times. The hero is a young Mohawk Indian girl. Her name is Molly, and she's grown up listening to stories from her parents and from her elders, and then something really terrible happens. Her parents disappear, and Molly finds herself having to figure out what has happened while being put in the custody of a man who says he's her uncle, but she suspects may be something very different and connected to one of our old, traditional scary stories.

I'm not sure how to begin this story. For one, it's still going on. For another, you should never tell a story unless you're sure how it's going to end. At least that's what my sixth grade teacher, Ms. Shabbas, says. And I'm not sure at all. I'm not sure that I even know the beginning. I'm not sure if I'm a minor character or the heroine. Heck, I'm not even sure I'll be around to tell the end of it, but I don't think anyone else is going to tell this story.

Wait. What was that noise?