Behind the Bookcase
-
- $13.99
-
- $13.99
Publisher Description
A girl stumbles into a fantastic world in this tale perfect for fans of Coraline, Alice in Wonderland, and The Twilight Zone.
Spending the summer at her grandmother's house is the last thing Sarah wants to do—especially now that Grandma Winnie has died—but she has no choice. Her parents have to fix the place up before they can sell it, and Sarah and her brother, Billy, have to help. But the tedious work turns into a thrilling mystery when Sarah discovers an unfinished letter her grandmother wrote: Strange things are happening behind the bookcase. . . .
Sarah's mother dismisses the letter as one of Grandma Winnie's crazy stories, but Sarah does some investigating and makes a remarkable discovery: behind the bookcase is a doorway into Scotopia, the land where shadows come from. With a talking cat named Balthazat as her guide, Sarah begins an unforgettable adventure into a world filled with countless dangers. Who can she trust? And can she face her fears, not only in Scotopia, but also back at Grandma Winnie's house, where more secrets and strange goings-on await her?
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
In Steensland's lackluster debut, 11-year-old Sarah, who identifies herself as "cautious" maybe even "a scaredy-cat," as her annoying eight-year-old brother taunts shows her courage when her late grandmother's house turns out to be as haunted as it appears. Arriving from California with her family to prepare Grandma Winnie's dilapidated house for sale, Sarah discovers an unfinished letter from her grandmother, which expresses the worry that "Strange things are happening behind the bookcase" in her bedroom. Intrigued, Sarah begins exploring, and falls into the land of Scotopia, "where shadows come from," peopled by such creatures as a one-eyed giant hand and ruled by Balthazat, a talking cat. Adventures come fast and furious as Sarah who instantly and inexplicably morphs into an adventurous, brave, and steadfast child travels between reality and a trio of fantasy lands (eerily imagined by Murphy in b&w spot art), narrowly escaping dangers as she strives to secure the balance of the world. While Steensland's story has a quick pace and occasional surprises, there's little to distinguish it from others in the genre. Ages 8 12.
