Puzzleheart
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5.0 • 1 Rating
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- $10.99
Publisher Description
An Oregon State Spirit Book Award Honoree
Get ready to solve the mystery at the heart of this captivating new middle grade adventure about family—and a house with a mind of its own—from the award-winning author of Game of Fox & Squirrels and Every Bird a Prince, Jenn Reese.
Twelve-year-old Perigee has never met a problem they couldn’t solve. So when their Dad’s spirits need raising, Perigee formulates the Plan: a road trip to Dad’s childhood home to reunite him with his estranged mother. There's something in it for Perigee, too, as they will finally get to visit “Eklunds' Puzzle House,” the mysterious bed & breakfast their grandparents built but never opened.
They arrive ahead of a massive storm and the House immediately puts Perigee’s logical, science-loving mind to the test. Corridors shift. Strange paintings lurk in the shadows. Encoded messages abound. Despite Perigee’s best efforts, neither the House nor Grandma will give up their secrets. And worse, prickly Grandma has outlawed games and riddles of any kind.
Even the greatest of plans can crumble, and as new arguments fill the air, the House becomes truly dangerous. Deadly puzzles pop up at every turn, knives spin in the hallways, and staircases disappear. The answer lies at the heart of the House, but in order to find it, Perigee and their new friend Lily will need to solve a long-lost, decades-old riddle… if the House itself doesn’t stop them first.
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
Intergenerational grief permeates this enigmatic mystery by Reese (Every Bird a Prince) which centers a family's attempt to repair fractured relationships. Following the death of their paternal grandfather, nonbinary 12-year-old Perigee Eklund hopes to fix the acrimonious relationship between their father and paternal grandmother by orchestrating a trip to visit her at the Eklunds' Puzzle House, built by their grandparents. Despite simmering tensions and a powerful snowstorm, the logic-minded tween thrills in exploring the house's myriad puzzles with fellow houseguest Lily Ishioka, an adventurous youth whose mother is working to rescue lost hikers. The house itself—which narrates in alternating chapters—is already reeling from the death of its cocreator, and becomes more desperate when Grandma Eklund announces the imminent sale of the property. After finding a forgotten riddle left by their grandfather, Perigee decides to delve deeper into the house's mysteries, solving puzzles and using clues to get at the meaning behind the riddle's cryptic message. Intrepid Perigee is a capable protagonist whose welcoming aura immediately endears them to the reader and Lily both. The anthropomorphic antics of the Puzzle House itself—Perigee often incurs the house's rage, which manifests as physically violent tantrums—add tension and humor to this emotionally cathartic and puzzle-laden story of trauma and healing. The Eklunds read as white. Ages 9–12.
