Reviewing - Greenglass House by Kate Milford

I think I have been a bit wordy with my posts lately, so I am going to try and keep this one short but informative. I have always struggled with wordiness!

This is a newish book, published in 2014. I ran across it at a recent Barnes and Noble trip. The author has several books out, a couple related to this one, though not in a traditional series kind of way. More like prequels to this book. The cover drew me in. It has a "Mysterious Benedict Society" feel to it (and I love that series).

Below are some basic recommendations and the pros and potential red flags of this book. This book drew me in from the start, but I have a few misgivings about it, which I discuss in the red flags list.

Type of Book: Mystery

Age recommendation: I think a 9 year old boy or girl and up would like this book, but it depends on the 9 year old. Keep reading to understand why.

Main characters: a boy and girl, both aged 12.

Overall Synopsis: main boy character lives in a fictional town on the northwest coast that is famous for smuggling. (It was in America, but everything about the town was fictional.) The boy and his parents live in a very old house full of stained glass. The house is a bed and breakfast kind of get away and they mostly host smugglers (though the smugglers in the book are harmless...they smuggle things like flower seeds and pens). During winter break the house, which is usually quiet during that time, is filled with 5 unusual house guests who all come at once and all have some mysterious reason for being at the house - they are all connected to it somehow. The boy and his friend (the girl who is there at the same time) decide to try to uncover why all the guests are acting so weird. This is done through their own exploring and through the stories the guests tell each night while they are there. There's lots of sneaking around, some burglary, some fast paced moments, some crime solving and a lot of history about the house.

Pros:

- Gripping read. Lots of mystery, twists and turns, a kind of magical/secret passage feel to the house, where the story takes place. It really awakened my imagination. The author described the house and the kids exploring it in wonderful detail - not too much or too little.

- The characters were complex and thoughtful. There are two kid characters and a lot of adult characters, but you see them through the kids eyes. All the characters are quirky and intriguing. I wanted to know why they were acting so strange and how they were connected!

- Some tear jerker moments: the main character is adopted and that comes up a lot. You really feel his struggle with longing to know about his past yet feeling guilty for feeling that way when he has such a wonderful adopted family. There is a lot about family and relationships in this book - all the people become connected to each other. There are some really touching moments.

Potential Red Flags for Parents:

- Some lying - there are smugglers around and they have to be careful so there are some alias'. None of the guests are particularly forthright at first so there's some shiftiness and a feeling of distrust overall until towards the end.

- Violence - I don't want to give too much away but there's a sad, violent story (as in two people die, though they aren't shot. They fell off things) told towards the end and some scenes of struggle as well. No one gets hurt, but someone DID get hurt in the past which leads me to the thing that surprised me the most:

- SPOILER - Ok so if you want to read this book yourself, be prepared for this spoiler. I will try not to give too much away. I was VERY surprised by this, which is hard to do with me and books...especially kids books. Usually there is enough foreshadowing that you kind of figure something big is about to happen. But this reveal totally surprised me. One of the characters is a ghost. I won't give away which one, but it's completely surprising for everyone in the story.

The ghost is so unghostlike that I was completely taken aback. Which is why I am on the fence about this book. I typically avoid books about ghosts or anything paranormal. I don't believe in ghosts and yes, I know, I don't believe in aliens either and I read those books, but ghosts are a little more...personal. And closer to the spirit world, which I do believe in, but not in the typical "ghost" way. But the reveal happens at the end and I was so engrossed in the book that I just had to finish it. If it had been at the beginning I probably wouldn't have read it.

So...if you don't have a problem with ghosts, than this is a great book. If you don't believe in ghosts and your child completely understands that ghosts aren't real, than this could still be a book you or your child would enjoy. If you avoid paranormal stuff like I do and don't want to encourage a belief in ghosts in your kid or maybe haven't discussed that with them, then you may want to avoid this book. It was incredibly well written and original and overall had a satisfying ending, but I just want to be upfront with my impressions and potential problems.

Happy Reading (or not)!

Shelby