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Searching... Betty Rodriguez Library (Fresno Co.) | Searching... Unknown | Children's Fiction Area | CURRIE LI Peculia | Searching... Unknown |
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Summary
Summary
A girl unravels a centuries-old mystery after moving into a haunted house in this deliciously suspenseful mystery.
Tessa Woodward isn't exactly thrilled to move to rainy, cold Chicago from her home in sunny Florida. But homesickness turns to icy fear when unexplainable things start happening in her new house. Things like flickering lights, mysterious drawings appearing out of nowhere, and a crackling noise she can feel in her bones.
When her little brother's doll starts crying real tears, Tessa realizes that someone--or something--is trying to communicate with her. And it involves a secret that's been shrouded in mystery for more than one hundred years.
With the help of three new friends, Tessa begins unraveling the mystery of what happened in the house on Shady Street--and more importantly, what it has to do with her!
Author Notes
Lindsay Currie lives in Chicago, Illinois, with one incredibly patient hubby, three amazing kids, and a 160-pound lap dog named Sam. She's fond of tea, Halloween, Disney World, and things that go bump in the night!
Reviews (4)
School Library Journal Review
Gr 4-6-Tessa is wildly disappointed that her family has to relocate from Florida to Chicago right before the start of seventh grade. Despite the hardship of leaving sunny weather and her best friend behind, she determines to support her dad in his new job and tries to acclimate to her surroundings. Immediately after moving into their ramshackle older home, strange things begin happening. Crying is heard in the night, the house turns icy cold, and her brother's ventriloquist dummy appears to be shedding real tears. Tessa confides in a few welcoming classmates, and together they work to uncover exactly what is going on in the house on Shady Street and who, or what, is reaching out to Tessa. Their research includes fact-finding missions to the library and a graveyard, where some strange weather patterns make for a terrifying time. Balancing goose bump-inducing frights with relatable scenes of the friends navigating middle school, sibling relationships, and family issues makes the book scary but not horrific. Tessa, like her mother, is an artist and seeing events through her creative perspective adds an interesting element to the narrative. VERDICT. Give this page-turner to readers seeking a spooky thrill reminiscent of books by Mary Downing Hahn and filled with strong family relationships, budding friendships, a local history, mystery, and creepiness.-Sara-Jo Lupo Sites, George F. Johnson Memorial Library, Endicott, NY © Copyright 2017. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
Horn Book Review
Twelve-year-old protagonist Tessa's new house in Chicago is downright frightening. Lights flicker, doors lock, etc.; but when her brother's doll begins shedding real tears, Tessa knows something otherworldly is trying to communicate with her. Tessa enlists the help of new friends and the local library to untangle the mystery. Concise writing and short chapters make this chilling supernatural-thriller a real page-turner. (c) Copyright 2018. The Horn Book, Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
Kirkus Review
A preteen overcomes fear to solve a century-old mystery.Tessa Woodward and her family have moved from warm, sunny Florida to chilly, gray Chicago. It's bad enough that she had to leave behind her best friend and beloved beach, but as soon as the white girl moves into the eerie, rambling Victorian on Shady Street, myriad unexplainable things begin to happen. Lights flicker and doors lock on their own; mysterious crying and phantom footsteps echo throughout the house in the middle of the night; perfectly executed drawings appear in artist Tessa's sketchbook; and her 4-year-old brother's perennially creepy ventriloquist dummy cries actual tears. There can be no other explanation: this house is haunted. Who, or more likely what, has targeted Tessa, and why? The terrified seventh-grader enlists her new friendsskeptic Andrew and graveyard expert Nina, both evidently whiteto follow a trail of clues in order to find out what happened in the house on Shady Street all those years ago. Refreshingly, Tessa isn't an angry kid determined to make her parents' lives miserable in retaliation for uprooting her from the familiar. Instead, she resolves to make the best of things and to take her free-spirited parents' advice that she keep her eyes wide open and explore the unknown. And that she does. Shivers aplenty; just the ticket for a cold autumn night. (Paranormal mystery. 8-13) Copyright Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.
Booklist Review
Moving during the school year is a drag, especially when it entails leaving your friends and the beaches of Florida for the chilly North. But Tessa's dad's new position with the Chicago Symphony Orchestra means there's no arguing on that score. As soon as the family moves into their new (old) house, something makes its presence known through cold winds, a color-changing painting, mysterious drawings in Tessa's sketch pad, and the sound of crying at night. After mentioning at school that her house is haunted, Tessa finds herself surrounded by friends who want to help: Andrew, a totally cute and friendly soccer player; Nina, who's obsessed with Chicago's famous cemeteries and their residents; and Nina's twin brother, Richie, who is afraid of ghosts. As they unravel a decades-old mystery, Tessa learns that her new city isn't so bad after all, and that working together can result in friendship. A perfect flashlight read, Currie's debut novel is peppered with incidents that will make the reader's skin crawl and teeth chatter.--Fredriksen, Jeanne Copyright 2017 Booklist