Reviews

This was an amusing and suspenseful read about a young orphan girl who is kicked out of every school and foster home she has attended and so is sent to live with two elderly aunts in a former boarding school. She knows something is not quite right in this new home, and that feeling grows stronger when she begins to hear voices coming from inside the walls...

Uncle Morris was a fun character who said silly things like, "Would you like to wear your coat while I hang it up? Or would you prefer to remove it first?" (p 22) and we all got a kick out of the Backwoods Girls, introduced on page 44:

[Maggie] was a caretaker in her game, a caretaker of five imaginary girls, the Backwoods Girls she called them, all poorer, younger, dirtier, and uglier than she was herself. And dumber. They were all newly arrived from some unknown backwoods, and they knew nothing, nothing at all, of the ordinary things surrounding Maggie's life - of toothbrushes, even, or dresser drawers, and it was Maggie's job to explain things to them.

I felt the writing became repetitive here and there, but my nieces (ages 10, 8, 7) didn't notice or care. We all really enjoyed it!

sonia_reppe's review

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5.0

My favorite childhood book.

lavenderbug's review

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5.0

I read this book probably in 6th grade and all I could remember was some of the book cover and the descriptive scenes of the house, trees, how Maggie chews her hair, and the vampire-like way the aunts float through the house. I spent years trying every combination of Attic, Dolls, Tea, and anything else I could think of to try to find this book again. It’s gothic setting, isolated adolescent protagonist, and touch of imagination and whimsy made me fall in love with the book and helped me feel better about my own habits of solitude.

kellysmaust's review

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4.0

I came across this strange little book at Goodwill and had to give it a try. It's a little creepy but also heartwarming and sweet. Definitely an usual children's book.