Rating: 3 stars
Cover Rating: 4 stars (It's fairly lovely.)
Genre: Middle Grade
Publication Date: September 3, 2013
Publisher: Clarion Books
Page Count: 240 p.
Add it: Goodreads
Clare's mother moves them to a new house set back by the woods. All of Clare's friends are out on the coast and are puzzled by why her mother chose to be inland. On the property is a glass house that immediately fascinates Clare. When she knocks on the glass somethings, or someone, knocks back. The knock comes from a ghost of a boy that Clare can't see but can hear. She tries to find out more about the boy, but people seem to be unwilling to discuss him. She prefers his company though to that of her friends. They seem ready to grow up, and Clare wants to hold on to be young.
So this seemed like a middle grade book in theory, but in practice it leaned more towards YA. I feel like this novel balances the line between the two age groups. On one hand the story seems to be closer to Middle Grade, but the voice is not that of a young girl, she sounds much older.
I did enjoy this book though. There was some ghost story with a hint of mystery and a sprinkle of romance. I didn't care for Clare's friend Bridget, she seemed mostly unpleasant. I doubt Clare would have chosen her as a friend if they weren't thrust together by their family's migration patterns. I wish the other characters were better developed I feel like we were meeting them all through a shroud of fog.
The house sounds very magnificent and I wish I could just roam around staying in various lovely places all the time. Although, I wouldn't want to have a dead husband be my catalyst.
This was a nice read. Nothing too exciting, but a nice read. Very appropriate for younger readers who want a little bit of a ghosty mystery and maybe a coming-of-age tale feel to their story.
First Line:
"Clare Fitzgerald had seen so much in the twelve short years of her life that she could almost always guess what was going to happen next."
Favorite Line:
"She ran the rest of the way, up toward the garden and sky reflected in the kitchen glass, which changed all the familiar shapes and made them shine so bright that they seemed like windows into another world."
