Review: House "A Great Spooky Story"

Book review: The House with a Clock in its Walls

Sure.  This is a children’s book with a child as the main character.  Lewis is a recently orphaned ten year old boy going to live with his eccentric Uncle Jonathan in New Zebedee.  The intended audience is most likely in the same age bracket as Lewis (9 – 12), but I dare adults to read Bellairs and not fall in love with the stories.  There’s a reason Neil Gaiman mentions John Bellairs in his blog promoting All Hallow’s Read.  His books and characters transcend age lines because they remind all of us of the child inside.

The House With a Clock In Its Walls is a great spooky story about evil wizards and a clock that can bring about the end of the world.  It has magic and mystery and ghosts that seek to bring about curses.  It has tragic childhood mistakes, relationship foibles and cookies…lots and lots of cookies.  I have read this book at least twenty times over the last 25 years.  It’s one of those stories I return to and can always find something new to enjoy.  It’s one of the books I look forward to sharing with my nieces, and I always recommend it to anyone looking for something for their own child to read.  This was one of those books that ingrained a love of the written word in me, and I can directly link back to how it impacted me and my current need to write my own stories.

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