Review by New York Times Review
WANT to write a middle-grade fantasy adventure series? It's easy! First, conjure up a plucky, prickly team of three - children who have to learn to trust one another and work together. Make the stakes really high; saving the world is always good. Use lots of wisecracking humor. Ensure the parents are absent (dead, missing, away - you'll figure it out). Invoke classic themes and figures from folklore and mythology, but don't bother becoming slavishly wedded to them. Be sure to include an intellectually or physically butt-kicking girl. Do I have a problem with these rules? I do not. Girls should play a role in saving the universe. Teamwork is important. Trust is a gift in our cynical, selfish world. But turning these rules into a book that's both fun and well written is quite a trick. A writer has to create characters we'll come to love, build a vivid world, ratchet up suspense, keep up a propulsive and pulpy momentum, use language deliciously, and spark enough excitement and imagination to get us to Book 2. The world-saving team in "House of Secrets," by Chris Columbus and Ned Vizzini, consists of the Walker siblings Brendan, age 12; Cordelia, 15; and Eleanor, 8. Their story starts with a bang: they're driving with their parents to see their umpteenth potential home in San Francisco, interrupting one another as their parents talk to a perky real estate agent on speakerphone. It's quick, funny scene setting that gives you a sense of each character (Brendan is the jokey man of action; Cordelia is a book-loving smarty-pants; dyslexic Eleanor just wants a horse) and a sense of place - the Walkers are headed to Sea Cliff, a fancy neighborhood overlooking the Golden Gate Bridge. They're forced to move in the aftermath of a mysterious accident that cost their dad his job, and they expect 128 Sea Cliff Avenue to be a dump like every other house in their price range. Instead, it's a huge, gorgeous Victorian confection, and oddly enough, it's dirt cheap. The house turns out to have belonged to "a well-known obscure writer" (Cordelia's words) named Denver Kristoff; its library is full of Kristoff's out-of-print tales of armor-clad warriors and pirate ships and dashing Great War fighter pilots. But it doesn't take long for an evil witch to appear and for the contents of the library to swirl together into a terrifying (yet exciting) gallimaufry. "Like a Denver Kristoff mash-up," Brendan says. Kristoff's characters come to life, furniture explodes and, oh yes, the Walkers' parents disappear, leaving only a smear of blood on the wall. Columbus and Vizzini know how to keep a story moving. Every chapter ends in a cliffhanger. There are a lot! of exclamation! points! There are a zillion pop culture nods - Lady Gaga, Scooby Doo, 4G cell service, Hot Topic. How well these references will age I'm not sure. (I did enjoy the passing notion that Lunchables are so terrifying, even rampaging warriors refuse to eat them.) While I appreciated the jokes and the ultracinematic explosions and chases, I kept thinking about that smear of blood on the wall. Death is treated jokily here; nearly every time Brendan kills a baddie, he makes a Bondian quip. ("Let's see how you handle that, manorexia," he tells a skeleton.) But death in the Harry Potter series feels real and sad, which makes those books something more than a slam-bang adventure. A sense of loneliness, responsibility and melancholy hangs over the fun. "House of Secrets" lacks a sense of stakes. While "House of Secrets" aspires to Potterdom, "Loki's Wolves" yearns to be Riordanesque. Rick Riordan is the reigning master of ancient mythology in a modern-day setting, with his middle-grade novels covering Greek, Roman and Egyptian gods. K. L. Armstrong and M. A. Marr have stepped into the Norse mythology gap. Here, our three heroes are Matt, Fen and Laurie, middle school students in Blackwell, S.D., a tiny town filled with the descendants of Norse gods. Matt Thorsen is the sheriff's son, a star athlete who wears a hammer pendant and tries to do the right thing. He doesn't feel as confident as he looks; when he's chosen to fight the giant serpent Midgard to prevent the dawn of a new ice age, he's terrified. He teams up with the cousins Fen and Laurie, both poor and from broken homes, both descendants of the trickster god Loki. Together they go on a quest to find Mjolnir, Thor's full-size hammer, and other mystical objects that will help them fight the serpent and prevent Ragnarok, the end of the world. As in "House of Secrets," there's a ton of action: a fun trip to Mount Rushmore, a tornado, a Viking raid. A wolf is punched in the face. Unfortunately, words from Norse mythology come so thick and fast the book sometimes feels like a Wikipedia entry. Fimbulwinter, Hnefatafl, Nidhogg, Sigrblot, Skoll and Sol, Mani and Hati, Vetrarblot! (I need some mead.) They feel superimposed, a substitute for a real sense of place or character. As in "House of Secrets," there's little emotional resonance. Maybe that makes sense; after all, mythology is inherently two-dimensional. Maybe, sometimes, a lively story can be enough. Nuance isn't easy. Marjorie Ingall is a columnist for Tablet magazine.
Copyright (c) The New York Times Company [May 26, 2013]
Review by Booklist Review
When director Columbus and author Vizzini collaborate on a title, it's guaranteed to be cinematic and imaginative. This series opener introduces the bickering but affectionate Walker siblings: 15-year-old bookworm Cordelia, 12-year-old lacrosse player Brendan, and 8-year-old dyslexic Eleanor. Their parents find an unexpected deal of a new house in an exclusive San Francisco neighborhood. The builder was an esoteric fantasy writer known for stories with exotic locales. Unfortunately, his elderly daughter lives next door and is soon revealed to be more than just distinctly creepy; she is a witch who spirits away the Walker parents and hurls the house, with the children inside, into the locales of her father's works. So begins a swift-paced, mildly gory, clever page-turner perfect for any reader who has wanted to take part in literary adventures. With pirates, witches, warlocks, dashing WWI flying aces, satisfyingly real sibling relationships, and the opportunity to rescue one's parents, there's something for everyone. While the writing isn't especially elegant, the story is compelling, great fun, and sure to be popular. HIGH-DEMAND BACKSTORY: This novel was preempted within 24 hours, rights have been sold in 15 territories worldwide, and there's a major national marketing campaign in the works. Get ready.--Carton, Debbie Copyright 2010 Booklist
From Booklist, Copyright (c) American Library Association. Used with permission.
Review by Publisher's Weekly Review
In a rousing adventure reminiscent of The Emerald Atlas, director Columbus (The Help) and author Vizzini (The Other Normals) catapult a trio of siblings across time and space, as they square off against a forgotten writer's literary legacy. When eight-year-old Eleanor, 12-year-old Brendan, and 15-year-old Cordelia Walker move with their parents into the ancient, eerie Kristoff House, they instantly suspect something's not right. Then they're attacked by the Wind Witch, their parents go missing, and the entire house is thrust into a bizarre conglomeration of settings taken from the works of Denver Kristoff, a prolific early 20th-century author. Seeking a missing book of immense power, the siblings battle warriors, giants, pirates, and skeletons to get home again. The nonstop action comes with increasingly high stakes, various scenarios paying homage to the likes of H.P. Lovecraft and Robert E. Howard. The kitchen sink aspect of the plot gives the story a somewhat crowded, frenetic feel, but the deft characterizations and wildly imaginative concept more than make up for it. Final art not seen by PW. Ages 9-up. Agent: Dorian Karchmar, William Morris Endeavor. (May) (c) Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved.
(c) Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved
Review by School Library Journal Review
Gr 4-8-Brendan, Cordelia, and Eleanor Walker are dragged by their parents to look at houses in San Francisco. Their father, a doctor, has lost his job due to an incident at the hospital, and the family has to downsize. The Kristoff House overlooking the bay seems to be too good to be true for the money, but, surprisingly, their father buys it. Once the family moves in, all kinds of strange things start to happen. It turns out that there is bad blood between a former owner of the house, Denver Kristoff, and an ancestor of the Walkers. Kristoff's daughter is now the Wind Witch, and she has enticed the family to the home so that she can get hold of The Book of Doom and Desire, which she plans to use as her vehicle to rule the world. To accomplish this, the witch incapacitates the parents and sends the children into the books her father created in the hope that they will help her retrieve the magical tome she desires. Along the way the youngsters meet many of Kristoff's characters, some of whom help them and others who try to annihilate them. The setup of the story drags a bit, but once the siblings leave contemporary San Francisco for the magical world of the Wind Witch, the pace picks up. The young Walkers are plucky, quick thinkers whom readers will grow to love. With a new adventure that seems to arrive with every chapter, the story unfolds quickly, thus keeping kids hooked and wanting to find out what will happen next.-Elizabeth Kahn, Patrick F. Taylor Science & Technology Academy, Jefferson, LA (c) Copyright 2013. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
(c) Copyright Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
Review by Horn Book Review
Moving into a new house launches three siblings into cinema-ready hijinks. Transported into a mash-up of the former owner's fantasy-adventure books, they are charged with finding a powerful (and evil) book. Part Inkheart, part Lemony Snicket, this whirlwind nonsensical tour of adventure-novel clichis prioritizes action over character development but turns out enough impressive set pieces to win over genre fans. (c) Copyright 2013. The Horn Book, Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
(c) Copyright The Horn Book, Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
Review by Kirkus Book Review
Columbus and Vizzini craft a fast-moving, cinematic narrative that packs plenty of punch but may still have trouble measuring up to the competition. The plot is predictable yet peculiar. Three kids lose their parents suddenly--and horribly--before being thrust into a series of manic adventures. The action ping-pongs wildly from a primeval forest peopled by savage warriors to the high seas, festooned with murderous pirates and hungry sharks, to a medieval-style castle ruled by a vicious queen. The children are cardboard characters at best: Cordelia, the brainy, bookish oldest sister; Brendan, the hyperactive, game- and sport-obsessed 14-year-old brother; 8-year-old Eleanor, spunky and sweet with a learning disability thrown in for spice (and plot potential). Secondary characters are even more sketchily drawn, which suits perfectly in some cases but weakens their impact in others. The text often reads like a script, providing direction rather than description. Some details seem gratuitously gross and/or violent, and the dialogue doesn't always ring true. Worst of all, how the authors get their heroes out of trouble and back to the real world seems anticlimactic and, even within the fantastic framework of the story, not entirely believable. Ending with the promise (or threat) of further adventures, this is clearly intended to be the next big thing--whether it fulfills that ambition remains to be seen. (Fantasy. 10-14)]] Copyright Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.
Copyright (c) Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.
