The hippo at the end of the hall

Review by Booklist Review

In a musty, forgotten museum, an old woman lives amid curious collections, a plethora of taxidermy, and unexpected secrets. And it's to this place, the Gee Museum, that Ben Makepeace receives an invitation, delivered by bees. His curiosity is understandably piqued, but when he sneaks out to pay the museum a visit, it's disappointingly closed. Then, at a nearby café, Ben overhears a couple of adults scheming to get their hands on that very museum. He dashes back to warn the old woman, and when the door opens, he's greeted by many unusual sights, most notably certain exhibits coming to life. Picture-book creator Cooper weaves magic and mystery through her debut novel, wonderfully bringing the past to life and enhancing the present, as Ben endeavors to save the Gee Museum from a devious real-estate developer. Along the way, he learns of his family's history, draws upon knowledge gleaned from folktales, and befriends the museum's animals. Cooper incorporates many chapter illustrations, which add further charm to this uncommonly enchanting novel.--Julia Smith Copyright 2010 Booklist

From Booklist, Copyright (c) American Library Association. Used with permission.

---

Review by School Library Journal Review

Gr 2--5--When a mysterious invitation to the Gee museum arrives at Ben's house, he's sure it's for him. Although his mother discourages him, Ben sneaks off to the museum, where he finds a menagerie of talking taxidermied animals, a colony of magic bees, and a host of oddities all in danger of losing their home. As the museum's troubles are revealed, Ben also learns about other secrets while working to save the collections from an evil developer and a rival museum. This fanciful tale will keep readers interested from the outset. The talking animals and miraculous museum are intriguing, and the illustrations are inviting. The fantasy is perfectly integrated into the fast-moving plot. There is a slightly evil witch, but overall the story is accessible to a wide age range. VERDICT Readers who are just beyond Mary Pope Osborne's "The Magic Treehouse" but not quite ready for J.K. Rowling's "Harry Potter" will find this a great fit. A fantastical, captivating illustrated novel that will appeal to many young fantasy readers.--Ellen Conlin, Naperville Public Library, IL

(c) Copyright Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.

---

Review by Kirkus Book Review

A young boy tries to preserve a mysterious natural history museum.Ben Makepeace has lived with his single mom in a basement apartment since his dad was lost at sea when Ben was 3. Receiving a cryptic invitation to "come now or come never" to the Gee Museum, Ben ignores his mother's advice and bikes to the museum, which he finds closed. In a nearby cafe, Ben overhears Julian Pike, an unscrupulous real estate developer, and Tara Snow, a predatory museum director, plotting to ruin the Gee if its elderly owner refuses to sell to them. Returning to the Gee, Ben senses he's been there before with his father and learns from exhibit animalsa shrew, a hippo, an owl, and a chameleonhow his future depends on preventing the Gee's sale. When Pike and Snow take desperate measures, Ben unleashes dangerous "wild magic" within the museum and discovers his immutable connection to the Gee family. This supernatural tale of self-discovery in a setting of rare natural history specimens delivers a credible hero, folktale threads, memorable characters, and family bonds. Cooper's worldbuilding seems endlessly inventive, the characters that inhabit the museum fully realized, up to and including the storytelling bees. Delicate, detailed pencil drawings track the drama and depict the principals as white.Unusual, fascinating, fast-paced. (author's note) (Fantasy. 8-10) Copyright Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.

Copyright (c) Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.

---

Chapter 1: The Invitation     33A Treadlemill Road was a basement apartment beneath a shop on the other side of town. A boy named Ben Makepeace, who had eyes as sharp and dark as a sparrow's and tousled tawny hair, lived there with his mom. Sometimes Ben helped in the shop. Other times he helped in the apartment. That morning, when he went to bring in the milk, he found an envelope propped up behind it. Ben was always wary of letters. Occasionally mail still came addressed to his dad, but he saw with relief that this wasn't one of those. And it wasn't addressed to his mom either. In fact, it wasn't addressed to anybody at all. The flap of the envelope was unsealed. Ben hoped it wasn't another bill. He peeked inside. At first, seeing only a piece of thin card with a picture on it, he guessed it was an advertisement. He sneaked it out to see it better because the picture showed lots of animals. Ben liked animals -- though he didn't have any pets: they weren't allowed to keep pets in that apartment. In any case, these weren't the sort of animals you could have kept at home. There was a giraffe, and a hippo, and a grumpy-looking owl, and in the bottom right-hand corner was a shrewlike creature with a pendulous nose. Ben's heart began to beat faster as he gazed at the picture, for it stirred his most secret memory -- a secret that he had never told to anyone at all. "What are you doing out there? " called Mom. Ben guiltily slipped the card back inside the envelope. Then he brought the mail to the table and laid the envelope beside it. Mom had the same eyes as Ben but different hair, and she ran the shop upstairs. "What's that? " she said, glancing down. "It came with the milk." She opened the envelope, then went very still. Yet all she said, after glaring for a while, was "I thought the old Gee Museum had closed down." Ben took the card from her and examined it as he munched his crunchy almond flakes. The shrew in the picture was holding a pen as if it had just finished writing the motto at the bottom, which read: COME INSIDE SOMETIME. "It looks like an invitation to get in for free," he said. "Maybe it's reopened." "Maybe," said Mom. She was biting her lip. "I'd like to go," said Ben. "Would you? " Mom sounded tense. "It says admit two." "But I'm not sure when I'd have time." She looked rather pale. The rest of the mail was on the table, and as she glanced through it, Ben could tell there were a lot of bills. He knew Mom was worried about money. He knew she couldn't often leave the shop. Their shop was called Perfect Pastimes. Once it had been simply a craft shop, but nowadays Mom sold a bit of everything: art materials and embroidery thread, buttons and yarn, stationery and stickers, and the kind of model kits that you took home and painted, and some interesting books, and all sorts of oddments that children liked. Sometimes it was busy. More often it was not, though Mom liked Ben to help on Saturdays in case there was a rush. Tomorrow was Saturday. Ben waved the invitation. "Could I go myself on Sunday? " Mom frowned at the bills and said nothing. "You're always saying you used to go everywhere on your own at my age." "True enough," said Mom, though her voice was unusually gruff. "Well, then . . . can I go on my own? " "It's . . . I don't think it's . . . Look, I like you to be independent, but it's a bit far on your own. Anyway, I don't think you'd like it." "Where is it? " Ben turned the slip of paper over. There was no address on the back, only those five tiny handwritten words:  Come now or come never! He peered inside the envelope and found a small brown feather nestled in the bottom -- nothing else. Mom said, "It's down by the river on the other side -- close to the bridge, I think -- not far from the weir, but I certainly don't want you going near that ." Ben sighed. "I won't go anywhere near the river. I've prom-ised you I won't a million times. I want to go to this museum. It's not that far. Why don't you want me to go? Is there something you don't like about it? " Mom began unpacking a box of art equipment to take upstairs. She hadn't finished her cereal. Ben was afraid she wouldn't say any more, as she so often went silent when she wanted to end a conversation. But after a moment she continued, "I never said I didn't like it. It's just . . . Anyway, since when have you been interested in museums? " "I'm interested now. Could we have a look for it online? " Excerpted from The Hippo at the End of the Hall by Helen Cooper All rights reserved by the original copyright owners. Excerpts are provided for display purposes only and may not be reproduced, reprinted or distributed without the written permission of the publisher.

---