Behind the Bookcase by Mark Steensland

(hb; 2012. Illustrated by Kelly Murphy.)

From the inside flap

“Spending the summer at her grandmother’s house is the last hign Sarah wants to do─especially now that Grandma Winnie has died─but she has no choice. Her parents have to fix the place up before they can sell it, and Sarah and her brother, Billy, have to help. But the tediuous work turns into a thrilling mystery when Sarah discovers an unfinished letter her grandmother wrote: Strange things are happening behind the bookcase. . .

“Sarah’s mother dismisses the letter as one of Grandma Winnie’s crazy stories, but Sarah does some investigating and makes a remarkable discovery: behind the bookcase is a doorway into Scotopia, the land where shadows come from. With a talking cat named Balthazat as her guide, Sarah begins an unforgettable adventure into a world filled with countless dangers. Who can she trust? And can she face her fears, not only in Scotopia, but also back at Grandma Winnie’s house, where more secrets and strange goings-on await her?”

Review

Bookcase is a fun, fast-paced and character-interesting read, with well-placed twists, great descriptive writing. In spirit and execution, it reminded me of some of the books I regularly re-read as a boy─it is an excellent children’s read, with its children-appropriate mix of fantasy, horror and whimsy, one that I, as a boy, would have re-read several times in a short period of time. Worth owning, this.