The Books of Elsewhere- The Shadows-Jacqueline West

Title: The Books of Elsewhere- The Shadows
Author: West, Jacqueline
Publisher: The Penguin Group, 2010
ISBN-10:  0803734409

Genre: Fantasy
Reading Level: 770 Lexile
Interest Level: 8-12


Readers Annotation: What if the pictures on your wall could not be moved? What could be beyond the pictures?

Plot:
Olive's family moved into an old home in a new town. It had been abandoned for a while but was still furnished on the inside. There were many old pictures hanging from the walls. Olive has a very mathematical brain and is not bothered by the pictures until one day when she sees something move in one of them after she finds a pair of old glasses. At first, Olive thinks this is all in her mind, then she begins to see more movement with the glasses on. She tries to remove the painting from the wall and it wont budge. Soon, different cats around the house begin to talk to her and Olive finds there is another world inside the paintings but there is something evil there that steals people from the real world. Can she navigate both worlds?

Review:
This book was hard for me to get into. I think many tweens will enjoy the fantasy of the book, but I prefer more realistic fiction. This book was well written and Olive is a lovable character. She is quirky but very intelligent. There was something about Olive that felt like the character Coraline in Neil Giaman's book. The children I know have read this liked it so I will be buying the rest of the series for the school library, but it was not one of my favorite books.

Similar Materials:

Spellbound- Jacqueline West
The Familiars- Adam Jay Epstein