Sunday, January 8, 2012

The Mystery of Drear House by Virginia Hamilton

This is a book full of secrets.  There are secret stairways, secret passages, and secret treasure.  There is a family determined to find the treasure and another family determined to keep it safe.  Just to make it more interesting, add a woman who appears to be crazy that walks the passages at night...

Open Media and Net Galley gave me a copy of this ebook to read for review (thank you).  The book was published at the end of December and you can get a copy now at your local bookstore.  

This story is the sequel to the House of Dies Drear.  The book reads fine as a stand alone; I had not read the first book.

Thomas and his friend, Pesty, know about the treasure that Mr. Pluto's cave hides.  Pesty's father and brothers are on the search for it, so she has to be very careful to hide that secret.  She has another secret she's hiding from Thomas also.  But that one won't stay hidden long.

Drear house was an underground railroad station and has underground tunnels, rooms, a nursery, and more.  Thomas' family knows it's there, but keeps it hidden.  They do it partially to protect from it the Pesty's family, and partially because it's such a wonder they want to preserve it and keep it safe.

I've read several stories about the underground railroad so this tale caught my eye.  There have always been people trying to discover the stations but this is the first time I heard of a treasure hidden in one.

The Darrows and the Smalls are in direct conflict because their interests are different.  How Ms. Hamilton solves this problem is inventive and believable.

Learn a little history with some folktale thrown in and take a trip through the underground railroad.  It's a good read.

Happy reading.

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