I seem to be on a roll with gothic-themed books. This book is the first of the series, The Alchemist's Son, and it, too, is about kids who move with their family into an old house that seems to be haunted. This time the "ghost" is a 12-year-old boy named Sebastian, who claims to have been born in 1430. He says his father built the old house and was an alchemist for King Henry V. Furthermore, his father discovered a way for people to "hibernate" for years at a time, and Sebastian has just awoken from this kind of sleep. There is also, according to Sebastian, an evil alchemist named de Loudéac who was his father's rival and has also just awoken.
This story contains some pretty scary scenes (a swarm of insects, bloody ghosts) that younger kids would probably find very scary. For older kids, though, it should prove interesting because of the dual time travel and horror themes. The story could have been longer, but then I haven't read the second book yet.
11-year-old David and his three younger siblings have just moved into the Westerly House, which was built over 70 years ago. They also have a new step-sister named Amanda who is interested in the occult, and it is not long before they start believing the old house is haunted. Kids who are interested in magic, ghosts, and witchcraft will like this book because there is plenty of gothic atmoshpere here, what with the seance and initiation into the spiritual world that Amanda performs, not to mention the obnoxious poltergeist's scary antics.
This book was a Newbery Honor Book in 1972 -- realistic fiction with a generous dose of kid-sized horror thrown in to add spice.
Carrie Bebris has written three mystery novels about the Jane Austen's characters from Pride and Prejudice, Elibeth and Fitzwilliam Darcy:
Pride and Prescience, or, A Truth Universally Acknowledged
Suspense and Sensibility: a Mr. & Mrs. Darcy Mystery
North by Northanger, or, The Shades of PemberleyL a Mr. & Mrs. Darcy Mystery.
Jane Austen fans who are also mystery lovers will especially enjoy these books, because they take up where Pride and Prejudice left off and allow readers to spend more time with Austen's characters and the world they inhabit. Since the books are mysteries, though, the plots do stay from what would be expected from Austen; in some ways they are more like the gothic novels of Ann Radcilffe because of the focus on the spirit world found in books 1 and 2. I enjoyed all three nonetheless.
