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The Stranger at Winfield House
Readers will wonder what is wrong with Dorinda's new neighbors. Miss Lizzie is afraid to go outside, and Mrs. Potts spies on everyone. Plus, there is a mysterious stranger lurking around, and a valuable letter is missing.
126 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 1989
11 people want to read
About the author
Wilma Yeo
8 books2 followersA native of Kansas City, is a free lance journalist, a creative writing teacher, and a children's book author. Her poems, stories, and articles have appeared in a number of national magazines.
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Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews
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January 27, 2020One of my favorite books I've read for this age level, by far. I really wish this would've been made into a series. It reminds me a little of the movie and book Coraline. I'm looking forward to reading more books by this author.
July 13, 2009
This is a fine story, corrupted with ridiculous, supposed "local" phrases. The plot was sound, and for a child's mystery book, I had a hard time figuring out what would happen in the end.
But I also had a really hard time reading the book and almost gave up after two chapters. The author may have grown up in the area she writes about and people may speak that way, but it makes for a difficult read. I felt dumber hearing the words in my head, phrases that echoed with a thick Southern accent and used far too many words to get the point across. Because the book is written in first person, I understand why the whole book was written with these words and phrases, but I think it would have been a much better book had the "hick" mentality been confined to the dialogue. I'll give you an example of what I mean. This sentence is taken directly from page 7. "The plain born truth, I warned myself, is that this old house is some kind of a nut house, and come a week from Monday morning I'm likely to be stuck here alone all day every day." And from page 8, "I knew Mama was plain shaky about this as I was." It got worse from there.
But I also had a really hard time reading the book and almost gave up after two chapters. The author may have grown up in the area she writes about and people may speak that way, but it makes for a difficult read. I felt dumber hearing the words in my head, phrases that echoed with a thick Southern accent and used far too many words to get the point across. Because the book is written in first person, I understand why the whole book was written with these words and phrases, but I think it would have been a much better book had the "hick" mentality been confined to the dialogue. I'll give you an example of what I mean. This sentence is taken directly from page 7. "The plain born truth, I warned myself, is that this old house is some kind of a nut house, and come a week from Monday morning I'm likely to be stuck here alone all day every day." And from page 8, "I knew Mama was plain shaky about this as I was." It got worse from there.
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July 23, 2012There are some slightly intense spots in this, along with some southern language, like davenport, but by warning Sam everything turns out ok I'm fine with letting her read it. She's been into mysteries lately so I think she'll enjoy it.
Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews