OzHouse

by Alan Lindsay, Dennis Anfuso

Buddy Sampson wanders through the secret door that only the children know. Jessica follows and then Charlie. Searching for Buddy, they open doors between worlds never meant to meet, endangering fairy lands from Oz to Grimm to Mother Goose. Meanwhile in OzHouse confused adults, fending off police and press and government authorities, have no idea what is happening or what to do about it.

320 pages, Paperback

First published January 3, 2013

About the author

Alan Lindsay is the author of A. a novel (Red Hen Press,), and The Burzee Rose, a Christmas Carol. He is the co-author (with Dennis Anfuso) of OzHouse, and OzHouse Reopened (Interset Press). He holds and M.A. in fiction writing from the University of Notre Dame. He teaches English as a small New Hampshire college.

Watch an OzHouse video promo here:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J2Mwx...

Reviews

[Nathan Dehoff · Rating 4 out of 5]

At a children's home in New Hampshire dedicated to and designed based on fantasy books, kids have been disappearing, and a social worker is threatening to shut them down. As it turns out, the decorative wardrobe actually can be used as a portal to various fictional worlds, including those of the Brothers Grimm, Hans Christian Andersen, Mother Goose, and of course Oz. There are also brief references to other works for which copyright prevents a significant role, like Narnia and Middle-Earth. One little girl even visits SpongeBob's Bikini Bottom, and there's a hint that Hyrule could potentially be reached as well. The magical worlds all work somewhat differently, some of them essentially transporting people into the story itself like in Thursday Next's BookWorld, and others operating in a more linear fashion. As the travel between worlds starts to take its toll on the fabric of reality (such as it is in fairyland), the world-hoppers have to find their way back to where they belong. Humpty Dumpty, Rumpelstiltskin, and Pinocchio all play important parts, the egg having his Carrollian personality, the dwarf grumpy but ultimately helpful, and the puppet just as bratty as Carlo Collodi made him (there are a few comments about how much Disney changed the story). The pacing seems a little off and the characters can be difficult to keep straight, but ultimately I found it a clever celebration of children's fantasy.

[Geimle Burzeen · Rating 4 out of 5]

Very impressed with this read. A little boy (Buddy) gets lost and two other kids (Jessica and Charlie) chase him throughout fairy land (MGland, Grimms Forest, Hans Christian Andersen's world etc.). The writers know the stories well and put us where we go when we visit all this material in our imaginations (or books or TV shows). Highly recommended.

Guy Burzeen

[Ted Lucy · Rating 5 out of 5]

A young boy named Buddy Samson is taken into foster care after he loses his family in a fire. At the foster home is a troubled child named Charles Emerson. Buddy is lost and they fear Charlie is somehow to blame. Meanwhile we find the Buddy hasn't been harmed, he's just really lost in a series of fantasy lands. That's all I'll say for fear of spoilers, but the book is very good at revisiting and renewing our perceptions of some old stories: Oz, Hans Christian Andersen (which in the original are too grim for my taste) and The Brother's Grimm (speaking of Grimm!), along with some others. The main thrust of the book is a search for Buddy by Charlie and another girl at the house named Jessica Holton. It also explores the troubled lives of these foster children. There's a lot going on here, but it's easy to follow and the climax is a tearjerker.