The Velvet Room

by Zilpha Keatley Snyder

Finding a special place where you can be at peace is difficult—but holding onto it is even harder

The last three years of Robin Williams’s life have been very difficult. She’s had to move with her large, poor family multiple times as her father seeks jobs as a migrant worker. Now, her father has a new job at the McCurdy Ranch and Robin often wanders off in order to cope with the constant change and difficulty surrounding her. Near the McCurdy Ranch is the Palmeras House, an old abandoned house that Robin is told repeatedly not to explore. However, with a little help, she finds herself inside the building, in the one place it seems she has always been looking for: the Velvet Room. This plush room is the most beautiful place she has ever seen. Robin is fascinated and enchanted, but she can’t help but wonder: Why is it there? This ebook features an extended biography of Zilpha Keatley Snyder.

Genres: Fiction, Young Adult, Historical Fiction, Childrens, Middle Grade, Mystery, Historical

228 pages, Kindle Edition

First published January 1, 1965

About the author

Zilpha Keatley Snyder was an American author of books for children and young adults. Three of Snyder's works were named Newbery Honor books: The Egypt Game, The Headless Cupid and The Witches of Worm. She was most famous for writing adventure stories and fantasies.

Reviews

[Diana · Rating 5 out of 5]

I remember running my hands across a shelf of books in the library, it was away from the area that i normally looked. I wanted to find something different and i had pulled out a bright yellow book, but then beside it was a faded copy of The Velvet Room and i took that instead. I'm glad i did, its a wonderful book. It's the type of book that even if you can't remember it exactly you'll never forget the feeling it gave you. I don't own it but i can go back to that musty magical room anytime i want.

[Hilary · Rating 5 out of 5]

Robin and her four siblings and parents are moving on again. With everything they own packed into their car they break down and end up being given some nearby seasonal work and a two room cabin to live in. Life is miserable for Robin and the start reminded me of The Glass Castle.

The rest of the story progresses and doesn't lose pace. Although some parts you may predict, the plot takes plenty of twists and turns and has an exciting culmination and a very satisfying conclusion.

There are many elements to this story that we loved, the old house, the friendships between very different people, Bridget who has a family of animals, an old diary, piano playing, a secret passage... the list goes on.

We loved the idea of The Velvet Room, a room in a tower, with huge windows, window seats and books and total privacy and seclusion, in fact nobody even knows you're there. No wonder Robin found this paradise, living as she did in a small cabin and even sharing a bed with her sister. Who wouldn't crave some privacy and solitude ?

Highly recommended.

I've just noticed this is available on openlibrary.

[Joanne Moyer · Rating 5 out of 5]

The Velvet Room is one of my favorite childhood books which I'm glad to say, 40+ years later, is still a favorite. It's maybe a different story when reading it through adult eyes but the basic reasons I loved it at 10 are still there~ a good story about a family going through a rough time, a young girl about the age I was when I first read it who loves books and reading as I did then and now, who is trying to adjust to a new life with her family and the Velvet Room itself~ a turret window that can be closed in by velvet curtains, something I wanted then and still want now. I'm more aware now that the story takes place during the Depression when a lot of people lost all they had and like the Williams family became migrant workers driving town to town looking for work and a place to finally settle down and call home. There's a mystery to be solved, friendships made and of course lessons to be learned which all add to the enjoyment of this book.
I still have my 1967 Scholastic Readers paperback with this cover but I recently bought the ebook
just to know that I can always have it. I also realized how many books Zilpha Keatley Snyder wrote that I missed as a child so I may have to catch up on some.

[Mira · Rating 5 out of 5]

It was twenty years ago, that I read the book.
And even though I can't remember all the details,
this one stuck with me for a long time.
I remember that it was my favorite.
the cover of the used paperback was old and weathered,
but it all the more added to the mysterious allure of the book.
Everytime I read it,
it almost had a therapeutic effect on me.
I probably didn't even understand all the story considering I was eight when I first read it.
But that feeling..
almost as if I were also inside that room,
dark with dim lights coming through the crack of velvet curtains,
as if I could feel the touch of the old dusty fabrics.
I was in a whole other place when I was reading this book.

[Abigail · Rating 4 out of 5]

Like much of her work, this second book by Zilpha Keatley Snyder is set in the author's native California. It takes place during the Great Depression and follows the story of a sensitive young girl named Robin, a book-lover who longs for beauty, and for a quiet and peaceful refuge. But with her father forced into migrant work by the difficult times, and her family constantly on the move, Robin's longing seems destined to remain unfulfilled. But then her father finds work at the McCurdy ranch, and Robin discovers the Velvet Room...

Although Snyder's debut novel, Season of Ponies , had a certain charm, it was here in her second book that she truly began to display some of those qualities that I have come to think of as hallmarks of her work. Her sensitivity to the inner life of the child, perhaps most brilliantly displayed in her masterpiece, The Changeling , really begins to reveal itself, as does her impeccable sense of time and place. Convincing, both as historical fiction, and as a coming-of-age story. Like many of Snyder's early novels, The Velvet Room was illustrated by the marvelous Alton Raible.

[Bren fall in love with the sea. · Rating 5 out of 5]

“There was that special smell made up of paper, ink, and dust; the busy hush; the endless luxury of thousands of unread books. Best of all was the eager itch of anticipation as you went out the door with your arms loaded down with books.”
― Zilpha Keatley Snyder, The Velvet Room


I am so glad to see this book rated so highly on good reads.

I never forgot The Velvet room. I read it in my early years and it was, along with a precious few others, a favorite from childhood.

I understood Robin with her passion for reading and the way she fell in love with the Velvet room so much, and how it became her sanctuary.

This book, along with "The Changeling", one of the other works from this writer, remaining two very precious books on my forever favorites list.

The velvet room is a beautiful book that should be read in everyone’s childhood and if, as an adult you realize you missed it, don’t hesitate to pick up a copy as Robin and her velvet room will enthrall you

[Alyss · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is the only book that I have kept with me since I was a kid—it went to college with me, my first apartment, made the trip out west and is still on my shelf as I write this. I read it until it started to fall apart, and I had to repair the binding (with elmer's glue, don't tell Elizabeth). I haven't read it in years, but I like knowing I have the option. It has always been one of my favorites and led me to my favorite (as a child) author, Zilpha Keatley Snyder.

[Manybooks · Rating 3 out of 5]

Oh my, I would have so much loved Zilpha Keatley Snyder's 1965 Great Depression themed novel The Velvet Room as a child (or even as a young teenager). For indeed, Robin really speaks to me, with her feelings of not really fitting in with her family, with her needing to get away to think, to read, to recharge (and while I certainly very quickly figured out Bridget's secret, again, if I had read The Velvet Room at a young age, I would most likely not so rapidly have guessed that Bridget was in fact Bonita and, yes, I might even have been clueless and naive enough to have actually been enchantingly surprised by the revelation).

Now with regard to the ending of The Velvet Room, while I guess that it is in a way an absolute case of "happily ever after" and total fairy tale like wish fulfillment (especially since with the father being offered a dream job opportunity by Mr. McCurdy that is right up his proverbial alley so to speak as custodian and watchman for the museum at the to be renovated Palmeras House, Robin, although she did finally make the supremely difficult decision not to stay with Gwen McCurdy and to accompany her family to her uncle's store, really now has the best of both worlds, her family, Gwen, and indeed Palmeras House, including her beloved library in the Velvet Room), I do have to readily admit that I have both absolutely enjoyed and majorly appreciated said happy ending, for I was (personally and emotionally) more than a bit annoyed and upset that Robin did end up deciding to go with her family and not stay with the McCurdys when this was offered (as I certainly did not and still do not think that especially Robin's mother always really takes enough time to truly understand and appreciate her daughter, that while she obviously loves Robin, I do tend to feel that something is at times missing, that there is not enough understanding and acceptance). Four stars for The Velvet Room (but rounded down to a high three star ranking, as while I have most definitely and truly found the novel readable, emotionally satisfying and as mentioned above that I would have actually been completely over the proverbial moon with regard to The Velvet Room as a child or teenager, as an older and more critical adult reader, how Zilpha Keatley Snyder depicts Robin's Mexican neighbours with their broken accent-heavy English and massive suspicions and superstitions does definitely make me cringe a bit and rub me the wrong way).

[Tressa · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was my absolute favorite book when I was a kid. I picked it up at some yard sale and it became a treasured book. Sadly, I've lost it over the years but am going to try to find it again.

The characters are fully fleshed and very human. Robin, who lived with pride and shame at the same time because of her family's nomad lifestyle; her father who does his best to support his family and give them what he thinks they need, not what they want; Gwen, a rich girl we expect to be cruel and snobbish, but who turns out to be a genuine friend; the "witch" who befriends Robin and changes her family's fortunes.

I used to want to go to the Velvet Room and lie on the window seats and read to my heart's content. My copy of the book had a pinkish drawing of the inside of the velvet room, and Robin was kneeling on the window seat cushion looking out the window.

[Skip · Rating 4 out of 5]

A book from a bygone era, written in 1965, this a classic piece of tween literature set in the aftermath of the Great Depression, during the Dust Bowl era in California. The itinerant Williams family is jammed in their Model T trying to find work when they crash. Luckily, they find the chance to work on the local fruit orchard, picking/pitting apricots. The main character is the 12-year old daughter, Robin, who tends to wander off, discovering an abandoned mansion on the property. Robin is a likable character, befriending an old woman mysterious named Bridget, with her "family" of pets, including a cat, raccoon, birds, and a goat. Bridget senses a yearning in Robin, and gives her a mysterious key that ultimately leads to the Velvet Room, a sanctuary from the harsh realities of her life. The wealthy daughter of the property owning McCurdy family befriends Robin and they develop a true friendship. The story is poignant, with an underlying message that Robin must learn to stop hiding and learn to appreciate the good things she has in her life, such as family and friends.

[Katherine · Rating 5 out of 5]

5 stars- Highly recommended

Many readers consider this their all-time favorite book as a child. I can understand why. It addresses some important universal issues of childhood, like figuring out the importance of your place in family and community, how to deal with the fear and insecurity of changing situations, and coming to grips with your wants & needs versus the wants & needs of others. These issues are explored in a realistic but very fulfilling way in this wonderful, satisfying story. And what book-lover could ever forget the impact of stumbling upon their very own secret, hidden room and a library filled with hundreds of beautiful books?! Memorable, magical, and note-worthy.

[Ryan · Rating 4 out of 5]

Its interesting to re-read books when you are an adult that you remember being important when you were young. Difficult to identify exactly WHAT made it so important because, of course, you were young and now you have all this "perspective" on things.

I suspect what touched me about this book then - and probably about her others - was the longing for "home", a special, stable and safe place. Its not as if I didn't have a home, but I never had a particular connection to a place. I believed I was Persephone because I visited my father in the summer and lived with my mother through the school year. Perhaps I identified with Robin because her name was Robin and I was so many names (and Robin was a favorite) before we discovered I was Ryan. There is a universal appeal to a special secret place that is all your own, something you discover - so perhaps that was part of it too. Robin had a special relationship with her father, too, and while I probably didn't identify that then, its possibly another element that spoke to me.

From the perspective of 42, I still feel that longing for home and felt it reading this again. The book is set in 1937, and Robin's family has been living out of their Model T, roaming California in search of work, stability, safety. I suspect that the book could be set in any time of national upheaval, in any country. Robin and her family were basically refuges in their own land. I note similar themes in books about children from the Iraq, Pakistan and Afghanistan. I enjoyed a specific paragraph about Robin's discovery of critical reading - reading a book from the outside in as well as from the inside out. She describes losing herself in books as part of the pleasure, but a growing enjoyment of evaluating the writing, the characters and plot outside of her emotional connection to the book.

[D.C. Sheehan · Rating 5 out of 5]

I purchased this book as part of one of those book clubs at school. Others in the class sneered that it was a 'girl's book' but I didn't care. Once I saw that evocative cover and read the story summary I knew I would love it. And I did.

I still have that same paperback edition, I could never part with it. It's very worn, not just from my reading but from the years my schoolteacher sister borrowed it so she could pass it around her students.

The story is quite small, girl sneaks off to a secret room, her family struggles with poverty, and yet the tale has always felt epic to me. The ending teaches a wise lesson, without a hint of preachiness.

Even as I write this review I'm smiling because I remember what the book taught me—that life isn't perfect but that running away from our problems is never a long term solution.

[Almira · Rating 4 out of 5]

The edition I received through the interlibrary loan system of our library was printed in 1988, in the bound to stay bound edition. The pages were brittle as it didn't appear to have been read often.

Set during the Depression, in California, 12 year old Robin Williams is the oldest of the children, and is put upon to help with the younger ones. Traveling in an old Model T Ford for three years is a hardship no child should have to endure, let alone 5 children and 2 adults - living out of the car in desperate times (something that our current society is seeing once again!), so when the old Model T breaks down near the McCurdy ranch things start to look up for everyone.

Robin's father has very serious health issues, but accepts a job on the apricot farm in Southern California. For the time being the family is, at least, no longer living in the car, or camping alongside the road, they have a 2 room dwelling with running water (WOW!).

Robin meets an old lady, Bridget, who lives in a tiny cottage with her assortment of animals, including a goat that needs to be taken out and tethered daily, which Robin does. Bridget "gives" Robin a key that will fit and open what? Robin must uncover the secret, which leads her to the "Velvet Room"

Young people of today would have a hard time believing the types of living conditions that are described in the story, yet they are very accurate. I mean NO cell phones, NO internet...……..

[booklady · Rating 5 out of 5]

Very enjoyable Depression era story of a non-Okie family who nevertheless are forced to take to the road and live as migrant workers in their Model T after the father becomes ill and they lose everything. As the book opens, they are settling in a two room shack along the coast of California. Although far from ideal, it offers the opportunity to unpack and maybe even go to school, a prospect which appeals to middle daughter, Robin Williams, the protagonist.

Robin is the classic curious child, prone to exploring, whether that be fields, books or empty buildings. Her 'wandering off' leads to meeting a quaint old lady who she befriends, which in turn leads to the discovery of the Velvet Room, her special place, the type of safe haven most of us dream about but don't find. Picking and pitting fruit keep the Williams family fed, but with the father's health still in a precarious state, the hard life of farm laborer is hardly optimal.

An uplifting story which delights as much today as it did when first published in 1965 ... and as I'm sure it will continue to do!

[Bonita · Rating 4 out of 5]

I first read this book in grade 5 for a class project. I remember it being one of the last books left on the shelf to choose from, and it was one of the biggest ones, and it didn't have the most appealing cover, but I figured the description made it seem better than anything else left on the shelf (I was one of the last students to choose a book). This novel ended up being burned into my memory, as one of the best I had read as a child. The story is about a little girl living on a plantation that discovers an abandoned house that has a room covered in velvet with shelves and shelves of old books, which is a sweet discovery for the little girl. As a young girl myself who loved reading, this book seemed to be after my own heart. Years later for a gift exchange I requested this book, and my secret santa definitely delivered. Every page was as I remembered it, as was the velvet room. We all have books that we remember fondly from our childhood, and sometimes it feels really good to curl up on the couch and re-enter that world that brought us such joy so many years ago.

[Elinor Loredan · Rating 4 out of 5]

September 2022 reread:
This has even more charm and appeal than I remembered. I noticed even more things that resonate with me, some of them single lines, such as Robin thinking how our worried, negative thoughts are even worse at night. I also appreciated the historical aspects as well as the family life more than I did last time. The hardships after the Depression help me to realize how fortunate I am in my own life. The overarching message of the importance of people over places and things is valuable to me, as I tend to value my books above all else.

I am still bothered by the way the Velvet Room is treated at the end. Robin reflects that it is not actually an enchanted refuge. Why does all the magic have to evaporate just because she realizes her family is more important? I wish the story had ended with saying that the Velvet Room is a magical place still but people are more important. We all still need time to ourselves, and certain places can help us feel more peaceful and joyful. The only problem was that Robin was coping with problems by running away all the time.

That complaint aside, this remains a wonderful book.

***
2010:
I really appreciate Snyder's ability to choose just the right words so that it is very easy for me to visualize everything in this book. The two things that most appeal to me in the story are the setting of the old empty mansion and the sympathy with Robin's urge to 'get away' and find places of beauty and peace.

The Velvet Room itself is lovely, of course-how I wish I had one like it!. However, I think there could be more of it in the story, showing Robin inside it reading or dreaming. It's clear why the place is so important to Robin, but it is most apparent towards the end when she has to leave it.

Though Robin realizes that the Velvet Room can never be as important as her family and other people, I don't see why it can't still be 'an enchanted refuge, a private world of dreams.' What Robin finds that it 'isn't' is a place that can substitute for people, that is more reliable than they are. But some places are just magical, and there's nothing wrong with finding them so and slipping away to enjoy them. Yet Robin practically denounces the Velvet Room and its initial pull on her at the end. I doubt that the room's aura would wholly leave with Robin's enlightenment; it's only that she would be less controlled by it.

At some parts in the book there is more telling than showing, such as in the chapter when school starts. The reader doesn't get to witness any of those interesting talks Robin has with her teacher, with Gwen's dad, Bridget, or Gwen herself. It's all rather brushed over.

Overall, though, a book with wonderful atmosphere and character development. Robin gradually stops 'wandering off' and spends more of her time with people. Her discovery that they are more important than places and things really relates to me with my love of houses, books, settings like the Velvet Room. They can always be replaced by new ones wherever I go, and the feeling of them can stay with me. I like the idea that the mere thought of the Velvet Room gives Robin comfort, indicating that we can have a 'room' inside us that gives peace and joy without actually having to slip away alone.

"Belonging to a place isn't nearly as necessary as belonging to people you love and who love and need you. If you give up on people, you're giving up on life." (Bridget)

[AquaMoon · Rating 4 out of 5]

Twelve-year-old Robin is always getting in trouble for "wandering off," but can you blame her for trying to escape reality? A few years earlier, Robin's family lost nearly everything thanks to the Depression and, since, have become traveling workers, moving from seasonal job to seasonal job and never establishing the roots Robin so desperately needs. This is why Robin never allowed herself to feel "at home" anywhere. At first the latest stop at Las Palmeras Ranch seems no different, but that soon changes. Yes, there's new friendships with the Ranch owner's daughter and with a mysterious elderly woman who lives near the "village." But mostly there's Las Palmeras House, a deserted, boarded-up, wreck of a mansion that called to Robin from the first moment she saw it. After discovering a secret passage into the old house, Robin makes an amazing and incredible discovery... A discovery that must be kept secret at all costs... A discovery that keeps her coming back again and again... A discovery that becomes a near obsession... A discovery that may make it impossible for Robin to say goodbye when the time comes (and she knows the time will come). Will Robin learn what's truly important or will she let her new obsession consume her?

Although written for younger readers (about 9-12), although an "older" book, I still found The Velvet Room to be a gripping page-turner. Not only is it a look at the Depression Era through the eyes of a child whose family has been deeply impacted. It is a wonderfully-written coming of age story.

Definitely recommended!

[Emily Rozmus · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is one of those books that I read as a child and held dear in my memories although I was never quite sure why. Last year, the public library had this book on the book sale cart and I snatched it up immediately, loathe to let the book go. It sat on my bookshelf waiting to be read again by someone. Last week, I decided to pick it up. I was afraid the book would be as dear after reading it as an adult, but as you can tell by the 5 stars, that was not the case. This book is as magical to me now as it was when I was ten. And it isn't because there is magic in it - this isn't a fantasy. It is a very real look at a family affected by the Great Depression and how one of them seeks beauty and a refuge from the dust and poverty she has been forced into. It is a great book - one that would still be good for tweens today. I would like it if some publisher picked it up for reprint with an attracitve cover...

[Tracy · Rating 5 out of 5]

Where has this book been all my life?

[Eileen · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was one of the favorite books I ever read as a child. I just wanted to see what it was that fascinated me so much about it. And I think I am seeing it. I love the girl in the middle of the family, trying to get through hard circumstances, and she keeps running away to a magical place. I'm only about half way through it so far, but I remember how wonderful it is.

Yes, now I'm finished and I loved this book--still. It was amazing how some of the points made by the characters in the book are just exactly how I feel about things still. For example, Belonging to a place isn't nearly as necessary as belonging to people you love and who love and need you." (p. 255) Also "Before Robin noticed that her candle was burning low, she had discovered some pretty amazing things. She had discovered, she thought, what Bridget had meant when she had talked about good and bad reasons and the importance of counting on people. And she had also found out what it was that was different about the Velvet Room. Tonight, for the first time, she understood what the Velvet Room really was, and maybe even more important, what it wasn't and never could be. What it really was, was just what you could see by the candle's light: a beautiful room full of lovely old things. It wasn't what Robin had tried to make it: an enchanted refuge, a private dream world. As she moved slowly toward the door, Tobin stopped to look at everything and say goodbye.She knew she would never forget even the tiniest thing. But she also knew now that leaving it would only be the end of an adventure, not the end of everything." (p. 259-260)

I loved this book and I hope it will be a book that I can read over and over and still love it.

[Sonia Gomes · Rating 3 out of 5]

On the way to a new job, during the Great Depression, the family’s Model T-Ford just breaks down, it cannot take any more...
But as luck would have it Robin’s Father, Paul is offered a job at the McCurdy ranch, the work hours are long, the work back breaking totally unsuited for Paul with his propensity for pneumonia, but there is absolutely no way out.
The author now takes us away from the squalor of the Great Depression; Robin finds her haven of peace, of quiet, of beauty, in the shape of the Velvet Room, a library in the great house of the McCurdy’s, Las Palmas, which is no longer in use. It is her escape from their terrible Poverty...
The Velvet Room is not the only thing Robin finds; she meets Bridget the enigmatic old woman who lives with her family of animals in a beautiful stone cottage, by sheer luck she has friend in Gwen McCurdy. The author never lets us forget that we are in the midst of the Great Depression as when she describes the pitting season...
Things are improving, the Wilson children go to school and Robin studies very hard, she shares studies and music with Gwen, she has Bridget to talk to, her Velvet Room for comfort...
But will it last?

[Susann · Rating 5 out of 5]

Still, and always, my favorite Zilpha Keatley Snyder book. It's also my favorite Dust Bowl novel, even though Robin is adamant that she and her family members are not Okies. When I first stumbled upon this in my elementary school media center, I couldn't believe my luck in finding a book with an historical setting, a romantic mystery, and a gorgeous, velvet-clad room with a tower and overflowing book shelves.

Along with this winning combination of ingredients, ZKS also gives Robin some difficult decisions and offers a lesson in selfishness:
"I've never worried about the things Theda wants. They're not extravagant. You're the one who worries me. You're the real wanter in this family."

[Alexandra · Rating 4 out of 5]

11/16/19 on sale for $1.99 for Kindle.

[Krista the Krazy Kataloguer · Rating 5 out of 5]

I read this when I was a kid, and was enchanted with the idea of sneaking into a seldom-used portion of someone's house. I should read this again...

[Orinoco Womble (tidy bag and all) · Rating 3 out of 5]

I know I read all or part of this book in about middle school, because whole phrases and situations resonated when I re-read it lately. I loved the idea of a secret place, or at least a quiet place no one knew I was in, where I could count on being alone and undisturbed for awhile. There wasn't one in my life at that time...and indeed, still isn't. The velvet lined room full of treasures was my idea of heaven in those days.

In the re-reading, I didn't remember much of the last third of the book, and I have to say that now the "idyllic" ending rings hollow; there's such a thing as wish-fulfillment but it just didn't work for the adult me. Maybe I bailed on it as a young person because of that, though in those days it was practically a crime in my eyes not to finish a book you had started. It just seemed pretty contrived. Obviously a first novel, but she gets better.

I set the date for this review to today, because I was convinced I'd already reviewed it some time ago. Good characterisation of the main character's family and situation, the wealthy family less so.

[Sandee · Rating 5 out of 5]

It is the 1930's and Robin and her family are going through difficult times. Robin is a very imaginative young girl. When she finds the Velvet Room she finds a place to call her own. This book is a favourite childhood read of one of my dearest friends. So, I had to read it. I am so happy I did. Whether you are 10 or 100, this story is like a warm hug. Robin and her family persevere through tough financial times, illness and challenges that are not so very different than what we are dealing with during this pandemic. The story is uplifting and provides wonderful examples of how a family and friends can meet and beat tough times.

[Melissa · Rating 3 out of 5]

Really enjoyed this. Fabulous old house! Old family mystery! Girl who loves to read!
But only 3 stars because I saw all of the plot twists a mile away. Still a delightful read and a reminder of how much I enjoyed ZKS as a kid (now if I can just remember the name of the ZKS book I read over and over. . .)

[Allyson · Rating 5 out of 5]

I read this book as a youngster and really enjoyed it. A good friend loaned me her copy and I just read it again. I still love it! It's jr. high level reading, but sometimes I like to "go back." What can I say? I love good children's books!

[Althea Ann · Rating 4 out of 5]

Lovely book - about a young girl finding a haven in the library of a deserted mansion.