What do you think?
Rate this book
Beyond Another Door
Daria Peterson was usually a level-headed teenager. But a dish she won at a local carnival began to shimmer with a life force of its own, and then suddenly, the face of her dead grandmother appeared. No one believed her, of course. Not her best friend Kelly, or her mother, who was her exact opposite. And as her grandmother revealed things about her mother's past, about love and loss, Daria began to see her mother in a different light. And with the knowledge came a growing fear--of the supernatural and her own growing psychic abilities....
- GenresYoung AdultFantasy
Mass Market Paperback
First published February 1, 1977
16 people want to read
About the author
Sonia Levitin
64 books40 followersSonia Levitin is a German-American novelist, artist, producer, Holocaust Survivor, and author of over forty novels and picture books for young adults and children, as well as several theatrical plays and published essays on various topics for adults. Her book Incident at Loring Groves won an Edgar Allan Poe Award.
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews
February 2, 2024
A girl's psychic powers awaken, and being psychic isn't all it's cracked up to be.
August 25, 2015
Beyond Another Door is about Daria Peterson who lives with her single mother in a quiet little town far from the rest of the family. After winning an ugly dish at the carnival, Daria's world changes. She begins to see ghosts and have visions of the past and future. Can she make sense of it all?
For the most part I enjoyed the paranormal twist to the book. I liked how the relationship with Rob grew over time. I also liked Daria's new found abilities helped her connect with Nanette. A few things though dampened my enjoyment of the book: Daria's relationship with her mother, the big horror over being a "love child" and the uneven style of the writing.
Daria's feelings for her mother are never well established in the book. Throughout the novel she calls her mother by her name instead of "Ma, Mom, Mother" or something similar implying they aren't all that close. The opening scene though implies from their camaraderie that they are very close and in later scenes Daria says they are close but the remaining confrontational scenes they have together show exactly the opposite.
Next is the dragged out revelation through her visions that Daria was probably conceived out of wedlock. The first big mistake in this plot point is Daria's lack of understanding. She doesn't know what the term means. When she finds out from boyfriend Rob she is horrified and convinced that now the whole town will be out to get her. This one plot point sends the book hurtling backwards in time about twenty years. Daria though isn't old enough to have been born in the hyper conservative 1950s. Finally, though, if the town really did care about such things, Daria would already know. Pearl certainly did at a much younger age in The Scarlet Letter.
Both problems: the relationship between mother and daughter and the question of her legitimacy could have been blended more evenly into the story. Unfortunately the uneven writing emphasizes all the wrong parts, dragging out insignificant scenes and racing through the pivotal ones.
For the most part I enjoyed the paranormal twist to the book. I liked how the relationship with Rob grew over time. I also liked Daria's new found abilities helped her connect with Nanette. A few things though dampened my enjoyment of the book: Daria's relationship with her mother, the big horror over being a "love child" and the uneven style of the writing.
Daria's feelings for her mother are never well established in the book. Throughout the novel she calls her mother by her name instead of "Ma, Mom, Mother" or something similar implying they aren't all that close. The opening scene though implies from their camaraderie that they are very close and in later scenes Daria says they are close but the remaining confrontational scenes they have together show exactly the opposite.
Next is the dragged out revelation through her visions that Daria was probably conceived out of wedlock. The first big mistake in this plot point is Daria's lack of understanding. She doesn't know what the term means. When she finds out from boyfriend Rob she is horrified and convinced that now the whole town will be out to get her. This one plot point sends the book hurtling backwards in time about twenty years. Daria though isn't old enough to have been born in the hyper conservative 1950s. Finally, though, if the town really did care about such things, Daria would already know. Pearl certainly did at a much younger age in The Scarlet Letter.
Both problems: the relationship between mother and daughter and the question of her legitimacy could have been blended more evenly into the story. Unfortunately the uneven writing emphasizes all the wrong parts, dragging out insignificant scenes and racing through the pivotal ones.
Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews