House With a Clock in Its Walls / Ghost in the Mirror Flip Book

by John Bellairs

This classic is now reissued with a brand-new look. A boy goes to live with his magician uncle in a mansion that has a clock hidden in the walls which is ticking off the minutes until doomsday.

Genres: Fiction, Fantasy

348 pages, Paperback

First published June 3, 2002

About the author

John Bellairs (1938–1991) was an American novelist. He is best known for the children's classic The House with a Clock in its Walls (1973) and the fantasy novel The Face in the Frost (1969). Bellairs held a bachelor's degree from Notre Dame University and a master's in English from the University of Chicago. He later lived and wrote in Massachusetts.

Reviews

[Linda · Rating 4 out of 5]

Leave it to the Library to have the original edition with the fabulous Edward Gorey drawings and cover! This is delightful novel for young people about a young boy whose parents die so he is forced to live with his eccentric Uncle in a scary house with a clock that won't stop ticking. Turns out, the house isn't so scary and the Uncle lets him eat cookies and play poker all night (but not on school nights). His Uncle even has some magical powers that together with the lovely neighbor next door are put to the test to stop another wizard from ending the world. A great book about not always fitting in, but still having an important role in your world. The movie is supposed to be released Fall 2018.

[Chet Boronski · Rating 4 out of 5]

From the Juvenile section, and in that category, it does well. There are some good turns of phrases.

[Susan · Rating 5 out of 5]

Spoiler alert:

Lewis is a sensitive, brave, and lonely boy who, after losing both of his parents, moves to a new town to live with his Uncle Jonathan. While trying to make his way in a place where he has no friends save for his uncle and neighbor Mrs. Zimmerman (who are pretty great), and makes some mistakes trying to impress a potential friend who, like Jennifer Giraffe in the story Dandelion, would have accepted him exactly as he was and didn't need him to jump through any additional (and additional, and additional, and additional always wanting more and more and more and more) supernatural hoops to accept him.

However, when real danger appears of course, the need to impress goes out the window:

"Both Mrs. Zimmerman and Uncle Jonathan seemed to know who or what was in the car behind them - or at least they seemed to know that it was someone who had the Power to do them harm. But they said as little as possible, except to confer now and then about directions. So Lewis just sat there, trying to feel comforted by the green dashboard lights and the warm breath of the heater on his knees. Of course, he also felt comforted by the two wizards, whose warm and friendly bodies pressed against him in the furry darkness. But he knew that they were scared, and this made him twice as scared."

[Roshni · Rating 3 out of 5]

Classic fantasy by Bellairs, nothing special, but good for a rainy afternoon