Stranger at the Window

by Vivien Alcock

Lesley, who is recovering from an illness at her aunt's home while her mother is in Egypt, is convinced she's seen a frightened child peering out of the attic window of the house next door. When she confronts her neighbors and learns about their secret castaway, she becomes involved in their desperate attempt to keep him from the authorities. As Lesley and her neighbors struggle to provide a safe haven for a stranger in a strange land, they begin to understand their own strengths, as well as their own limitations.

Genres: Childrens, Fiction

208 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1994

About the author

Born September 23, 1924, in Worthing, Sussex, England; died October 11, 2003, in London, England. Author. Alcock was a bestselling author of mystery and fantasy fiction for young adults. Her early training and career, however, was in commercial art, and she attended the Ruskin School of Drawing and Fine Arts from 1940 to 1942. She left school to become an ambulance driver for the Auxiliary Territorial Service during World War II; after the war, she held several different jobs, including as an artist for the duplicating firm Gestetner Ltd. from 1947 to 1953. This was followed by three years as an employment bureau manager; and from 1956 to 1964 Alcock worked as a secretary for Whiltington Hospital in London. Although she had enjoyed storytelling and novels since she was a child, Alcock was shy about trying to be a published author and was content to stay in the background behind her famous author husband, Leon Garfield. However, she did occasionally give him ideas for his books, such as the popular Smith stories. It was not until 1980, therefore, that she finally published her first novel for teenagers, The Haunting of Cassie Palmer. Alcock continued writing fantasies, ghost stories, and mysteries through 2001, many of which proved popular with teens and some of which were adapted to television as movies and series. She published almost two dozen books in all, including Travelers by Night (1983), The Cuckoo Sister (1985), The Monster Garden (1988), A Kind of Thief (1992), Time Wreck (1996), A Gift on a String (1998), Ticket to Heaven (2000), and her last book, The Boy Who Swallowed a Ghost (2001). Several of her novels were named notable books by the American Library Association (ALA), and The Monster Garden was named the best science fiction/fantasy book of 1988 by the ALA.

Reviews

[Silver Prion Chemistry the Martian Blob · Rating 5 out of 5]

Ruthie recommended Stranger at the Window to me, and I really liked it! Stranger at the Window begins with Lesley, a timid and friendless girl who is staying with her Aunt Amy and recovering from a sickness while her mother is in Cairo. Lesley initially reminded me of Mary Lennox from The Secret Garden by Frances Hodgson Burnett, shy, sickly, friendless, and a bit sulky, but she improved a lot through the course of the book.
Lesley sees three children, Christopher, Robert, and Victoria Harwood, next door. She's shy of them because they seem to be the opposite of her -- boisterous and bright instead of sick, pale and shy. Then, she sees a strange face on the top floor of the Harwoods' house, and tries to investigate, getting caught several times by the Harwoods.
The stranger at the window, literally, turns out to be a small boy named Erri who has run away from his own country that the Harwoods have been hiding, keeping it a secret from their parents and everyone else. The Harwoods' mother, however, who is a charity worker but unwilling to go as far as her children to help Erri, finds out that her children have been hiding Erri in the attic. Victoria lies to her mother, tells her that they've been pretending that there was a boy in the attic, and asks Lesley for help hiding Erri in her own attic. Lesley agrees, and eventually becomes friends with both the Harwoods and Erri. Erri, however, doesn't speak much English and is, after all, a very young child, and often doesn't understand that the children are trying to ensure his safety. Lesley trains Erri to answer any questions that anyone asks him by saying that he had a bad accident and can't remember anything. Finally, Erri is frightened by the sudden entrance of Christopher Harwood, who threatens to tell his father about Erri. Erri climbs out of the window and nearly kills himself trying to escape. Lesley asks her Aunt Amy, who is well-meaning and kind but rather weak and obsessed with her china figures of children as replacements for the children that she never had, to say that Erri is her adopted son and Lesley's little brother. Erri ends up in a foster home that he at first objects to, but gets used to and finally likes.
My favorite character was, by far, Victoria, who seemed bitter and unfriendly at the beginning, but progressed over the course of the book to be brave and friendly (at least to Lesley). I also liked Lesley a lot more than I did at the beginning of the book -- she becomes a lot more brave and relatable and a lot less sickly and weak. Christopher was OK. He seemed like a bit of a snob, but I still liked him. Erri was likable and often funny.
Overall, I really liked Stranger at the Window! Thank you, Ruthie!

[Ptyler · Rating 2 out of 5]

The book “Stranger At The Window” is all about a girl named Lesley and her moving in with her aunt amy, while Lesley is getting over a sickness and her mother is out of town on business in Cairo. Lesley is a kind but friendless girl. Lesley sees three kids Christopher, Robert and Victoria Harwood next door. She sees a shadow up in their attic one day and investigates but then gets caught many times by the Harwoods. Lesley finally meets an immigrant boy named Erri and has to hide him in her aunt's house. Lesley tells her aunt about Erri.

Reading this book made me think about the value of being a United States citizen and not having to hide, be afraid and being caught and shipped away. I can now imagine more what it is like for immigrants in America trying to find a home and stay there and start over in a new safe place.

If you were to ask me if you should read “Stranger at the Window” by Vivien Alcock in the beginning of the book I would’ve said no you should definitely not read it because of how slow paced it was but now that i've finished it I would strongly recommend this book to anyone of my peers. I would recommend this book because it is a strong story about two complete opposites becoming best friends.

[H. Givens · Rating 2 out of 5]

These kids are all idiots. Several of them are teens, and they still make no effort whatsoever to come up with a plan? They just think they're going to raise a young child themselves and keep him secret the whole time? But they haven't even thought that much, they haven't thought AT ALL. And then the plot just sort of fizzles off at the end, the more interesting themes (about the elderly aunt with the china dolls, etc.) don't amount to anything.

[Daniel · Rating 4 out of 5]

I thought it was a pretty good book. It was about a young girl and an even younger boy who is an illegal immigrant who had no right to be in Britain. The young girl and some of her friends attempts to hide the immigrant from the U.K. Police. After reading this book, I felt that it was one of the better books I have read. I'd give this book a 4-star. However, if I were to rate the begining, I would probably give it a 1/2-star but I stuck through until the end and it gets better. This book really is a good book. I would recommend this book to people of all ages. I would even more recomend this book to teenagers. I think, however, it might be a little bit easier to understand if you know some of the unusual British words as this book uses a lot of British terminology. (For example they use the word chips when I think they actually mean french fries, not to get too off topic シ) The young girl is said to be about 11 years old and the boy is said to be maybe near 7 or 8 years old.

[F · Rating 3 out of 5]

Eleven-year-old Lesley, who is recovering from hepatitis, is at her aunt's home in London while her mother is working in Cairo,Egypt. Lesley is convinced she has seen a frightened child peering out of the attic window of the house next door. When she confronts her neighbors (Christopher, Robert & Victoria) and learns about their secret castaway, Lesley becomes involved in their desperate attempt to keep him from the authorities. The author did an excellent job in developing the character of 14-year-old Victoria. The reading level of the book is grades 5 to 8. The book requires a very mature reader to understand the political consequences of harboring an illegal immigrant.

[Madeline Henricksen · Rating 5 out of 5]

"Stranger in the Window" is a book about a girl named Lesley and her neighbors. It all starts when Lesley accidentally overhears her new neighbors having a fight and saying that their mom does not deserve to have the child in the attic. So Lesley DID see a child in their attic. Lesley rescues, cares for, and plays with her new friend. But when the time comes for a childless couple to adopt the orphan, she is devastated.

I really liked this book because I could not put it down. It is a story that has a mixture of tragedy and happiness. I recommend this book to anyone that wants to have a good book to read on a rainy day.

[E · Rating 4 out of 5]

Stranger At the Window is an easy read--only about 200 pages--but the story is still captivating. I enjoyed it immensely, and hope to read other works by this author.

The one thing I didn't like, was that the writing style seemed to be aimed at about 3rd Graders, but the story content seemed more aimed at 6th Graders. Oh well. I liked it anyway.

[Kathy · Rating 3 out of 5]

Interesting through not thoroughly convincing exploration of timely themes (immigration, do-good-ism, coming of age). I think I liked the houses better than the people overall, but I will be looking for more of Alcock's writing.

[Catherine Mustread · Rating 3 out of 5]

Mary has seen ghosts since she was a baby and after learning about her great-great-grandmother and sumbling through a time wreck near her home in London, she understands why.

[Megan · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great book that I absolutely love. Need it on my bookshelf.

[zoie · Rating 4 out of 5]

i liked this book, did a literary analysis on it so its nice

[Ellen · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book was good but kind of strange and not really believable. That's all I'll say.