Play Book Tag discussion

Ten-year-old orphan Lewis Barnavelt has come to live with his Uncle Jonathan, a man Lewis has never met. Jonathan's friendly demeanor, his gloriously huge old house and a kindly neighbor named Mrs. Zimmerman help allay Lewis's fears of his new life. Learning that Uncle Jonathan is a wizard and Mrs. Zimmerman a witch only helps to make Lewis more enthusiastic. Lewis is a bit taken aback by some of Jonathan's strange behavior; Jonathan seems to be listening to the walls and is nearly mesmerized by the ticking and gonging of clocks.

Never a popular child, Lewis was a bit on the pudgy side and was terrible at sports. Tarby, a new friend at school, takes Lewis under his wing and helps him with baseball skills. The two become inseparable friends as Tarby is healing from a broken arm. Once the cast comes off, Lewis knows that Tarby will go back to his other friends. Hoping to keep Tarby's friendship, Lewis decides to do a bit of magic himself. On Halloween night he and Tarby inadvertently awaken the spirit of Selenna Izard, the former owner of Jonathan's home and an evil witch. She and her husband had placed a doomsday clock in the walls of Jonathan's house and it will destroy the world when it runs down. Uh oh.

This was a fun story about a meek little boy who learns he has hidden depths to himself. I think if I had read this as a child it might have frightened me a bit, but there is also a lot of silly humor in the story.