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Behind the Bookcase
by
Mark Steensland (Goodreads Author),
Kelly Murphy (Goodreads Author)
A girl stumbles into a fantastic world in this tale perfect for fans of Coraline, Alice in Wonderland, and The Twilight Zone.
Spending the summer at her grandmother's house is the last thing Sarah wants to do—especially now that Grandma Winnie has died—but she has no choice. Her parents have to fix the place up before they can sell it, and Sarah and her brother, Billy, have...more
Spending the summer at her grandmother's house is the last thing Sarah wants to do—especially now that Grandma Winnie has died—but she has no choice. Her parents have to fix the place up before they can sell it, and Sarah and her brother, Billy, have...more
Hardcover, 288 pages
Published
October 9th 2012
by Delacorte Books for Young Readers
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To make a Behind the Bookcase cocktail
13 oz vintage Tim Burton
15 oz Alice in Wonderland
7 oz non alcoholic Philip Pullman
9 oz of Coraline
You may add several slices of Del Toro's version of Don't Be Afraid of the Dark to taste if desired.
Shake well in a cocktail shaker that your whole family can handle with ease. Mixture will make thirteen servings. Serve in your wickedest cocktail glass and garnish each with a sprig of Mikhail Bulgakov's The Master and Margarita for fun. Best served at the strok...more
13 oz vintage Tim Burton
15 oz Alice in Wonderland
7 oz non alcoholic Philip Pullman
9 oz of Coraline
You may add several slices of Del Toro's version of Don't Be Afraid of the Dark to taste if desired.
Shake well in a cocktail shaker that your whole family can handle with ease. Mixture will make thirteen servings. Serve in your wickedest cocktail glass and garnish each with a sprig of Mikhail Bulgakov's The Master and Margarita for fun. Best served at the strok...more
6 likes · like · see review
view all 3 comments
Had the chance to meet the author at a Barnes & Noble event in Cincinnati the first weekend of November - otherwise would never have found this solid middle grade book.
I thoroughly enjoyed the adventure - common trope of disappearing into another world; time stands still in our own. Also, the tension built well in the first third of the book. I kept waiting for Sarah to discover... As the book continues, Sarah discovers that she has to right the wrong that she unwittingly set in motion. Sara...more
I thoroughly enjoyed the adventure - common trope of disappearing into another world; time stands still in our own. Also, the tension built well in the first third of the book. I kept waiting for Sarah to discover... As the book continues, Sarah discovers that she has to right the wrong that she unwittingly set in motion. Sara...more
Oct 21, 2012
Jessica Hottman
rated it
4 of 5 stars
·
review of another edition
Shelves:
jessica-hottman-s-book-reviews
Behind the Bookcase by Mark Steensland, has a great main character in it. Sarah Marie Steiner is a twelve year old girl from California. She has a brother named Billy and a mom and a dad. She is scared of the dark and often bickers with her younger brother Billy, who is much more brave than she is. Her grandmother Winnie, an eccentric lady from Pennsylvania, has recently passed away. She then travels with her family to her grandmother’s house to clean up the house and sell it. The story takes a...more
Sarah and her family move into her grandmother's house in order to fix it up. It's creepy and decrepit, but has been for years, and Sarah's mother says it has always been that way, and there is even a locked door in the basement that the grandmother claimed lead to Penumbra, where the souls of the dead lived. There's a lot of creepy knocking going on, but the family blames it on the pipes... until Sarah is sucked into another world, called Scotopia. She meets Balthazat, who claims to be the King...more
In Behind the Bookcase by Mark Steensland, two kids go with their parents to the creepy house their grandmother lived in before she died. They are going to clear the house out and sell it. Sarah discovers the land of Scotopia behind the bookcase in her bedroom. There she meets a cat who identifies himself as the King of the Cats, as well as a walking hand with a large eye in the palm and a boy with only half a face. Sarah makes a terrible mistake and sets out to fix things. Along the way, she me...more
Known to be something of a scaredy-cat, Sarah isn't looking forward to her family vacation at her grandmother's house, especially since a) her grandmother has died and b) her mom has such strange tales to tell about the stories that granny use to tell.
On settling in the house, strange things start to happen. There are sounds of knocking, but signs of who or what is doing the knocking. Dad blames the pipes, while Sarah thinks her brother, Billy, is trying to spook and annoy her.
Ordered to head up...more
On settling in the house, strange things start to happen. There are sounds of knocking, but signs of who or what is doing the knocking. Dad blames the pipes, while Sarah thinks her brother, Billy, is trying to spook and annoy her.
Ordered to head up...more
After the death of her grandmother, Sarah's family packs up their car and drivs cross country to pack up her grandmother's belongings and sell the house. Sarah soon finds out that her grandmother's house is far more than your regular old house. She soon learns that she can travel to other worlds through her grandmother's house and finds herself on a dangerous mission to save multiple worlds from destruction.
Middle aged readers who enjoyed Coraline and Alice in Wonderland will love this story ful...more
Middle aged readers who enjoyed Coraline and Alice in Wonderland will love this story ful...more
Full disclosure: I read a free e-galley from Netgalley.
Full disclosure part 2: I didn't finish this book, but I've read enough to book talk it, so I feel that I can quit and move on to something better.
Sarah moves with her family to her grandmother's house so they can clean it up and sell it, since she recently passed away. The house has a strange feeling to it, and lots of little doors and noises that make it seem like it's hiding a secret. Well, it's hiding a doozy. Sarah's grandmother helped...more
Full disclosure part 2: I didn't finish this book, but I've read enough to book talk it, so I feel that I can quit and move on to something better.
Sarah moves with her family to her grandmother's house so they can clean it up and sell it, since she recently passed away. The house has a strange feeling to it, and lots of little doors and noises that make it seem like it's hiding a secret. Well, it's hiding a doozy. Sarah's grandmother helped...more
Meh...it was okay. I'm not a huge fantasy reader so it's really got to have something that is a wow factor to pull me in. While I like the premise of a secret world, a new 'spooky' home, a misunderstood, secretive grandmother and a brave, determined girl, I couldn't grab hold of anything to keep me excited. For me, it was too easy for the kids to be taken advantage of and too much of the story was explained through the characters. I would have loved to see the mystery develop at a slower pace, b...more
The Books of Elsewhere meet Dante's Inferno with a dash of Lion, Witch & the Wardrobe-- Sarah's grandmother dies, and the family goes to sort out the house to sell it. Sarah soon discovers her Grandmother was not deluded and creepy, as her mother feels, but a gatekeeper of the dead, sending them to purgatory (Penumbra, in the basement)) until they're sorted into heaven (Ormaz) or hell (Scotopia) which exist between matching bookcases. Sarah's first foray behind the bookcase leads to her meet...more
Feb 18, 2013
Sarah
rated it
4 of 5 stars
·
review of another edition
Shelves:
fantasy,
young-readers
Things are not as they seem.
Sarah's family is living in her recently deceased grandmother's house in order to settle the estate when Sarah discovers an unfinished letter to her from her grandma which piques her curiosity and points her in the direction of the bookcase in her bedroom. Her curiosity outweighing her fears, Sarah investigates behind the bookcase. Discovering a shadowy world with a talking cat and strange creatures is only the beginning of this adventure in which Sarah will need help...more
Sarah's family is living in her recently deceased grandmother's house in order to settle the estate when Sarah discovers an unfinished letter to her from her grandma which piques her curiosity and points her in the direction of the bookcase in her bedroom. Her curiosity outweighing her fears, Sarah investigates behind the bookcase. Discovering a shadowy world with a talking cat and strange creatures is only the beginning of this adventure in which Sarah will need help...more
Background: Sarah and Billy are brother and sister and have come to their grandmothers old house to pack it up to sell it with their parents. The problem is, that while there, the children find out that behind the bookcases are secret passageways to other worlds and that their grandmother had a very important job to do.
Review: Go get this book for yourself, your children, your grandparents, it is adorable and full of surprises. There are illustrations throughout the book and they just add to its...more
Review: Go get this book for yourself, your children, your grandparents, it is adorable and full of surprises. There are illustrations throughout the book and they just add to its...more
This is an adorable little middle grade. After her Grandma Winnie passes away, Sarah goes with her family to restore her old house to sell. Her mom has never wanted to go visit because her childhood there was so creepy. When they arrive, Sarah discovers that her grandma had wanted to tell her things that she didn't have time to. She also finds a secret passageway behind the bookcase in her room. After making several mistakes because she wanted to do it on her own, she learns to accept help from...more
This sit on the younger end of middle grade fiction, with straightforward prose and a plot revolving around weird creatures and travel. I suspect I'm just too far out of the age group for this one, and that it would do nicely for the 8-10s.
It was an okay read. Choppy at times and I think that there was something in the plot that I might have missed.
It is opened for a sequel but I think (no, I know that will miss it!)
It is opened for a sequel but I think (no, I know that will miss it!)
It was dark and confusing. I had lots of questions - and yet there were many things kids would like. I wonder if it is a mentor text that we could read together and develop... it is an idea that make you wonder. It is intriguing and different.
I didn't like it as much as I wanted to. It just didn't flow and the characters didn't come to life for me.
Really good young adult novel. Good companion book to Walls Within Walls and A Wrinkle in Time.
This was his first book. You can tell. It wasn't very good. Tweens might like it.
8 yr old girl said: "I love it. I'm going to read it again."
Both my boys loved it. Fantasy reminiscent of Alice in Wonderland.
I wanted to like it. But I just got annoyed.
I like this. It has a bit of a Coraline, Books of Elsewhere feel to it.
What do you think I thought?
I loved Sarah and the whole entire story. The setting description was absolutely fantastic!
cute book
Jan 12, 2013
Apple
added it
hate it jk :3
Reviewing this one for SLJ.
Review to come. Not sure quite what to rate this yet, though it could go either way. I liked the illustrations and the overarching story, but I don't think it struck me as much as the premise would lend. Hopefully I can expand upon my thoughts more in the full review.
Is there gonna be a sequel? Cuz the ending SOOOOOOO did not feel finished.
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Mark Steensland was born and raised in California. He self-published his first book while in fourth grade, and has been telling stories ever since -- some of them true. He became a professional journalist at the age of 18, writing about movies for such magazines as "Prevue" and "American Cinematographer." He has also written, directed, and produced numerous award-winning films that have played in...more
More about Mark Steensland...
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