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A Thief in the House of Memory
Family secrets, forgotten memories, and the transforming power of truth
It's been six years since sixteen-year-old Dec's free-spirited mother, Lindy, disappeared. Dec feels so trapped in the present, he's avoided examining his past. But when an intruder dies in the museum-like family home, the man's death sends forth tremors that reawaken forgotten memories. Suddenly Dec is
...morePaperback, 245 pages
Published
January 26th 2007
by Gardners Books
(first published April 15th 2005)
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Kristen
rated it
·
review of another edition
·
review of another edition
Recommends it for:
Younger readers
Shelves:
adolescent-lit,
english-420
Genre/Category: Mystery
It took me nearly sixty pages to get into A Thief in the House of Memory, but once I finally learned to distinguish between reality and Dec’s imagination I was hooked. Wynne-Jones did an incredible job in this mystery novel of providing just enough—or just too few—clues to keep me interested, yet completely in the dark as to how all of the pieces fit together. The story is about a sixteen-year-old boy, Declan, who finds a dead body in a house that his family ...more
It took me nearly sixty pages to get into A Thief in the House of Memory, but once I finally learned to distinguish between reality and Dec’s imagination I was hooked. Wynne-Jones did an incredible job in this mystery novel of providing just enough—or just too few—clues to keep me interested, yet completely in the dark as to how all of the pieces fit together. The story is about a sixteen-year-old boy, Declan, who finds a dead body in a house that his family ...more
This was an interesting book about a family mystery. Declan Steeple lives in a small house at the bottom of a hill, but above him on the hill is his old house, where he used to live before his mother ran away. It's a big house filled to the brim with relics of his old life. A random visit with his little sister turns into a mystery when Declan discovers a man buried beneath a large bookcase, dead. He starts visiting the house more often, seeing visions of his mother there. Is she trying to ...more
TIM WYNNE-JONES
Declan Steeple is 15 year old son of Bernard, who is the sole heir to the Steeple estate. The Steeple's have a long tradition of ambition, wealth and posterity. Declan seems to think that chain has stopped with his father. Dec thinks his father is stuck in the past as the history buff spends the majority of his time doodling with models of some of the world's most historic wars. Declan's mom disappeared when he was 10, and he hasn't seen her since. However, a mystery at the o...more
Declan Steeple is 15 year old son of Bernard, who is the sole heir to the Steeple estate. The Steeple's have a long tradition of ambition, wealth and posterity. Declan seems to think that chain has stopped with his father. Dec thinks his father is stuck in the past as the history buff spends the majority of his time doodling with models of some of the world's most historic wars. Declan's mom disappeared when he was 10, and he hasn't seen her since. However, a mystery at the o...more
mystery
Dec is just a teenager trying to find out what happened to his mother, who supposedly left his family several years previous. Living just down the hill from his childhood home, Dec, his father, sister, and soon-to-be stepmother try to move on from their past. But when a man is found dead in the old house, Dec makes several trips back to the House of Memory trying to remember what really happened when his mother disappeared from his life.
This book explores the under...more
Dec is just a teenager trying to find out what happened to his mother, who supposedly left his family several years previous. Living just down the hill from his childhood home, Dec, his father, sister, and soon-to-be stepmother try to move on from their past. But when a man is found dead in the old house, Dec makes several trips back to the House of Memory trying to remember what really happened when his mother disappeared from his life.
This book explores the under...more
Tim Wynne-Jones' masterful storytelling comes to the forefront in this novel of mystery and suspense. Dec is a mostly normal high schooler--he's smart, has good friends, loves his family. His family might be considered a little strange, though, given that they live in a new-ish house on the same property as an old house, the house Dec grew up in, the house of memories. This weirdness of this situation increases when Dec discovers a corpse in his family’s as-is-creepy, spare house. Adding to this...more
Genre: YA, Mystery
Thief in the House of Memory is the story of a boy whose mother left when he was young and through threw the death of a robber in the house he used to live in, the past becomes real to him and he starts to sort through what happened, why his mother left, and where she is now. He wades through the deception of his father, his own doubts and his emotions as he discovers the truth. This book seemed wedged between the categories of Mystery and Magical realism. I enjoy fantasy...more
Thief in the House of Memory is the story of a boy whose mother left when he was young and through threw the death of a robber in the house he used to live in, the past becomes real to him and he starts to sort through what happened, why his mother left, and where she is now. He wades through the deception of his father, his own doubts and his emotions as he discovers the truth. This book seemed wedged between the categories of Mystery and Magical realism. I enjoy fantasy...more
Mystery/Psychological
Thief in the House of Memory is a thriller that follows a young rich boy as he tries to discover the truth about his mother and the thief found in his former house. With the help of his friends he embarks on a mystery quest to discovery the truth missing from his life. The book is face-paced and a pleasure to read that can appeal to a variety of readers. Some themes may be not suitable for a middle-grade audience, but a teen audience will enjoy the psycho...more
Thief in the House of Memory is a thriller that follows a young rich boy as he tries to discover the truth about his mother and the thief found in his former house. With the help of his friends he embarks on a mystery quest to discovery the truth missing from his life. The book is face-paced and a pleasure to read that can appeal to a variety of readers. Some themes may be not suitable for a middle-grade audience, but a teen audience will enjoy the psycho...more
Genre: Mystery Fiction/Supernatural/Family Secrets
Dec's mother's mysterious diappearance leaves Dec wondering about his past. He begins to have visions of that are echoes of memories he once had. His childhood home is perserved in the exactness it was when he lived there and it is the backdrop of these visions. When Dec finds a theif dead under a bookshelf in the house, his head starts turning and he begins to uncover the family secrets. Dec's visions coupled with his mystery hun...more
Dec's mother's mysterious diappearance leaves Dec wondering about his past. He begins to have visions of that are echoes of memories he once had. His childhood home is perserved in the exactness it was when he lived there and it is the backdrop of these visions. When Dec finds a theif dead under a bookshelf in the house, his head starts turning and he begins to uncover the family secrets. Dec's visions coupled with his mystery hun...more
Really great book. About a smart boy whose mother left him and his father as a child. He is now living in a house with his sister, father, and his father's girlfriend. The house he used to live in is near by and they still use it. They call it the house of memory. Whenever they have something they want to store they put it in the house of memory. It was a big house that had run in their family. Then everything is disturbed when a thief is killed in the house. Dec starts to have memories come bac...more
Dec's mother disappears and he is left alone and scared. His repressed feelings and fears are awakened when a man dies in the house. His good friend helps him to distinguish between his nightmares and reality...but then Ezra too leaves.
People leaving Dec seems to be a common occurrence in his life. The novel has a great psychological ring to it as the reader is taken into Dec's thoughts and examines his nightmares. it's worth a read. Tim Wynne Jones is a skilled writer. Junior high ...more
People leaving Dec seems to be a common occurrence in his life. The novel has a great psychological ring to it as the reader is taken into Dec's thoughts and examines his nightmares. it's worth a read. Tim Wynne Jones is a skilled writer. Junior high ...more
This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it,
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4Q, 3P, J
Dev Assets 1, 2, 10, 14, 20, 29
Best Books, mystery. After he and his little sister find a body in their family’s abandoned home (which sits near their vanilla split-level house), Dec decides that it is time to explore the secrets that his dad and his mother’s best friend have been protecting since Dec’s mother left years ago. This book serves as an exploration of a boy’s past and helps him sort out the people and circumstances of his life. He has to rule out his panic that w...more
Dev Assets 1, 2, 10, 14, 20, 29
Best Books, mystery. After he and his little sister find a body in their family’s abandoned home (which sits near their vanilla split-level house), Dec decides that it is time to explore the secrets that his dad and his mother’s best friend have been protecting since Dec’s mother left years ago. This book serves as an exploration of a boy’s past and helps him sort out the people and circumstances of his life. He has to rule out his panic that w...more
This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it,
click here.
The action keeps moving with enough surprises to keep things interesting. Although the resolution isn't as neat and tidy as that in a fairy tale, it is satisfying. And who can resist an abandoned mansion? Although the cover art and story description may represent the plot as fantastical with a dose of horror, in reality the story is more realistic and focuses on a teenage boy looking for answers about his family.
a family full of secrets, a young man greiving his mother's absence, and a good sprinkling of mystery. not to mention a house that could fit in The Fall of the House of Usher or Psycho.
this was a book that seemed to short for the plot. it could have been filled out a lot more. But i think it may be intended for high elementary level readers, and i was expecting a teen book.
this was a book that seemed to short for the plot. it could have been filled out a lot more. But i think it may be intended for high elementary level readers, and i was expecting a teen book.
16 year old Dec and his young sister Sunny find a dead man in the Big House, the almost museum ancestral home of the family. The man was a thief, but an investigation into the death must occur. Memories are beginning to surface in Dec's mind, of his mother who disappeared 6 years ago. What really happened in the House of Memory?
Mystery
This book is about Dec's search for his mother and his past. When someone is killed in the "house of memory," the house that Dec lived in until his mother left, Dec is flooded with all sorts of memories about his mother. Not really knowing what to belive, Dec sees lies and suspicions in everything, including his father and his father's girlfriend. Through his probing and searching, he learns more about himself as well as his father as he searches for his mother. This b...more
This book is about Dec's search for his mother and his past. When someone is killed in the "house of memory," the house that Dec lived in until his mother left, Dec is flooded with all sorts of memories about his mother. Not really knowing what to belive, Dec sees lies and suspicions in everything, including his father and his father's girlfriend. Through his probing and searching, he learns more about himself as well as his father as he searches for his mother. This b...more
I was expecting something a little more sci-fi when I picked up this book. At very least, a little bit ghosty. However, there is some of that, as memories come back to the boy. Interesting, intelligent characters. A Gothic feel juxtaposed with the everyday, just like the houses.
Set in a rural town in Canada, it had a gothic mystery feel; but, instead of the usual young girl heroine caught in the middle of mysterious circumstances the main character is a teenage male who can't fully remember the happenings that lead up to his mother's disappearance.
This is a great book i haven't finished reading it but it's mystery and it's been about six years since Dec's free-spirited mother had disappeared and since then he has been trying to escape the past.You feel like if your in the story.
I'm glad I read this one. A fun story and a great one to study for writing craft.
For example, the flashbacks, which almost merge with ghostlike experiences at times with the MC’s mother, are masterfully transitioned.
For example, the flashbacks, which almost merge with ghostlike experiences at times with the MC’s mother, are masterfully transitioned.
Robin Ford
rated it
·
review of another edition
·
review of another edition
Recommends it for:
fantasists; students of the human psyche
Could've been cooler. On the other hand, I really liked Declan, and especially the poem for him at the end.
It was interesting to be inside his head as he heard what other think of him.
It was interesting to be inside his head as he heard what other think of him.
A decent sounding mystery, but I felt like I was waiting for something, an explosion or something that never came. The characters, while somewhat interesting, never really caught my interest enough to make me care about what happened to them.
Declan's search for his mother was interesting, but his reaction when he finally figured it out just didn't seem enough to me. Yes, he was upset, but it felt restrained, muted. There just didn't seem enough of an emotional connection to it all, w...more
Declan's search for his mother was interesting, but his reaction when he finally figured it out just didn't seem enough to me. Yes, he was upset, but it felt restrained, muted. There just didn't seem enough of an emotional connection to it all, w...more
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this book was one of the best mystery books i have read and i would say that a fair amount of people could potentially love this book, or just out right hate it. all a matter of opinion.
At first I started to like this book, but then after I got into it, the story became unclear. I didn't know what was going on and what the point of the story was.
Steeple Hall, a family house, no longer lived in but regularly visited by Dec Steeple. When a man mysteriously dies there Dec uncovers secrets and memories lurking through the house. Dec must find out the question that lies in the heart of the house, Where is his mother?
This book is a interesting, but its hard to understand. Once you read deeper into this book it gets so interesting.
This book is populated by overly quirky characters. I don't like that.
Easy, quick read mustery - a little shallow. Dec's mom leaves and doesn't hear from her in years. He wants to know the circumstances and works thru the mystery. He always want to know but his reasons for wanting to know aren't that he is wondering why she never tried to contact him - EVER. When he finds out that she died a few years after leaving he doesn't really get upset. life goes on? This was a good premise for a decent mystery but the author really missed the boat on this one.
It is a very interesting book. It is hard to understand sometimes because it is always changing. I recommend this book to anyone who likes mystery's and adventure.
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Tim Wynne-Jones (born 12 August 1948) is an English–Canadian author of children's literature, including picture books and novels for children and young adults, novels for adults, radio dramas, songs for the CBC/Jim Henson production Fraggle Rock, as well as a children's musical and an opera libretto.
Awards:
Arthur Ellis Award
◊ Best Juvenile (2001): The Boy in the Burning H...more
More about Tim Wynne-Jones...
Awards:
Arthur Ellis Award
◊ Best Juvenile (2001): The Boy in the Burning H...more
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