The Figure in the Shadows by John BellairsPuffin Books, 1993 (originally The Dial Press, 1975)

I seem to be on a kids’ books kick at the moment, or maybe just a John Bellairs kick. This book is the sequel to The House with a Clock in Its Walls (though sadly, it’s not illustrated by Edward Gorey like the first one was) and introduces us to Lewis Barnavelt’s friend, Rose Rita Pottinger, who was mentioned briefly near the end of the first book. Rose Rita is a tomboy who’s brash where Lewis is scared; the two are in sixth grade together and the first thing we hear about Rose Rita is that she’s been kept after school for “sassing” the teacher. Lewis, meanwhile, is overweight and self-conscious and worried about bullies. Oh, Lewis: “Lewis was fat and moon-faced. In his brown sweater and baggy corduroy trousers, he looked like a balloon ascension. At least, that’s what his mean Aunt Mattie had said about him once, and the phrase “balloon ascension” had gotten stuck in Lewis’s mind” (p 4). And oh, Bellairs’s descriptions! Of Mrs. Zimmermann, the enchantrix next door: “She liked anything that was purple, from the violets of early spring to maroon-colored Pontiacs” (p 12).

So, plot: after Lewis has a rotten afternoon, his Uncle Jonathan tries to cheer him up by suggesting they go look at the stuff in Lewis’s great-grandfather’s trunk, a big locked chest that Lewis has never gotten to see inside of before. Inside the chest is a bunch of Civil War memorabilia, including a lucky coin that Grampa Barnavelt won in a poker match, a three-cent piece. Lewis hopes the coin is really a magical talisman, though the grown-ups say it’s just a regular coin. But Lewis thinks otherwise, and strange things start happening.

I liked this book a little less than The House with a Clock in Its Walls, maybe in part because it feels like some of the quirkiness and whimsy of that book is missing, maybe because part of what was appealing to me in that book was that it was mostly about a kid spending his time with the grown-ups in his life, whereas this book has less of that and more of Lewis-at-school and Lewis-with-Rose-Rita. But I still liked it, and I’m still planning to read the next one.


Posted

in

by

Tags:

Comments

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *