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Yesterday, the children's librarian at Bainbridge made a difficult decision - we have a bunch of John Bellairs hardcovers with the Edward Gorey illustrations, and they just don't check out. They've consistently been on our dusty shelf reports (the reports of books that don't ever get checked out) for years now and we just don't have space to keep them. So they had to be weeded.
Now, this is a tragic thing. But, on the upside for me, she knows that I also love John Bellairs and she wanted the satisfaction of knowing that at least some of the books would be going to a loving home. Which is why I now have hardcover copies of The Lamp from the Warlock's Tomb and The Secret of the Underground Room with the Edward Gorey illustrations.
Friends! Do you like: kid-lit, excellent writing, gorgeously spooky things that aren't gory, inter-generational friendships, well-researched occult phenomena, American small-town life in the late 1940's, and happy endings that usually involve eating cookies? Then you should go to your local library and get some John Bellairs - save them from the dusty shelf report. You will not be disappointed.
There are three series, each about a different boy and his elderly friend: Lewis Barnavelt (and his uncle Jonathan and their neighbor, Mrs Zimmerman, both of whom are witches), Anthony Monday (and Miss Eels, a librarian at the library where Anthony volunteers), and Johnny Dixon (and Professor Childermass). I'll give you a recommendation from each series:
For Lewis Barnavelt, you should start at the beginning with The House with a Clock in its Walls. Lewis comes to live with his uncle Jonathan, but Jonathan's house used to belong to a wizard working to bring about the end of the world and there is a clock hidden somewhere in the house, ticking down to Doomsday. I basically stole this book from my third grade teacher and read the cover off before I returned it to her.
For Anthony Monday, try The Dark Secret of Weatherend, in which Anthony and Miss Eels have to stop an evil wizard from transforming the world into an icy wasteland. There's a scene in this book where they almost get killed by leaves that I think about every autumn.
And for Johnny Dixon, start with The Curse of the Blue Figurine. There's ghosts, dead priests, possession, Egyptian artifacts, and evil magic rings. It's pretty great. Honestly, all the Johnny Dixon books are pretty great.
There's also an adult novel - The Face in the Frost - which is about two wizards and is lovely (and scary enough that I don't listen to the audiobook at bedtime). Well worth checking out.
So go - read John Bellairs! And then come back here and talk to me about it, because these books were a mainstay of my childhood and I don't get to talk about them nearly enough.
Now, this is a tragic thing. But, on the upside for me, she knows that I also love John Bellairs and she wanted the satisfaction of knowing that at least some of the books would be going to a loving home. Which is why I now have hardcover copies of The Lamp from the Warlock's Tomb and The Secret of the Underground Room with the Edward Gorey illustrations.
Friends! Do you like: kid-lit, excellent writing, gorgeously spooky things that aren't gory, inter-generational friendships, well-researched occult phenomena, American small-town life in the late 1940's, and happy endings that usually involve eating cookies? Then you should go to your local library and get some John Bellairs - save them from the dusty shelf report. You will not be disappointed.
There are three series, each about a different boy and his elderly friend: Lewis Barnavelt (and his uncle Jonathan and their neighbor, Mrs Zimmerman, both of whom are witches), Anthony Monday (and Miss Eels, a librarian at the library where Anthony volunteers), and Johnny Dixon (and Professor Childermass). I'll give you a recommendation from each series:
For Lewis Barnavelt, you should start at the beginning with The House with a Clock in its Walls. Lewis comes to live with his uncle Jonathan, but Jonathan's house used to belong to a wizard working to bring about the end of the world and there is a clock hidden somewhere in the house, ticking down to Doomsday. I basically stole this book from my third grade teacher and read the cover off before I returned it to her.
For Anthony Monday, try The Dark Secret of Weatherend, in which Anthony and Miss Eels have to stop an evil wizard from transforming the world into an icy wasteland. There's a scene in this book where they almost get killed by leaves that I think about every autumn.
And for Johnny Dixon, start with The Curse of the Blue Figurine. There's ghosts, dead priests, possession, Egyptian artifacts, and evil magic rings. It's pretty great. Honestly, all the Johnny Dixon books are pretty great.
There's also an adult novel - The Face in the Frost - which is about two wizards and is lovely (and scary enough that I don't listen to the audiobook at bedtime). Well worth checking out.
So go - read John Bellairs! And then come back here and talk to me about it, because these books were a mainstay of my childhood and I don't get to talk about them nearly enough.