Title: Greenglass House# of Pages: 373
Author: Kate Milford
Illustrator: Jaime Zollars
Previous Work: (For the author)
Bluecrowne (Companion to Greenglass House)
The Boneshaker
The Broken Lands
The Kairos Mechanism
Summary: Milo was looking forward to an event free
Christmas vacation at his adoptive parents' smuggler hotel,
filled with holiday traditions, not guests. Unfortunately for
Milo, luck was not on his side and the hotel filled with odd
guests with strange habits and even stranger motives. As
Milo and the cook's daughter Meddy set off to investigate a
map one of the guests dropped, they became their alter-egos:
Negret and Sirin. Could they figure out the mystery of the
hotel? Or were they left out in the cold?
Rating: I'd give this a 4.
Awards:
2014 Agatha Award Nominee for Best Children's/ YA Novel
2014 National Book Award Nominee for Young People's
Literature Longlist
2014 Kirkus The Best Children's Books
2015 Edgar Award for Best Juvenile
2016 Dorothy Canfield Fisher Children's Book Nominee
Opinion: Greenglass House is the companion to Bluecrowne,
but you can definitely read it by itself. That's what I did.
Bluecrowne is about the ancestors of some of the characters in
this book, so while it might provide some interesting
connections, it isn't necessary. Greenglass House draws you
in from the very beginning. The author is very good at giving
you a clear picture of what is going on. At times, I saw a vivid,
beautiful movie in my head. I really hope this book is made
into a movie at some point. The story is riddled with folktales
that relate to the main story, as well as ones that are
mentioned but not told. In my opinion those were almost
better than the book, and I wished I could have read the ones
that weren't written. The story was complex and realistic with
a hint of whimsy. It was amazing. However, there's a reason I
only gave this book a four. The first issue with the book was
the illustrations. They're small and don't really add anything
to the book. Not to mention, that while beautiful, they are
actually kind of jarring. Some of them don't quite fit the
descriptions in the book and I didn't like how the characters
looked. The other issue was the end of the book. I won't give
anything away, but the ending became seemingly more
juvenile and less realistic. It almost seemed like a cop-out. If
it weren't for the end, I could love this book without
hesitation.
