Moon Window - Hardcover

Curry, Jane Louise

3.57

54 ratings by Goodreads

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 068980945X ISBN 13: 9780689809453

Publisher: Margaret K. McElderry, 1996

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JoEllen resents having to stay with Granty in her home, Winterbloom, while her mother is on her honeymoon, but after the discovery of the magic round window, allowing her to travel back in time, she begins a grand adventure of her own. Jr Lib Guild.

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From School Library Journal:

Grade 4-6-Jo Ellen is so hateful to everyone over her mother's remarriage that no one but an unknown great-aunt, Ellen Macallan, will keep her during her mother's honeymoon. At Winterbloom, Granty's castlelike home in NH, Jo discovers a turret window that takes her back into time and reveals a puzzling mystery. Meanwhile, agoraphobic Granty feeds her stories of their ancestor, Witch Ellen who, Jo Ellen discovers, still lives at Winterbloom despite her 200 years. When Jo double-crosses her evil ancestor, the house burns to the ground, finally freeing Granty from her phobia. Though the opening pages of exposition lack finesse, the story follows a logical line. Unfortunately, the tension is not well sustained throughout Jo's adventure, and plot points (Jo's initial ugliness toward her new stepfather, neighborhood resentment of Witch Ellen) either disappear or are never fully developed, resulting in a rather superficial treatment of events. Despite some clumsy writing, Jo is a strong protagonist worth knowing. It is because she stops to think about her actions that she averts a fatal mistake. Smart, brave heroines are not unusual, but they should always be encouraged. Moon Window lacks the haunting quality of Alison Uttley's A Traveler in Time (Faber and Faber, 1981; o.p.) and the tension of Curry's Poor Tom's Ghost (Atheneum, 1977; o.p.), but it will pass away a few pleasant hours for fantasy fans.
Patricia A. Dollisch, DeKalb County Public Library, Decatur, GA
Copyright 1996 Reed Business Information, Inc.

From Booklist:

Gr. 5^-8. When her widowed mother remarries and leaves on a European honeymoon, Joellen is packed off to northern New Hampshire to stay at Winterbloom with Granty Macallan, an elderly cousin. Jo's plans call for bolting back home to Boston at the first opportunity, but when she escapes out the round attic window (through which the moon always appears full), she discovers that it takes her back in time. There she meets several ancestors, including the first Ellen Macallan, a mysterious Scottish woman who had had Winterbloom built during the 1700s. Jo is drawn to the house and its mysteries, and in several trips through the moon window, she uncovers a secret room, its supernatural inhabitant, and Ellen Macallan's hold on both Granty and Jo. Curry, long regarded as a master of fantasy and suspense, successfully weaves contemporary characters and situations into a timeless adventure. Give this one to time travel buffs, especially fans of the author's earlier Bassumtyte Treasure (1978). Kay Weisman

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