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    Books of Elsewhere, Book 1, The: The Shadows
    Unavailable
    Books of Elsewhere, Book 1, The: The Shadows
    Unavailable
    Books of Elsewhere, Book 1, The: The Shadows
    Audiobook5 hours

    Books of Elsewhere, Book 1, The: The Shadows

    Written by Jacqueline West

    Narrated by Lexy Fridell

    4/5

    ()

    Currently unavailable

    Currently unavailable

    About this audiobook

    For fans of Pseudonymous Bosch, Coraline, and Septimus Heap comes the first book in the award-winning, New York Times bestselling Books of Elsewhere series.

    This house is keeping secrets . . .

    When eleven-year-old Olive and her parents move into the crumbling mansion on Linden Street and find it filled with mysterious paintings, Olive knows the place is creepy-but it isn't until she encounters its three talking cats that she realizes there's something darkly magical afoot. Then Olive finds a pair of antique spectacles in a dusty drawer and discovers the most peculiar thing yet: She can travel inside the house's spooky paintings to a world that's strangely quiet . . . and eerily sinister. But in entering Elsewhere, Olive has been ensnared in a mystery darker and more dangerous than she could have imagined, confronting a power that wants to be rid of her by any means necessary. With only the cats and an unusual boy she meets in Elsewhere on her side, it's up to Olive to save the house from the shadows, before the lights go out for good.

    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherPenguin Random House Audio
    Release dateJun 15, 2010
    ISBN9781101223130
    Unavailable
    Books of Elsewhere, Book 1, The: The Shadows
    Author

    Jacqueline West

    Jacqueline West is the author of the New York Times-bestselling middle grade series The Books of Elsewhere, the Schneider Family Book Award Honor Book The Collectors, and several other novels for young readers and teens. An award-winning poet and occasional actress, she lives with her family in Red Wing, Minnesota.

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    Reviews for Books of Elsewhere, Book 1, The

    4/5

    117 ratings21 reviews

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    Review must be at least 10 words

    • 5/5
      About a girl named Olive who moves into an old house with her parents. She meets 3 magical cats and discovers she can go into the paintings on the walls with a pair of magical glasses she finds. The house was previousY owned by a family of witches
    • 3/5
      This was a fun read. I can see this book being useful for having students make character descriptions as the personalities of the characters are eclectic and stable. In general, I found the book to be a little bit hard to follow in parts and the plot felt haphazardly put together. This book is a relatively easy read though for struggling readers that are the creative type.
    • 3/5
       Reminds me a bit of Coraline with its mysterious, near ominous sense of curiosity. It’s a short read, which helped since I wasn’t overly impressed with its storytelling or characters. The cats were cute. If you’re hankering for more Coraline in a series of books to read, this seems a sufficient starter.
    • 4/5
      Ms. McMartin was definitely dead.- Opening sentence Something was moving inside the painting, a tiny white shape flitting between the silhouettes of the wiry trees.- Chapter 2 She couldn't leave the basement lights on all day, with the environment already in such bad shape.- Chapter 3 "A house doesn't belong to someone just because it has been paid for. Houses are much trickier than that.""What do you mean?""I mean, this house belongs to someone else. And that someone may not want you here."- discussion between Olive and Horatio (a cat)Chapter 4 Olive owned six pairs of slippers, but none of them were ever where they belonged. This was because Olive's body often did things without consulting Olive's brain, which was usually busy with something much more interesting than putting things away in the right place. A second pair of socks would have to do.-Chapter 9 Olive's parents are both mathematicians and Olive, well her grades in math are "lackluster". Let's just say that Olive's parents don't understand her. When they move into the house, Olive can sense something strange. She sees things moving in the paintings. Then a mysterious cat appears and starts talking to her about someone who doesn't want them there. After Olive finds a pair of spectacles and discovers she can enter the paintings, things only get more dangerous and exciting. When I read the part about Olive's body doing things without consulting Olive's brain, I laughed out loud. That must be why I can never find things, my brain is too busy with more important things like thinking about books. ;) This is a fantastic fantasy adventure. Olive is a strong, brave girl, who doesn't back down when faced with some crazy circumstances. The book reminded me a lot of Coraline by Neil Gaiman. But West puts a new spin on the idea that makes this book a fun read in its own right. I will continue to read this series. I am excited to see where West takes Olive, Horatio, Harvey and Leopold next (Those are the three talking cats, btw). Recommended to:Readers ages 9-12 who like magical adventures.
    • 4/5
      I have had this book (it’s actually my son’s book) to read for awhile. This was a creative, creepy, and well done middle grade mystery/fantasy. I ended up enjoying it quite a bit.The whole book has a very dark and creepy tone to it. The premise is familiarly middle grade in tone (a kid moves into a creepy old house with a sorted history and has to solve a mystery there) but also very creative (I love the idea that Olive can travel through the paintings).There is a main mystery/problem that is dealt with in this book but there are still many more mysteries to unravel in this mansion. Some parts are a bit gory and scary but it never gets too intense.My son hasn’t read it yet, but it is definitely one I think he would like. In fact I think any kids who loves cats (I mean talking cats! Who doesn’t love that!) and enjoys a slightly spooky read will love this.My only complaint is that Olive’s parents are fairly absent (both in mind and presence throughout the story). They are mathematicians and dismissed as too clueless and caught up in their own lives to be part of Olive’s. While I enjoy Olive’s parents’ quirky mathematician background, I dislike it when middle grade stories distance the kids from their parents and portray adults as unhelpful and too universally stupid to actively be part of the story.Overall I enjoyed the book. I liked the writing style, the gloomy atmosphere, and the creative idea of traveling through paintings. I didn’t really like the relationship (or lack thereof) that Olive had with her parents, but aside from that I thought this was a good book. It is a lower middle grade reading level, so the story was a bit simple for me. However, I will probably read the next book in the series anyway.
    • 5/5
      This book was wonderful! I can't wait to read the next in the series! :) Lots of mystery and great characters too!
    • 4/5
      This was a creepy book! It was an interesting concept to have pictures that someone with the special glasses could enter. I loved the cats and how they all different personalities.
    • 5/5
      The descriptions, analogies, and metaphors the author uses is wonderful. It is great to see such colorful and imaginative writing for children. The story gets a bit dark and, due to the great descriptions, scared my daughter. She would make me stop reading. Two minutes later she would ask me to read it some more.
    • 4/5
      This book is the first in the series. It is about Olive Dunwoody moving into this house that the former owner had a mysterious death in . She was not very thrilled about it. She finds out many secrets about this house and meets a friend that isn't quite alive. Read this book and the rest of the series and find out the secrets of the McMartin house with Olive on her adventure with three talking cats.
    • 4/5
      I quite enjoyed Olive's adventures in her new house. I thought Ms. West set up an interesting contrast when she portrayed Olive as being thought of as not so smart but yet figuring out the mysteries of her new house and facing up to the villain in the story. It's a good message for kids - they may not be a whiz at math (or reading) but they can still be smart and figure things out.
    • 5/5
      Jacqueline West, actually attended my church as a young girl, and went to the same school as my children go to. The Shadows, is a phenomenal book of mystery and suspense. It is about a young girl named Olive, her three cats, and a ton of mysteries that go on inside of her "new" old house. This is a great book for children to read, it is full of fantasy and helps kids open their imaginations. I would suggest this book to older readers, 4th grade and up. However, I would certainly read it to younger children as well, it will surely capture their attention.
    • 4/5
      This is a fantastic suspense story for readers in the Grade 4 to 6 range. Just enough tension to keep you on the edge of your seat as Olive travels through the mysterious paintings to save their inhabitants, her house, her family, and herself from the evil spirits that are haunted them.
    • 4/5
      2010 Debut Author ChallengeThis is one of very few middle-grade offerings from debut authors this year and it is such a great read. My younger sister effectively swiped this after I brought it home and finished it before I did. Part spooky mystery, partly a journey of growth, it is entirely enjoyable and fun, with some nice touches of humor and emotion amidst all the spookiness. Olive Dunwoody is eleven years old, friendless and recently moved into an old house in a new town. She is the daughter of two very skilled math prodigies, though she herself has no affinity for mathematics. But Olive soon notices some very strange things about her new home. For one thing, the strange paintings throughout the house cannot be removed from the walls. Also, several large talking cats seem to inhabit the house. And then on one of her explorations throughout the house, Olive finds a pair of spectacles that allow her to enter into the paintings. The only problem is that once she is on the other side, she discovers that there is a malevolent force that wants her gone from this house and may just happen to be the cause of a series of disappearances in the neighborhood over the years. Olive has to learn about friendship and courage and determination and I cannot wait to see what Jacqueline West writes next.The writing was simple, but with with a funny streak. The characters, esp. the cats, all enjoyable, although many are bot well-fleshed out, though hopefully with the progression of the series this will become less of an issue. One of the aspects I enjoyed most about this story was how likeable Olive's endearing parents were in all their arithmetical glory. They may a bit unobservant, but it never comes across as negligence or dislike. That is a precious rare thing to find in kids books. I would gladly recommend this to anyone looking for a good middle-grade read, esp. a mystery. Girls will probably like it better, but it is not girly, per se, although obviously the main protagonist is a young girl.
    • 5/5
      Olive has moved into a very old, strange house. She finds herself jumping into the paintings that are hung on the wall when she wears the magical spectacles she finds in the drawer in one of the old rooms. Not knowing who to trust (with an array of characters she meets) she soon helps destroy the evil Aldous McMartin from trapping innocent people in the pictures.A great read! I thoroughly enjoyed the book and purchased #2 before even finishing this book. I love the characters and it isn't at all predictable in the sense that most children's fantasies turn out being. Highly recommended ages 8-108.
    • 4/5
      A fun and creepy book with the kind of main character I would have loved to read as a child! Loved it!
    • 4/5
      This is well written book for readers from about fourth-grade on. The characters are well defined and fun, particularly the cats. A sense of suspense and magic builds as Olive explores the world(s) of her new house. I think that this is a very good addition to middle-reader fantasy literature.
    • 4/5
      This was a fun book about a girl who moves into a new house with her parents and discovers something unusual about the paintings--when she puts on a pair of glasses she finds, she can go inside them!!
    • 4/5
      Olive's family buys an old, creepy house that is enormous.and full of odd paintings. Olive's parents are absorbed with Math and all things mathmatical so Olive has lots of time to explore. When she finds a pair of old glasses she discovers that she can actually go into the paintings. She also discovers a trio of talking cats who guard the house and it's "secret". Despite warnings from these cats, Olive continues to explore inside the paintings, popping in and out at will. Was it only a matter of time until something followed her out?This is the first of the Books of Elsewhere series. I really enjoyed it. I read it during lunch hours so it took a bit of time. Normally, it would have been a one sitting book, which can be fun. I liked the characters and loved the cats. There was action and mystery. I think this would appeal to boys and girls. I will be reading the next in the series.
    • 5/5
      PICTURE PERFECT MYSTERY AND ADVENTURE!"The Shadows" by Jacqueline West is fantastic. It is about Olive, an ordinary eleven-year-old girl who discovers an extraordinary new world when her family moves into an old Victorian home adorned with unique paintings. Determined to unlock the mysteries of the house, Olive finds herself in one adventure after another, and makes a few close friends along the way. This book has the same heartwarming magic as "Harry Potter" and "The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe." I'm looking forward to volume II.
    • 5/5
      I've seen this book on several blogs and finally purchased it. The idea that you could put on a pair of spectacles and go through a picture was an idea that really fascinated me. It must have fascinated the main character in this book. Olive Dunwoody and her parents have always lived in apartments. Now her parents have purchased an old victorian style house. As mathematicians they have fallen in love with all of the antiques in the house. They don't care that the previous owner died there. Olive, alone most of the time, spends her time going through the old things in the house. She is drawn to the strange pictures that line the wall. She finds it strange that the pictures are so connected to the walls it is as if they have grown out of them. When she finds the strange spectacles and puts them on she realizes the pictures come to life. That isn't the only strange thing about them. When she leans in too close to get a closer look she actually starts to go through the pictures. Entering the first one she meets and young boy named Morton. Morton seems whiny and frightened. Olive feels someone or something is watching her and everyone she meets in the paintings tell her that "He" is watching. Can Olive find out who "He" is, what he wants and stop him before it's too late? I really loved this book. It was so worth the wait. I can't wait to recommend this to my students. This is just the first book in a series of four or five. I look forward to reading all of them.
    • 1/5
      Not a fun book. A story about a girl who fights an evil force that resides in the house. She enters the various paintings found around the house using some glasses. Events are very random. I'm afraid this is going to be a series.