Thornhill

I picked this up “to read for 15 minutes before bed.” Couldn't put it down and finished it in one sitting.

This is a wrenching tale, beautifully told. There are two interwoven tales - one is the story of a silent girl, told in her own words. The other is the silent tale of another girl, told entirely through drawings. It's ultimately a story about desperate loneliness and grief. Does it have a happy ending or a tragic one? I'm not sure.

I know I was immediately invested in Mary's diary entries cataloging a merciless cycle of bullying and exclusion. And the drawings set in the present become more revealing of Ella's inner life and circumstances as you go.

While this story contains great sadness, it's also beautifully crafted and the drawings contribute so much that wouldn't be quite the same if told in words. This is a wonderful, different book that's well worth experiencing.

The set-up is fun, it references children's classics, there is a lot of mystery, the narrative makes the reader think about what is happening and how is the story being told if you haven't read the synopsis. The book creates a cool atmosphere and coupled with its illustrations that can spark the imagination.

However, the execution feels flat, the descriptions don't deliver a lot of the time. The protagonist refers to her emotions by calling them.... anger, fear, etc. which you could say is fitting for their age, but is not compelling to read.

And then while the themes leading up to the end were intriguing and make you theorize, the answers themselves are not enough. The ending left a lot to be desired, the set-up was better.

I really like the art and the narrative, and the double narration. I just about wanted to cry a few times, and especially in the illustrated story, there were times when I could not put the book down. I'm not at all sure how I feel about the ending, so I will leave this with three stars while I puzzle it out. But no matter how many stars I give it, I highly recommend this book to anybody who might like this sort of thing.

Definitely TW for awful bullying and suicide.

This is the story of Mary, a girl at an institution for orphaned girls in Chester, England, in 1982, told through her diary entries. She has no friends, she is terribly bullied, all the adults but one suck, one girl is particularly vicious–but she makes puppets and dolls, which is hella cool. I want to be this girl's friend. But she's anxious, socially anxious, and miserable–and an easy target for horrible people, especially in 1982, when adults were still apparently especially horrible. She's blamed for being bullied. Her story escalates until something awful happens.

Cut to today. Interspersed throughout this novel and between different entries in Mary's diary, another story unfolds, told through pictures. It is the story of Ella, living with her businessman father who is away the entire duration of the tale on a business trip. Her mother is not in the picture; we aren't told exactly why.

She has newly arrived at the house next door to Mary's institution, but it is now 2017. Ella is unpacking and sees a girl next door through her window. And her curiosity is piqued. What happens is a sweet story about a lonely ghost girl finding a friend, and it will give you all the feels.

Until the last few pages, when Jacob moves into Ella's old house, and you realize things have actually gotten a bit sinister.

Mary's story is upsetting but all too real. Ella's is less cruel, but she's as lonely in her way. The art is lovely and adds a poignancy to the whole thing. But this is not for anyone who will be upset by the bullying and the suicidal elements.

This was an amazing read. I'm not sure why my library has it in Young Adult as I think middle graders might like it too. It's ultimately about bullying but the haunted house/puppet making/loneliness factor ramps up the plot into an almost horror movie feel. I would highly recommend to fans of Mary Downing Hahn. The illustrations are also gorgeous. My one teeny tiny complain is (imho) an overuse of empty pages. They are used for effect and for bouncing between the time lines, but there are soooo many of them. I would also recommend this to fans of Brian Selznick as the style is very similar: some text, more illustrations.