
Written by Jacqueline Davies
The cover of this book caught my eye, as well as the title.
The International House of Dereliction is a cute little book about a girl named Alice. She belongs to a family where her mother is a college professor and her father has the family talent, he can not stand to see anything broken and not fix it. This has put the family in a continual bind as the university has offered the mother free housing, but keep making the family move so they fix up houses, and then the university sells them.
This is how we now find the Potchnik family being asked to move again. Mrs. Potchnik reufuses to let the father fix the house this time, because she feels their daughter needs some sort of permanence in her life or she will be mentally challenged.
Next door to the new house is an old, dilapidated home that Alice has decided to take on as a project. While there she makes a few friends who are all ghosts with unfinished business. Can Alice help them find peace and closure in thier lives to move on? Who is the mysterious, angry ghost who seems to disapprove of her presenc
This book is full of fun loving charachters which actually bring in attatchment to each one. I even teared up a little when the book ended, gently hugged it, and put it down. It shows feelings and connections between friends both old and young.
Reviewed by Jalene Magee, Librarian, Redwood Elementary
Review shared in September 2023
Rating: ★★★★✩ (4 stars)
Interest Level: Grades 3-5
The International House of Dereliction
Written by Jacqueline Davies
Clarion Books, an imprint of HarperCollinsPublishers
227 pages
Release Date: July 18, 2023
ISBN: 9780063258099
A review copy was provided by the publisher.