The Dollhouse: A Ghost Story

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Paperback
$9.99 US
| $12.99 CAN
On sale Aug 30, 2022 | 368 Pages | 9780735269088
Age 9-12 years | Grades 4-7
Reading Level: Lexile 640L

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A creepy, mysterious dollhouse takes center stage in this atmospheric middle-grade mystery for fans of Doll Bones and Small Spaces.

Alice's world is falling apart. Her parents are getting a divorce, and they've cancelled their yearly cottage trip -- the one thing that gets Alice through the school year. Instead, Alice and her mom are heading to some small town where Alice's mom will be a live-in nurse to a rich elderly lady.

The house is huge, imposing and spooky, and everything inside is meticulously kept and perfect -- not a fun place to spend the summer. Things start to get weird when Alice finds a dollhouse in the attic that's an exact replica of the house she's living in. Then she wakes up to find a girl asleep next to her in her bed -- a girl who looks a lot like one of the dolls from the dollhouse . . .

When the dollhouse starts to change when Alice isn't looking, she knows she has to solve the mystery. Who are the girls in the dollhouse? What happened to them? And what is their connection to the mean and mysterious woman who owns the house?
  • NOMINEE | 2023
    Red Cedar Book Award
  • HONOR | 2023
    Manitoba Young Readers' Choice Awards (MYRCA) - Sundogs Award
  • SHORTLIST | 2022
    Newfoundland and Labrador Book Awards
"A time-traveling mystery that will keep readers involved and guessing up to the very end." Kirkus Reviews

"The Dollhouse is a page-turner with an ingenious plot, evocative setting, enriching detail and lots of action that young readers will certainly enjoy." —CM: Canadian Review of Materials
© Zoe Cleland
CHARIS COTTER went to camp for ten years and never wanted to go home at the end of summer. Growing up beside a graveyard, she became well acquainted with ghosts and has been living with them ever since. Charis studied English in university and went to drama school in London, England. She is the multi-award-winning author of several novels and picture books, including The Swallow, The Ghost Road, The Dollhouse, and Screech! Ghost Stories from Old Newfoundland. Charis has worked extensively in schools and libraries from coast to coast, using drama and storytelling to bring her books to life. Her performances of Newfoundland ghost stories have thrilled audiences of all ages, from Florida to Vancouver Island. She lives at the end of a road beside the ocean, in one of the most haunted parts of Newfoundland, Canada. View titles by Charis Cotter

About

A creepy, mysterious dollhouse takes center stage in this atmospheric middle-grade mystery for fans of Doll Bones and Small Spaces.

Alice's world is falling apart. Her parents are getting a divorce, and they've cancelled their yearly cottage trip -- the one thing that gets Alice through the school year. Instead, Alice and her mom are heading to some small town where Alice's mom will be a live-in nurse to a rich elderly lady.

The house is huge, imposing and spooky, and everything inside is meticulously kept and perfect -- not a fun place to spend the summer. Things start to get weird when Alice finds a dollhouse in the attic that's an exact replica of the house she's living in. Then she wakes up to find a girl asleep next to her in her bed -- a girl who looks a lot like one of the dolls from the dollhouse . . .

When the dollhouse starts to change when Alice isn't looking, she knows she has to solve the mystery. Who are the girls in the dollhouse? What happened to them? And what is their connection to the mean and mysterious woman who owns the house?

Awards

  • NOMINEE | 2023
    Red Cedar Book Award
  • HONOR | 2023
    Manitoba Young Readers' Choice Awards (MYRCA) - Sundogs Award
  • SHORTLIST | 2022
    Newfoundland and Labrador Book Awards

Reviews

"A time-traveling mystery that will keep readers involved and guessing up to the very end." Kirkus Reviews

"The Dollhouse is a page-turner with an ingenious plot, evocative setting, enriching detail and lots of action that young readers will certainly enjoy." —CM: Canadian Review of Materials

Author

© Zoe Cleland
CHARIS COTTER went to camp for ten years and never wanted to go home at the end of summer. Growing up beside a graveyard, she became well acquainted with ghosts and has been living with them ever since. Charis studied English in university and went to drama school in London, England. She is the multi-award-winning author of several novels and picture books, including The Swallow, The Ghost Road, The Dollhouse, and Screech! Ghost Stories from Old Newfoundland. Charis has worked extensively in schools and libraries from coast to coast, using drama and storytelling to bring her books to life. Her performances of Newfoundland ghost stories have thrilled audiences of all ages, from Florida to Vancouver Island. She lives at the end of a road beside the ocean, in one of the most haunted parts of Newfoundland, Canada. View titles by Charis Cotter
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