The Last Resort by Erin Entrada Kelly

"She went up one step. Two. She felt Teddy's breath on her neck. Another step. Another. Was it her imagination or was it getting darker and darker? Up another step. And another. The stairs creaked and moaned. She imaged herself as a brave, brave warrior, completely unafraid. She reminded herself that fear was what red them ... She thought of herself covered in blood ... She felt the fear growing in the pit of her stomach, sprouting and growing, and tried to damp it down. I'm not scare. I'm not scared."

I am not really a fan of ghost stories but one thing that the story needs to have is motivation. I need to know why the ghosts are there. In this case it is due to several crimes. One hundred and fifty years ago the circus that had come to town burned to the ground and all of the performers were killed. Investigators also discovered the ring master had been shot.

The second crime is more recent. Lila along with her brother and mother and father have moved into their grandfather's home. It was actually once run as an Inn. On the first night Lila is visited by the ghost of Grandfather Clem. He tells her he did not die from a heart attack - he was murdered. All he wants now is to go back through the portal so he can be reunited with his wife who died many years ago.

Now that we have the problem we can assemble the team to solve this - Lila, her brother Caleb and the boy from next door - Teddy. 

As with all mysteries (in books and on television) I tried to solve this before reaching the end. I thought I had worked out the murderer and his motivation, but things sure did get way more complicated in those final scenes. If you have readers aged 10+ who enjoy ghost stories and like books where kids solve a mystery then this is a book you can recommend. The writing is very atmospheric and Erin entrada Kelly does conjure some very tense scenes. Erin talks about her book in this video.  Ms Yingling includes lots of plot details in her review. 

Kirkus gave this book a star review: Hauntingly good and sure to possess any horror aficionado. It wasn't quite at that level for me but as I said I am not a huge fan of ghost stories and also I found it a little odd that Lila did not recognise the circus performers even though Teddy had already told her about the fire from last century. 

This book is the first in series and it contains extra materials which you access via a QR code. Decades ago I read another book from Scholastic that included an element like this but of course over time the link has disappeared. (The Skeleton in the Creek and The Ghost in the Machine). 

I love that the kids went to the library to read old newspaper reports about the circus fire. I also enjoy books that refer readers to other books - here is the one Teddy is reading when the kids go over to talk to him:

Here is the Goodreads blurb for Wait till Helen comes (1986): Heather is such a whiny little brat. Always getting Michael and me into trouble. But since our mother married her father, we're stuck with her ... our "poor stepsister" who lost her real mother in a mysterious fire. But now something terrible has happened. Heather has found a new friend, out in the graveyard behind our home—a girl named Helen who died with her family in a mysterious fire over a hundred years ago. Now her ghost returns to lure children into the pond ... to drown! I don't want to believe in ghosts, but I've followed Heather into the graveyard and watch her talk to Helen. And I'm terrified. Not for myself, but for Heather...

Companion book (just because it contains a mirror and the quest for immortality):

Old Worlds, New Worlds, Other Worlds The Tunnel by Anthony Browne

"At the other end she found herself in a quiet wood. There was no sign of her brother. But the wood soon turned into a dark forest. She thought about wolves and giants and witches."

Rose and Jack are very different. Jack plays sport with this friends while Rose is a book reader. Jack sees the world in "black and white". Rose uses her imagination. This is lucky because when Jack enters a long tunnel and doesn't come back Rose goes into the tunnel and she discovers a strange world. When Rose sees her brother has been turned to stone her knowledge of fairy tales that tells her what to do.

I love all the small details in this book. The end papers show a brick wall (the rigid unimaginative thinking of Jack) and a fanciful patter (the creative and imaginative thinking of Rose). Looking closely at Rose's bedroom you will see a gingerbread house light, a print of Red Riding Hood in the style of Arthur Rackham, pretty wall paper (referencing another Anthony Browne book - Knock Knock who's there) and her coat which looks just like the one worn by Red Riding Hood. And Jack is wearing a wolf mask.

Thinking about the CBCA 2021 slogan Old Worlds, New Worlds, Other Worlds I have talked previously about the idea of portals to another world. Yesterday I talked about The Mirrorstone which is a old book now out of print but luckily even though The Tunnel is also an older book (1989) it is still available. The Mirrorstone is for an older group of students in Grades 3-6 but my focus book today, The Tunnel, can be read across a wide range of ages. Here are a set of teaching ideas. 

The girl’s fear of losing her brother overwhelms her fear of entering a tunnel, which she correctly deduces may take them to a parallel world where physics works in unexpected ways. Anthony Browne makes sure to show the reader an open page of her book. This story therefore has the double function of promoting literature — if you read, you’ll be well-equipped to handle whatever life throws at you. Slap Harry Larry

When I thought about linking The Tunnel with the 2021 CBCA slogan I also thought of another Anthony Browne book where the character goes into another world. If you can find Through the Mirror it would also be a good one to share as a part of your Book Week discussions.

Old Worlds, New Worlds, Other Worlds The Mirrorstone by Michael Palin illustrated by Alan Lee

In 2020 the CBCA slogan Curious Creatures Wild Minds neatly matched with the book Where the Wild things are.  Someone posed the question a few weeks ago asking for a single book which could be used to explore the theme this year (Old Worlds, New World, Other Worlds) and so I have been thinking about this.  Last night I had a light-bulb moment and thought of a couple of perfect books. The Mirrorstone is one of these. This links also with a post I shared yesterday exploring books which involve a time slip or movement through a portal to another world.

The Mirrorstone by Michael Palin is from 1986 and of course it is out of print but it is sure to be in many school libraries - at least I do hope it is.  This is such a wonderful book to read aloud and I would suggest you could use it with any primary class from Grade 3 up to Grade 6. This book contains amazing holograms by Light Fantastic which add an extra, very appealing layer to the beautiful art by Alan Lee. 

Paul is home alone late one afternoon. He looks in to the bathroom mirror and sees something strange.

It is not his own face which is looking back at him. He reaches out and touches the mirror and finds himself transported to different world. 

"The bathroom he knew so well began to disappear, the light became brighter, the wind blew stronger and the next moment Paul found himself, blinking, in the middle of a strange city. It was full of towers topped with flags which swirled in the breeze. He recognised nothing and no one. It was like a picture in a history book."

Paul is a good swimmer but what he doesn't know is that someone needs his skill. This man has seen Paul. His name is Salaman and his purposes are quite sinister. 

"The man's hair was long and matted as though it hadn't been washed for years. His face was lined and wrinkled, as if he'd been through a dozen lifetimes, but the eyes that stared at Paul were bright and piercing."

"I am, in my humble way, a genius. I have spent my lives studying glass, reflections ... mirrors... the movement of light on surfaces, and I have in my researches discovered the formula for the perfect mirror. A mirror that would show people themselves as they really are. Outside and inside."

Salaman shows Paul a globe. Looking into the globe Paul can see an underwater world. There is an amazing stone that looks luminous. Salaman wants this stone. 

Paul is terrified. He runs out the door and away down the street but he doesn't see the gleaming puddle in the alleyway. As he steps into the puddle he finds himself sinking into the underwater world he had seen in the globe. He sees a palace and swims inside and into air. There is a window and he can see Salaman looking at him. Paul is somehow inside the globe he saw in the old man's room.  Paul is ordered to dive back into the water and retrieve the stone but just as he reaches it the whole rock comes to life. It is an enormous sea monster. Paul is held down and your young reading companions will be holding their breath as Paul struggles to reach the air. Paul does retrieve the Mirrorstone but when Salaman looks into it he does not see the face of a genius. In shock Salaman drops the globe and it smashes onto the floor. Paul is set free. 

I have read this book to groups of students for over 30 years. It takes two sessions but I love to leave the group of listeners desperate to hear the ending. Michael Palin (yes the famous one) has written a wonderful story which I think perfectly matches the 2021 CBCA slogan. 

Mr. Palin has done a splendid job, but the real hero of this enterprise is Alan Lee, the illustrator. His carefully researched, intricately detailed watercolors are just right for illustrations that must be naturalistic enough to complement the images in the hologram. New York Times

Here is the blurb from the back cover of the book:

"The first time Paul saw it was at the swimming baths. The face staring at him from the mirror wasn't his own. Then, at home, even stranger things began to happen and so began an enthralling looking-glass adventure of time, space and imagination."

When this book was released it was one of a pair designed by Richard Seymour.  I read have also been reading The Minstrel and the Dragon Pup to groups of students for over thirty years.  

Time Slip, Time Travel or Moving through a Portal to another World

Old Worlds, New Worlds, Other Worlds

A colleague asked me today for books where the characters move into another world. Of course there are the obvious choices of Alice in Wonderland and Narnia but this teacher, who is working in a school library, needed other ideas.  I started my hunt and came up with quite a few. I'd love to hear from you in the comments if you have other books which match this topic.

I will begin with three Picture Books:

The Tunnel by Anthony Browne 

Zathura by Chris van Allsburg 

The Hero of Little Street by Gregory Rogers

My friend also reminded me about this breathtaking wordless trilogy:

You can see a video of Journey; and Quest; and here is the Walker Books trailer for Return. Here is a set of teachers notes compiled by Aaron Becker. Just Imagine have a set of ideas. 

Here are some series which may still be in your school or local library:

Time warp Trio series by Jon Scieszka (see above)

The Time Travelling Cat series by Julia Jarman

The Magic Treehouse series by Mary Pope Osborne

Whatever After series by Sara Mlynowski

The Timeslip series by Belinda Murrell

Now for some Middle Grade and senior Primary level novels.

The time traveller and the tiger by Tania Unsworth

Olive of Groves by Katrina Nannestead

With my Knife by Andrew Lansdown

Tom's midnight garden by Philippa Pearce

Howl’s moving castle Diana Wynne Jones

The secret library of Hummingbird house by Julianne Negri

Tricky Nick by Nicholas Johnson

The Root cellar by Janet Lunn 

Cicada summer by Kate Constable

The Time tree by Enid Richmont

The four seasons of Lucy Mackenzie by Kirsty Murray

The Children Next Door by Gene Ure

The Future Trap by Catherine Jinks

The Shadow Guests by Joan Aiken

Stig of the dump by Clive King

The 13th Floor by Sid Fleischman

The Word Hunters by Nick Earls

The puzzle ring by Kate Forsyth

On the blue comet by Rosemary Wells

King of Shadows by Susan Cooper

The Train to impossible place by PG Bell

When you reach me by Rebecca Stead

A clock of Stars by Frances Gibbons

The Halfmen of O by Maurice Gee

The Song from somewhere else by AF Harrold (Mature readers only)

The girl who Circumnavigated Fairy Land by C. Valente

Gregor the Overlander by Suzanne Collins and sequels

The Griffin Gate by Vashti Hardy

The Riddle of the Tumpalar by Judy Bernard- Waite

Fast forward by Jenny Pausacker

Timeslip by Diana Chase

A wrinkle in Time by Madeline L’Engle

Somewhere around the corner by Jackie French

Timesnatch by Robert Swindells

The other aspect of this question would be to make an exploration of the way the characters move through time - is it through a door; a cupboard; on a train; in a time machine; by touching a special object; travelling in a lift; or through the back of a cave? Your students could write a time travel or a time slip story where they invent a different way for the characters to move through time. Perhaps you remember an old book by Emily Rodda called Finders Keepers where the boy moved into the television screen.

Finally I will mention this very old book.  Someone asked about it on a Facebook group recently and I must stay parts of the plot do still linger with me.  This is long out of print and it is most unlikely to still be held in a school library but it might give you a "blast from the past." I have put the two covers. Sorry one is rather out of focus - it was the best image I could find. My memory is that this was a very funny story with a crazy woolly mammoth and a terrific time machine.