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Published Feb 2012
192 pages
Genre: Literary Fiction
Publication Information
Hiding is Roo Fanshaw's special skill. Living in a frighteningly unstable family, she often needs to disappear at a moment's notice. When her parents are murdered, it's her special hiding place under the trailer that saves her life.
As it turns out, Roo, much to her surprise, has a wealthy if eccentric uncle, who has agreed to take her into his home on Cough Rock Island. Once a tuberculosis sanitarium for children of the rich, the strange house is teeming with ghost stories and secrets. Roo doesn't believe in ghosts or fairy stories, but what are those eerie noises she keeps hearing? And who is that strange wild boy who lives on the river? People are lying to her, and Roo becomes determined to find the truth.
Despite the best efforts of her uncle's assistants, Roo discovers the house's hidden room - a garden with a tragic secret.
Inspired by The Secret Garden, this tale full of unusual characters and mysterious secrets is a story that only Ellen Potter could write.
Ages 9+
"Starred Review. Poignant without sentimentality, this is a compelling read that is certain to resonate - and linger - with young readers." - Booklist
"Starred Review. Potter lavishes attention on the gothic island setting and Roo's uncle's estate; it's a thrilling ghost story, but one that, like the story it's drawn from, has love and rebirth at its heart." - Library Journal
"An homage to a cherished classic that can work as a companion piece or stand alone as a solid, modern tale for young readers in the 21st century." - Kirkus Reviews
This information about The Humming Room was first featured
in "The BookBrowse Review" - BookBrowse's membership magazine, and in our weekly "Publishing This Week" newsletter. Publication information is for the USA, and (unless stated otherwise) represents the first print edition. The reviews are necessarily limited to those that were available to us ahead of publication. If you are the publisher or author and feel that they do not properly reflect the range of media opinion now available, send us a message with the mainstream reviews that you would like to see added.
Any "Author Information" displayed below reflects the author's biography at the time this particular book was published.
Ellen Potter is the author of The Kneebone Boy, also published by Feiwel and Friends, and praised as "a quirky charmer" by Kirkus in a starred review. Her other novels include, Slob, a Junior Library Guild selection, and the bestselling Olivia Kidney series. She lives in Upstate New York. Visit her website at www.ellenpotter.com.
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