The International House of Dereliction

Gr 3-5–”Lemonade War” series creator Davies has constructed a heartfelt story for middle graders, featuring a girl, some rundown houses, and some needy ghosts. Alice Cannoli-Potchnik is a combination of her brilliant professor mother and her practical house-inspector father. The family has been forced to move all over their college campus because they can’t resist the urge to renovate, eventually perfecting their way out of each house. They make the decision to refuse updating a dilapidated house to resist moving again, but Alice fulfills her urge by working on the ramshackle International House next door. Spending days woodworking and tiling, she becomes aware of a group of ghosts residing in the home, each with unfinished business Alice vows to help resolve. Military defeat, unrequited love, and an unreturned library book plague the beings, preventing them from becoming “Settled Ones.” Through research and action, Alice facilitates each ghost’s transition. The final entity she discovers is Fury, who exists in the attic as a terrifying specter. Fury has the most heartbreaking story of all. Alice discovers her to be the matriarch of the Potchnik family, and finds a unique way to set her free. Spotlighting a tenacious main character and lots of action, the story has appeal across ages and genders. Eager readers will find rich vocabulary deliciously sophisticated. The supernatural element is appropriately “spooky” content for those inexperienced in the genre.