Vol. 1), The Shadows (The Books of Elsewhere

My daughter and I read this together. She loved the talking cats and exploring other worlds through the paintings. However about half way through the book the reader is told that the cats are witch's familiars, then they're referenced as demon cats on the following page, and headstones are discovered in the basement. I wish I had known this before starting this book. This isn't the kind of thing I want my child reading about. We stopped the book at that point.

I rarely read middle great books anymore. I dove into the YA world a few years ago, and really haven't came back since then. Buuut, I picked up "The Shadows" as an exception, and I'm so very glad I did.

A friend and I read stayed up to one in the morning while listening to the Coraline soundtrack (WHICH MAKES EVERYTHING IN THE BOOK 10,000% CREEPIER OH MY GOODNESS NOT A GOOD IDEA), and it was actually <i>really</i> awesome.

What's pretty awesome:
1. Creepy, old houses.
2. Creepy, old houses with SECRETS.
3. The girl's name is Olive. (I mean, that's cool?)
4. Talking cats. (Personally, I'm not a huge fan of talking animals, but this may be awesome for other people.)
5. Portal traveling through paintings.
6. Scary paintings. OR, scary people who were inside the paintings. Maybe I'm just a wimp or it was the Coraline soundtrack, but I got a bit of the shivers. xD
7. An awesome first sentence. (You'll have to get the book to find out what it is. HA.)

I'm excited to read the others in the series as well as Jacqueline's upcoming young adult book!

Apparently somewhere along the lines I "graduated" to Young Adult and figured I was too old for Middle Grade and that was that. Here I've spent years thinking I was too good for Middle Grade and let me tell you, I have been COMPLETELY missing out!

The Shadows was the absolute perfect book to reintroduce myself to Middle Grade. It was chock full of magical realism. I mean, we have talking cats, magical glasses, pictures that are actually portals, and a large creepy old house.

Olive is an awesome protagonist. She's not your typical girl-who-can-everything, but instead, she's not so good at math though her parents are both math lovers and geniuses, she can never seem to remember where she leaves things, and she's a little clumsy. All these "flaws" make her a perfect person for the story too. It just wouldn't be the same if you had some fearless go-getter going about the same adventures.
The talking cats are also fantastic characters. I love all their different personalities, but I don't want to spoil them too much for you...
Olive's parents are also great. I'm not sure if this happens in a lot of MG as it's been quite some time since I read any before this one, but they were actually around. You barely ever see that in YA and it was a nice little change of pace. Plus, they're adorable. Their romantic talk is all mathy and weird, but also fun to read. Also, they're not evil parents or anything of the sort. They're nice parents any kid would love to have without being giant pushovers either.

The whole idea of the story was great too. The idea of life inside paintings is magical and Jacqueline does a fantastic job with it. Also, the mystery was done rather well. I was constantly wondering who I could trust, so I can only imagine how Olive must have felt! The pacing was perfect. I was never bored, but I also wasn't overwhelmed by action action action.

Final Thoughts: I absolutely adored The Shadows and I look forward to reading the rest of the series soon. This book has the perfect balance of action/adventure and mystery. Plus, talking cats. You can't say no to talking cats.

The Dunwoody family move into a fixer upper Victorian mansion left vacant when elderly Ms. McMartin died. Eleven year old Olive finds the house odd, but her mathematical minded parents see nothing out of the ordinary starting with the inability to remove the strange drawings from the wall, but upon a closer look she sees things moving inside the paintings.

Looking around the house, Olive finds glasses that she puts on for fun. Instead of blur, she realizes she enter the pictures and travel in a realm that sort of looks like her natural one, but seems shadowy and too quiet to the stunned tweener. Horatio the cat warns her not to stay too long in their world and never lose the glasses if she is on this side of the frame. Olive also meets raging Morton who claims he is from her side of the divide, but was thrown into the picture world because he knew too much. As she learns more about the house and its contents, Olive fears something evil wants to keep her silent in order for her not to reveal what the darkness wants to do to the light.

With illustrations from Poly Bernatene enhancing the strong haunted house mystery, Jacqueline West provides an exhilarating middle school age tale. Fast-paced, young readers will want to join courageous Olive as she investigates the goings-on inside the painting world and the house, but is unsure who to trust with her growing concerns especially in light of her parents thinking logically that she is playing make believe.

Harriet Klausner

Young Adult book. The Dunwoody's moved into their forever home. The home was an old Victorian with a strange past. With both parents working Olive used her summertime to wander the hige house and the wonderful/scarey things she found. Did the lady in the picture wink at her? Did the cat talk to her? Who is the little boy? I can't imagine how anyone can come up with such wonderful stories and I am so happy that there are several more books in the series to read! I highly recommend this book for YA's and fun adults.

The Shadows
By: Jacqueline West
Series:The Books of Elsewhere
Eleven-year-old Olive moves to an old stone house on Linden Street that used to be owned by a family named the McMartins. She knows that there is something weird and creepy about this house, but she doesn’t know what. Maybe the antique paintings that seem to stare at her whenever she passed, or the old belongings that used to be the McMartin’s, or the three gigantic talking cats that always keep an eye on her! Soon, Olive finds out that her new house is magic. In almost no time, Olive finds herself caught in a dark dangerous plan. Can she get rid of the dark powers of this old stone house that want to get rid of her family?
The Shadows is a very good book with lots of interesting characters. First, there is Olive as I mentioned above. She is very curious and a little shy. Her parents are mathematicians and are college teachers, but she likes art better. Then, there is Horatio, he was the first talking cat that Olive met in the house. Horatio is a little bossy and because of that, wasn’t trusted by Olive until he saved her. After meeting Horatio, Olive also met Leopold, the guardian of the bassment trapdoor. He is very soldier like and calls her “miss.” And at last, there is Harvey, a very funny cat with a lot of imagination.
The Shadows describes its astonishing characters very well and when I read it, I feel what Olive is feeling and sometimes forget that I am in the real world and not in Elsewhere. I feel scared when she is, excited when she does good things, and most important, I feel sad when I have to stop reading. Everything that is written is very detailed and I can picture what’s going on very easily. (the pictures are also very well drawn and helpful) This book is very humorous, too, and I sometimes laugh out loud when I read it! For example, I think it is very funny to pronounce some sentences like “ Blackpaw’s Booty!” (page 172) or “Zat waz ze part I didn’t like,” (page 177) out loud. I really like this book and would suggest it to anyone that likes fantasy and that loves magic! In all, I would rate this book a five out of five stars and I hope you will enjoy as much as I did if you read it! (But be careful if you have a painting in your room because you might want to jump right into it after reading this book! Especially if you have a pair of gold spectacles in your house!)

My 10 year old daughter is thoroughly enjoying this series. The plot and characters aren't very complex but it's been an easy, enjoyable read. I've found myself laughing out loud a number of times, as the main character, Olive, is a bit of an oddball, and she frequently describes and compares things in humorous ways. We are 1/3 of the way through the second book, which so far is even better than the first, and I will be purchasing the rest.

FIRST PARAGRAPH: MS. MCMARTIN WAS definitely dead. It had taken some time for the neighbors to grow suspicious, since no one ever went in or came out of the old stone house on Linden Street anyway. However, there were several notable clues that things in the McMartin house were not as they should have been. The rusty mailbox began to bulge with odd and exotic mail-order catalogs, which eventually overflowed the gaping aluminum door and spilled out into the street. The gigantic jungle fern that hung from the porch ceiling keeled over for lack of water. Ms. McMartin's three cats, somewhere inside the house, began the most terrible yowling ever heard on quiet old Linden Street. After a few days of listening to that, the neighbors had had enough.

Esteemed Reader, Friedrich Nietzch once wrote, "if you gaze into the abyss, the abyss gazes into you." Or maybe it was his sister. Either way, I'm still not entirely sure what it means. But it inspired Hitler, who was a painter. In The Books of Elsewhere, if you stare into a painting, the painting stares into you. And that ought to be worth an email from author Jacqueline West asking why I used Hitler to segue to her book for children:)

What is it about paintings that so captures the imagination of writers? Certainly enchanted paintings have played a central role in the works of Rowling, King, Wilde, Dahl, and many, many others. Perhaps it's that the frame of a painting sometimes looks less like the boarder of a picture and more like the edge of a window to another world. An Elsewhere TM where the viewer could tour alien landscapes, meet interesting characters, and maybe even get in an adventure. For most viewers this will never happen because they don't have the magic old-fashioned glasses.

Meet eleven-year-old Olive Dunwoody. She has the glasses.

West didn't just kill off poor Ms. McMartin in paragraph one for no reason. She's left that old stone house on Linden Street vacant so Olive and her family can move in:

It wasn't long before someone heard about the old stone house for sale at an astonishingly low price and decided to buy it.
These someones were a Mr. Alec and Mrs. Alice Dunwoody, a pair of more than slightly dippy mathematicians. The Dunwoodys had a daughter named Olive--but she had nothing to do with the house-buying decision. Olive was eleven, and was generally not given much credit. Her persistently lackluster grades in math had led her parents to believe that she was some kind of genetic aberration--they talked to her patiently, as if she were a foreign exchange student from a country no one had ever heard of.

Observe how West identifies conflict between her characters in their introduction, which is a writer's trick worth making note of. After all, the whole point of crafting characters is to get them in conflict with each other and as many other conflicts as can be had. Conflict keeps pages turning.

Olive's parents are nerds of the highest order to such an extreme degree as to make Elissa Brent Weissman blush. For this reason, it's hard not to be fond of them, but seriously:

"We met in the library at Princeton," answered Mrs. Dunwoody, her eyes glowing with the memory. "We were both reading the same journal--The Absolutely Unrelenting Seriousness of Mathematics for the New Generation --"
"Or `Ausom'--get it?" interjected Mr. Dunwoody. "`Awesome.' Very clever."

Nerds!

I suspect Olive will grow up to be a nerd of a very different sort: an English nerd, which is a nerd just as awkward as a math nerd, though usually possessing a greater fondness for alcohol:) Olive is aloof and introspective. She doesn't appear to have friends, but that's an unfair judgement as she just moved. Still, if there weren't fantastical figures about for her to get in an adventure with, I'm certain she would invent them. Olive's mind is quite a bit like a writer's mind, and I suspect writer's everywhere will identify with this passage, which might have been taken from my own youth:

In her bedroom, Olive dug through the closet looking for a pair of slippers to wear for protection against the chilly stone floor. But there were no slippers to be found. Olive owned six pairs of slippers, but none of them were ever where they belonged. This was because Olive's body often did things without consulting Olive's brain, which was usually busy with something much more interesting than putting things away in the right place.

In any case, West puts Olive at odds with her parents from the start and keeps them at odds for much of the novel. There are many plot conveniences derived from this device, but more, it creates conflict, which keeps pages turning. Olive's issues with her parents are not the main conflict, though I might argue that a girl who feels out of place in her family might be more prone toward seeking out fantastical worlds of escape than one who doesn't.

West has a whole adventure planned for us rooted in a greater conflict that will stretch over the series, but that doesn't diminish the brilliance of Olive's smaller conflict with her parents. Every scene she has with her parents is made more interesting and more readable because of the conflict, and is there such a thing as a book that is too interesting or readable?

Eventually, Olive puts on the magic old-fashioned glasses and is able to travel to a wonderland inside the houses paintings complete with talking cats who never seem to have good news:

"Keep your eyes open. Be on your guard. There is something that doesn't want you here, and it will do its best to get rid of you."
"Get rid of me?"
"Of all of you. As far as this house is concerned, you are intruders." Horatio paused. "But don't get too anxious. There's very little you can do about it either way.

And so begins an adventure that will suck the reader into West's world as Olive is sucked into a painting. The Shadows is an exciting first novel in what promises to be a wonderful series and you should add it to your reading list. That's where I'll leave my review and my description of the plot as to avoid spoilers.

But I do have two more passages to share and one last point to make about craft. First, read this:

And the painting at the top of the stairs still seemed to be keeping a secret. Olive stood in front of it for almost half an hour that first night, until her eyes crossed and bits of the trees popped out at her. Nothing. Nothing but the feeling that there was something not quite right about this painting.
And it wasn't the only one.
There were paintings all over the house that gave her the same funny feeling. Right outside her bedroom door, there was a painting of a rolling field with a row of little houses in the distance. It was evening in the painting, and all the windows in the houses were dark. But the houses didn't look like they were sleeping comfortably, just waiting for sunrise to come and start another day. The houses looked like they were holding their breath. They crouched among the trees and blew out their lights, trying not to be seen. Seen by what? Olive wondered.

One of the things that had attracted me to read The Shadows in the first place was the promise by other readers that it was a scary book. And I was not disappointed. There are some definite moments of unease and creepiness. I'm admittedly not a parent, but I think most children will enjoy the book and few will have nightmares. Some will, though:)

My second point about craft is to note how West chooses to reveal the magical properties of the paintings surrounding the Dunwoody family. She doesn't bluntly state that a person can travel through them, or even that the paintings gaze into the Dunwoodys in a most Nietzchian fashion. Instead, she draws out the suspense by slowly revealing there's maybe something going on with those paintings:

The shadows suddenly rippled and bent, and within the shadows, a pale splotch darted out of the undergrowth. Olive froze, staring at the white path. She blinked, rubbed her eyelids with her fingertips, and looked again. Yes--there it was. Something was moving inside the painting, a tiny white shape flitting between the silhouettes of the wiry trees. Olive held perfectly still. She didn't even breathe. The tiny white shape made one more quick plunge toward the path, then dove back into the thorny black forest. And then the painting, too, was perfectly still.

When writing middle grade, writers are too often tempted to cut corners as the text must be as sparse as possible (there are acceptable word counts to strive for). Pacing is worth considering and shorter is almost always better, but some effects are worth slowing down for. By drawing out the reveal of a magical object, a writer can heighten suspense and work the reader into a vulnerable frenzy of wanting to know more, which is a perfect state in which to terrify them:)

As always, I'll leave you with some of my favorite passages from The Shadows:

Mr. Hambert, on the other hand, was sweating like a mug of root beer in the sun

In the big old house, their belongings looked small and out of place, like tiny visitors from outer space trying to blend in at a Victorian ball.

Her parents had warned her not to let her imagination run away with her ever since she was three and had woken them night after night wailing about the sharks hiding under her bed. "Olive, honey," her father had patiently explained, "when a shark is out of the water, it is crushed by the weight of its own body. A shark couldn't survive under your bed." Three-year-old Olive had nodded, and went on to imagine sharks slowly suffocating among the dust bunnies.

Half of Olive's brain said, That cat just talked! The other half of Olive's brain said stubbornly, No it didn't All Olive's mouth said was, "What?"

In the distance, she heard her father knocking his toothbrush on the sink. The house creaked. A twig of the ash tree tapped softly against her window, again and again, like a small, patient hand.

This book is like stepping right into a dusty creepy old Victorian house, where things come alive as in the mind of a child. This is the perfect laid back book to read on a cozy fall evening with a cup of chai tea. My favorite things are haunted old houses and fantasy books that are easy to read and immersive. This is all of that. Don't expect epic or for your socks to be knocked off. Just keep your socks on and get this book. It is one of my favorite reads. If you like well-written immersive children's fantasy books, you should try reading this book.

Every house has its secrets. And Olive Dunwoody is quickly finding out that some secrets are better kept. The McMartin house isn't only old, it's also creepy. Olive always feels as if someone or something is watching her.

Shrugging the creepy feeling off, Olive sets out to explore the house she now calls home. Room by room she begins to uncover some of the history of the McMartin house. As Olive explores she finds a pair of wire-rimmed spectacles. But it isn't until she puts them on that Olive discovers what the spectacles really do.

Putting them on, Olive is able to, not only see inside the portraits the line the halls of the McMartin house, but also step inside them. That's how she meets Morton, a young boy who's been trapped inside the painting for some time. And if Olive doesn't head the warnings of three talking cats, she too with be stuck in a painting ... forever.

Jacqueline West author of The Books of Elsewhere: The Shadows, Vol. 1 is a debut novel full of mystery, mayhem, and trickery. West's writing is hearty, full of twist and turns to keep readers of all ages engaged.

The characters featured in The Books of Elsewhere: The Shadows, Vol. 1 are enchanting. And will vividly root them in the mind's eye. They are engaging and thoroughly crafted. Olive, the heroine of the book, is smart, head-strong, and brave. Everything readers want in a lead character.

But what really make West's novel come to life are the hauntingly beautiful illustrations. The black and white illustrations not only depict the plots action, but also lend to the overall creepiness of the storyline.

Eleven year-old Olive and her somewhat distracted, mathematically inclined parents move into old Mrs. McMartin's house after she dies. All of Ms. McMartin's things - including walls and walls of strange paintings are included in the purchase of the house. Left to her own to explore, Olive finds a pair of old spectacles which she tries on - these are not just any old reading glasses. They allow her to travel inside the odd paintings that fill the walls. This Elsewhere has a strange resemblance to her own world, but it is also full of dark secrets. Soon Olive finds herself caught up in an adventure to save herself and the house from the dark shadows.

I read this book because I was looking for something to recommend to one of my students. Turns out it is a little higher reading level than the student has, but I do think they would enjoy the book if read with a buddy or perhaps as a classroom read aloud. I enjoyed this story so much that I am anxiously awaiting the second book in the series.

This is a spine tingling tale that is also surprisingly humorous. Olive is a quirky yet very likable character - one that I look forward to learning more about. It is rather spooky and younger children might find it a tad frightening, but is an all around good read.

Recommended for 4th Grade and up (good as a silent or read aloud)

Mrs. Archer's rating: 5 of 5!

review by Bridgette M., age 8, Greater Los Angeles Area Mensa

This book is about a girl who moves into a new house and it’s very creepy inside. It is creepy because she can go through the pictures into the land in the pictures.
This book is scary because there is a boy in one of the pictures and he said “a bad man” put him in a forest. This book is also scary because there is a talking cat that says to this girl named Olivia that there is someone spying on her. I have a hard time reading this book because it creeps me out. I think this book will be good for children aged eight and up. If you read The Shadows you will find out what happened to the new girl Olivia in her new creepy house.

Olive Dunwoody's parents have finally decided to move out of the succession of apartments they've always lived in and buy a house. And what a house. No one has been in it since Old Ms. McMartin died several months ago, and it comes complete with all the furniture and pictures on the walls. It's huge, and there is plenty for Olive to explore.

However, their first night there, Olive begins to suspect something is wrong with the house. She thinks she sees something moving in the painting outside her room. She feels like someone is watching her in the basement. Is it her imagination or is something sinister happening in her new home?

Make no mistake about it, this is a spooky story. But once you start reading it, you'll have to know how it ends. The tension is kept up the entire time, and the climax is intense. I was getting frustrated by the lack of answers, but once we got them, everything did make sense.

Olive is a great main character. She is scared enough of everything that is going on to give help the tension, but she is strong enough to make her curiosity and investigation completely believable. And her resourcefulness is amazing as well.

Those looking for a good, creepy tale will be well rewarded with this book.

The Books of Elsewhere is absolutely amazing. I'm afraid I have to compare it to Harry Potter. It's just as brilliant as Harry Potter, only with more of an appeal towards the middle grade audience. Jacqueline West has infused her words with wry humor, chock-full-of-personality characters (especially the talking cats), a suspenseful plot, imagination and strong underlying messages.

Here's the premise: 11-year-old Olive is the only child of two mathematicians. Thing is, she's not good at math at all! Instead, she has something of a wild imagination. When her family moves into an abandoned house on Linden street, she's the only one who senses something strange and spooky. The paintings, the cats, the rumors. But Olive only finds out how strange and spooky when she discovers the secret - the paintings are portals to a place called Elsewhere. And someone in the house wants to get rid of her family....

From the first line of The Books of Elsewhere, I knew I'd love this book. West has a very original writing style that's both down-to-earth and amusing. But that's not all - there's a wonderful plot and very real characters. I imagine elementary school kids, middle school kids and anyone older will greatly enjoy The Books of Elsewhere. Speaking of which, my nine-year-old brother just ran off with my copy of the book...

***copy provided by Creative Kids Magazine

Read more of my reviews here on my blog: [...]

Olive, only child of Mr. and Mrs. Dunwoody, moves with her parents to a big old house. In Dahl tradition, her parents don't pay tons of attention to her, very preoccupied with their jobs (Mathematicians) but difference is they do love her. They buy the house complete with Ms. McMartin's belongings. Ms. McMartin passed away in the house. So Olive must get used to a house they just moved into that feels like it's still someone elses. Her parents aren't around all the time, so she has plenty of time to go discovering. There are many old paintings on the wall and Olive seems to see movement in the pictures. One scared her and her mother tried to pull it off the wall but it seems it's cemented, glued, something to the wall. In fact, all the paintings are. But when Olive encounters a talking cat named Horatio, that is when the real mystery starts. It's time Horatio and fellow felines Harvey and Leopold told her the secrets of the house. This book will be a series and I'm looking forward to it. Easy to read, took me just over an hour. The mystery was good.

Olive Dunwoody, aged 11, moves into an old house with her somewhat-absentee but well-meaning parents, and proceeds to find some very creepy aspects to their new home. She is able to wriggle into paintings, and meets a boy named Morton, three cats, a beautiful woman and a black-shadow evil presence, who would like the new homeowners to move on along.

The humorous tone ("A TV commercial would have looked just right in Mrs. Niven's yard. A dinosaur would have looked just right in the Dunwoody's." p. 100) is perfectly matched with danger and creepiness, which are guaranteed to tingle the toes of middle school readers. Fans who are just about to outgrow Mary Downing Hahn and Cynthia DeFelice would be a perfect audience for this books. There are plenty of edge-your-seat parts without anything truly gruesome. The fact this is called Vol. 1 tells me there are more books to follow -- I look forward to Olive's further adventures.

If you love mysteries, talking cats, magical spectacles, and the idea of traveling into the world of a painting, you'll love the Land of Elsewhere. In The Shadows, 11 year old Olive Dunwoody, moves into an old mansion filled with paintings that give her the creeps. Then she finds a pair of old spectacles that give her the power to go into the paintings. There she meets Morton a little boy trapped in a painting by "the bad man." With the help of three peculiar talking cats she works to unravel the mystery of the man and this strange house.
We loved Olive. She is an adventurous, curious and brave girl who never gives up even when things go wrong and get pretty scary.
We also loved how J. West crafted the story. She used great verbs like rummaged and rifled and she used great similies like when she compared going down into the basement to jumping into a cold pool of water.
The cats were great too. We loved how they could talk. They are funny, especially, Harvey.
Throughout the book you get lots of clues and hints and you get to help figure things out along with Olive. The book kept us on the edge of our seats. It was a page turner with lots of surprises. We felt like we were in the book ourselves.
This is why we give this book a full five stars!!

This book was first reviewed on Kindle Nation Daily Kids Corner.

The Books of Elsewhere THE SHADOWS By: Jacqueline West
Student - Yashvi S. 5th grade

Teacher - Julie Treadwell

SUMMARY- The Shadows is a book about a girl named Olive who moves to a creepy mansion which belongs to a mysterious family called called McMartins' she finds that there is something peculiar going on she discovers that there are 3 talking cats and finds strange paintings that won't come off the wall, she also finds strange spectacles that can magically let her transport in to those strange but very odd paintings, she also makes a new friend named Morton from the painting but Horatio one of the cats just puts him in another painting she finds out that the McMartin family wasn't just any old family they are..... read this fantastic tale to find out what happens next. But I will tell you one secret those cats are witches' familiars.

Educational- I think this book is educational because it teaches you that you shouldn't trust people with you're secrets unless they're sworn to secrecy. And that you should never buy an old house without making sure the neighbors don't suspect the last owner.

Entertaining- This book is entertaining because it's like a big mystery where she thinks some people or shall I say paintings are nice well it turns out people or paintings aren't who you think they might be.

Eleven-year-old Olive Dunwoody leads a lonely life. She is blessed to have the love of her parents, but they are very dedicated mathematicians who work at the university, so she doesn't have much in common with them. She also doesn't appear to have much luck making friends. The kids at school and in the apartment building never want to include her, even when the teachers insist. And as soon as Olive steps away, they seem to forget all about her.

With her record for making friends (or the lack thereof), Olive isn't expecting any different results when her parents buy the ancient mansion on Linden Street and they move into the new neighborhood. It will be just the three of them in this huge house, and the loneliness looms in all of the strange corners and empty rooms. It must have been similar for the previous owner; old Ms. McMartin lived there all by herself, along with her three cats. That is, until she died, right there in the mansion.

Olive does find parts of the house interesting, such as the zillions of paintings scattered on the walls, and the closets and drawers filled with old clothes and various items, including a pair of old glasses. But other locations are a bit creepy, like the gloomy basement where she feels like she's being watched, and the one painting in the hall where she could swear she sees a white shape moving through the trees. And then things really start to get weird.

Olive gets a visitor in the middle of the night. One of old Ms. McMartin's cats slips in through her bedroom window and introduces himself. His name is Horatio, and he comes with a warning: something in the house doesn't want them there. And then Olive discovers that when she puts on those old glasses, she can actually climb into the paintings. But Olive, beware. There's something evil lurking inside those paintings --- and it wants you gone.

Jacqueline West displays her writing talents beautifully in her debut novel. She has dived into her vivid imagination, dragging out an outrageous adventure filled with creepy bad guys and clever mysteries. She has a sneaky sense of humor that unexpectedly oozes out in just the right places. Olive and the three cats are full of spunk, enthusiasm and personality, and by the end of the book, they feel like good friends. West also has a gift for description that pulls the reader right into the story. Another bonus is the beautiful illustrations scattered throughout; Poly Bernatene has added a special visual treat that enhances the reading experience.

THE SHADOWS is creative, exciting, hilarious, spooky, mysterious, adventurous, and heaps of fun, all wrapped between two covers. Readers will be looking forward to the second installment in the Books of Elsewhere series.

This review was first published on Kindle Nation Daily KidsKorner

Yashvi's Review:

The Shadows is a book about a girl named Olive who moves to a creepy mansion which belongs to a mysterious family called called McMartins. She finds that there is something peculiar going on. She discovers that there are 3 talking cats and finds strange paintings that won't come off the wall. She also finds strange spectacles that can magically let her transport in to those strange but very odd paintings. Olive also makes a new friend named Morton from the painting but Horatio, one of the cats, just puts him in another painting. She finds out that the McMartin family wasn't just any old family they are..... read this fantastic tale to find out what happens next. But I will tell you one secret those cats are witches.

Educational Value:

I think this book is educational because it teaches you that you shouldn't trust people with your secrets unless they're sworn to secrecy. And that you should never buy an old house without making sure the neighbors don't suspect the last owner.

Entertainment Value:

This book is entertaining because it's like a big mystery where she thinks some people, or shall I say, paintings are nice. Well it turns out people or paintings aren't who you think they might be.

Teacher: Julie Treadwell

The Short of It: A fantastical new story that takes us into a creepy old house where the paintings are more than they seem. Olive finds herself in the middle of a mystery that she can't help but try to solve. Why do things move in these paintings, what is everyone so afraid of, and what exactly are those cats guarding? A slightly creepy, and definitely adventurous tale of a girl who isn't afraid to believe in the unbelievable.

An intriguing introduction book to a new series by a new writer. Jacqueline West introduces us to Olive, an 11-year-old girl who has moved into a new house with her parents. But this isn't any ordinary house; this house has secrets, secrets that could cost Oliver her life!

If you're a fan of Dahl or Gaiman, you must add this to your reading list PRONTO!

Olive wasn't excited about moving into an ancient mansion. Her mathematically-minded parents allow her to explore, however, and she discovers that the house has some creepy secrets. When she finds a pair of glasses that allow her to step _inside_ the old paintings that cover the walls, things become alarming. How can she save her young friend who is trapped inside a painting? Friendly (or not so friendly) cats help Olive, until she begins to wonder if they are really helping. Some children I asked said that they were not satified with the ending. They wanted to save everyone in the pictures.

A lot of similarities in tone to Coraline, with a similar underlying creepiness. Ages 9-12.

I don't really read books like this anymore, because I need to read "harder" books, i.e Sherlock Holmes. But I had heard about this series from a friend, and I decided to read it. I was not dissapointed. Even though this book is meant for Middle School kids, I found it a perfect mix of suspense, humor, and a couple of spine-tingling moments. Parents of younger kids- don't be discouraged if you read reviews that say this book is scary. It's not going to give your kids nightmares. :)

Some parts of it seemed really really scary to me because the book is all about some shadow person who does not want Olive living in the house that his family used to live in. I recommend this book for kids and adults who are older than 5.

Here's an intresting question: What do you get when you mix a quirky girl named Olive, three talking cats, a pair of magic spectacles, a mean little boy with a big temper, and an old house that's keeping secrets?Well,in my opinion, it's The Shadows. The Shadows is a good book for those who like Carrie Jones and Stephen King. It mixes good ol' horror with all new comedy, and is truly an amazing piece of literature. I loved it.

I actually love this book an it was so interestong about how the story goes and it has magic and all that kinds of stuff. it's not about fairies, princessess or any fairytale and that stuff. when i picked it out from my library and i didn't think it would be good. but when i read page one, i coudn't put the book down

This was a captivating story completely different from anything I have read before. It is very imaginative and easy to put yourself right into the story with olive. This would be an excellent bedtime story to be read out loud.

My friends were right. The books of elsewhere are awesome! I can not wait to read the other 3 books. My favorite cat is Harvey. He is pretty crazy. Olive is really daring. She's my favorite character. Definitely a 5 star!

My 10yr old daughter read the book quite quickly until the end. I don't know if anyone else has the same problem, but my daughter was pretty frustrated when it appeared towards the end of the story the pages didn't belong. I think it's a printing snafu and we will have to head back to the bookstore for a corrected copy. argh!!!

I just finished reading the first book in this series and loved it. It was very mysterious and I really looked forward to seeing what would happen next. I will definitely be reading the 2nd book as soon as I can get it.