Timeslip Tuesday

This is an occasional feature at Charlotte's Library, where I also learned of Double Spell.

Lunn, Janet. Double Spell. (1968)
Twins Jane and Elizabeth get to move to a big, rambling house in Toronto when there great aunt falls and can no longer live there. When they happen into an antique store one day, they are both strangely drawn to an old doll, which the owner reluctantly sells to them for a very low price. The girls start having the same dreams about the doll, and research the doll and the house and people that appear in their dream. This leads them to a family connection, and the two manage to put a troubled spirit to rest.
Strengths: *Sigh* Very much enjoyed this. Modern literature is sorely lacking in children who move into big, Victorian houses for the summer and manage to have adventures because there's nothing else to do! (In fact, this would explain why I adored Frozen in Time so much!) I was pleased when a new copy of this wsa checked out right away.
Weaknesses: The cover, and the fact that there's little action, but since I just had yet another girl who adored Edwards' Mandy, I don't feel sorry about buying it!

Skye, Obert. Wonkenstein: The Creature From My Closet.
Robert has a very messy closet with a bizarre doorknob with a creepy man's face on it. When an odd, tiny man who talks a lot about candy comes out of the closet and starts to cause trouble, Robert and his friends (as well as his annoying little brother Tuffin) have to limit the damage and hide the man from his parents. Their adventures take them into the "creepy" house on their block where they witness their neighbor's toes grow, to the library where they try to do research on the man, and to a school poetry reading where Robert gets up the nerve (with the man in a backpack on his back) to read a poem and impress a girl. The adventures are not over... in the last chapter, we see that the closet has conjured up another creature, Potterwookie.
Strengths: This is a first for the Wimpy Kid type handlettered novel with plentiful drawings-- a fantasty. Fans of this author's Leven Thumps series will be pleased, and the cover alone will cause this to be picked up frequently.
Weaknesses: I didn't like Robert, or any of the characters in the book, and the suspension of disbelief necessary to believe that creatures came from Robert's closet was difficult. I felt as if I were missing an explanation somewhere.