A review by libscote
The International House of Dereliction by Jacqueline Davies

emotional mysterious sad medium-paced
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? No

3.5

Alice is an unschooled child who has moved ten times in her ten years. As her parents fix the houses they live in, the college her mother works for sells them at profit and moves them to a more dilapidated building. This particular building (which Alice's mother swears will be the last one) is next door to a condemned building that draws Alice's eye. Not only could it be a project for her, but it has spirits living in it! And they need help becoming settled ones. Alice is determined to help them do it.

As an adult, I struggled a bit with whether the house Alice and her family was living in could really be considered livable (but I also have read "Eviction" by Matthew Desmond and I am aware that the threshold for that is lower than I think.) I also had some questions about unschooling that I think more research would answer for me. It's a good story overall.
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