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A review by esdeecarlson
This Appearing House by Ally Malinenko
3.0
3.5 stars
A middle-grade haunted house story specifically for and about survivors of childhood cancer. I like that the book is quite straightforward about its metaphoric qualities; it is in essence providing a blueprint and language for working through a traumatic experience. The scary bits are quite scary, but there’s also a sense of our main character’s agency that is comforting, and like the best haunted house stories, when you really look at the monsters they’re more sad than anything else. The book features several gems of clever wording: the characters must get through the house to beat it, and the question is never “how do we get out” but “how do we move on.”
The author is also very invested in the idea, expressed explicitly in the book, that trauma is elastic. I think this is a perfect way to express trauma’s effects to this and any age group and is well done here.
Some of the meta qualities of the book seem a little odd for the age group; I’m not sure, for example, whether I was meant to appreciate that the house quotes Shirley Jackson. I did, however, really appreciate the ending, and the fact that the ending isn’t too abrupt; we see what Jac takes from the experience and how she decides to move on.
Honestly, for me the toughest part of the book was Jac’s mother, a woman clearly deeply wounded by watching her child survive cancer and who makes Jac manage her emotions for her. Jac must school her expressions, emotions, and reactions, because there is only room for one emotionally vulnerable person in their house and that’s her mom. While I appreciate that this is a very real thing that many children go through, I wish it had been addressed similarly to other issues Jac has, a little more honestly. The narrative is very kind to Jac’s mother and I wish it acknowledged a little more how unfair it is of her to put her emotional wellbeing entirely on her child’s shoulders instead of finding outside sources of support.
I don’t think this book is just for kids who’ve survived cancer; I think it would be useful for any middle-grade reader, because the language and metaphors used are appropriate for addressing a variety of traumas. It would make an excellent selection for school libraries.
A middle-grade haunted house story specifically for and about survivors of childhood cancer. I like that the book is quite straightforward about its metaphoric qualities; it is in essence providing a blueprint and language for working through a traumatic experience. The scary bits are quite scary, but there’s also a sense of our main character’s agency that is comforting, and like the best haunted house stories, when you really look at the monsters they’re more sad than anything else. The book features several gems of clever wording: the characters must get through the house to beat it, and the question is never “how do we get out” but “how do we move on.”
The author is also very invested in the idea, expressed explicitly in the book, that trauma is elastic. I think this is a perfect way to express trauma’s effects to this and any age group and is well done here.
Some of the meta qualities of the book seem a little odd for the age group; I’m not sure, for example, whether I was meant to appreciate that the house quotes Shirley Jackson. I did, however, really appreciate the ending, and the fact that the ending isn’t too abrupt; we see what Jac takes from the experience and how she decides to move on.
Honestly, for me the toughest part of the book was Jac’s mother, a woman clearly deeply wounded by watching her child survive cancer and who makes Jac manage her emotions for her. Jac must school her expressions, emotions, and reactions, because there is only room for one emotionally vulnerable person in their house and that’s her mom. While I appreciate that this is a very real thing that many children go through, I wish it had been addressed similarly to other issues Jac has, a little more honestly. The narrative is very kind to Jac’s mother and I wish it acknowledged a little more how unfair it is of her to put her emotional wellbeing entirely on her child’s shoulders instead of finding outside sources of support.
I don’t think this book is just for kids who’ve survived cancer; I think it would be useful for any middle-grade reader, because the language and metaphors used are appropriate for addressing a variety of traumas. It would make an excellent selection for school libraries.