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    The House in Poplar Wood
    The House in Poplar Wood
    The House in Poplar Wood
    Ebook292 pages5 hours

    The House in Poplar Wood

    By K.E. Ormsbee

    4/5

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    About this ebook

    Three teens investigate a mysterious death to break a curse, escape dark forces, and do the right thing in this suspenseful tale for middle schoolers.

    For as long as the Vickery twins can remember, Lee and his mother have served Memory, while Felix and his father assist Death. This is the Agreement. But one Halloween, Gretchen Whipple smashes her way into their lives. Her bargain is simple: If the twins help her solve the murder of local girl Essie Hasting, she’ll help them break the Agreement.

    The more the three investigate, however, the more they realize that something’s gone terribly wrong in their town. Death is on the loose, and if history repeats itself, Essie’s might not be the last murder in Poplar Wood . . .

    Simultaneously heartwarming and delightfully spooky, The House in Poplar Wood is a story about a boy’s desire to be free, a girl’s desire to make a difference, and a family’s desire to be together again.

    Praise for The House in Poplar Wood

    “With expert pacing and detailed worldbuilding, the story unfurls into a smart, thrilling mystery, equal parts dark and gentle, that explores questions about freedom, power, and choosing one’s master.” —Publishers Weekly, starred review

    “The suspenseful plot is unspooled slowly, but the magical elements, evocative, intelligent writing, and ever ratcheting suspense keep it interesting.”—Kirkus Reviews, starred review

    “The foreboding atmosphere perfectly matches the dark mystery and high stakes confronting the middle-schoolers.” —Booklist 

    “A breathtaking and elegant tale with vivid prose, a spooky setting, and a fiercely determined group of unlikely friends. Will have readers flipping pages late into the night.” —Ashley Herring Blake, acclaimed author of Ivy Aberdeen’s Letter to the World
    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherOpen Road Integrated Media
    Release dateAug 28, 2018
    ISBN9781452149950
    The House in Poplar Wood
    Author

    K.E. Ormsbee

    K. E. Ormsbee currently lives in Lexington, Kentucky. She lived in lots of equally fascinating cities before then, from Austin to Birmingham to London to Seville. She grew up with a secret garden in her backyard and a spaceship in her basement. This is her first book.

    Read more from K.E. Ormsbee

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    Reviews for The House in Poplar Wood

    4/5

    39 ratings12 reviews

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    • 4/5
      I enjoyed this book, because it was simply different than anything I'd read. Many times I feel like I'm just reading the same cookie cutter story, but this was an interesting and intriguing set up between the twin brothers and their family structure based on an Agreement their parents had made. It does a nice job of focusing on the topic of caste systems/groupings with a part fantasy-part dystopian-like vibe. A fast read with alternating narrators.
    • 4/5
      When Gretchen approaches Lee to help her solve a mystery, he has to decide if he is willing to overlook a family feud and risk punishment to help and try to find a way to break his family's agreement with Death and Memory. His family has been separated his whole life. He and his brother can meet in the evening but neither of them knows the other parent. Twists and turns, short chapters, and alternating points of view pepper this quick read.
    • 4/5
      A wonderful spooky not scary halloween read.
    • 4/5
      The House in Poplar Wood was a middle grade novel about two twins whose parents each work for one of the three town shades. The town shades include Death, Memory and Passion. Because the parents are both apprentices to the shades, the house is divided; One side of the house, including one parent and one twin, belongs to Death and the other half of the house and family belongs to Memory. The children cannot cross to the other side of the house and are restricted in what they can do due to an Agreement between Death and Memory that places strict rules upon the family. One day a young girl, Gretchen, who comes from a family of summoners, comes to seek the twins help in figuring out why another young girl from the town has died. I normally do not summarize books when reviewing, but the blurb on my copy of the book was misleading. I did receive an Advance Copy of the book so the finished version might have a correct synopsis.I really enjoyed this book, especially considering it is a middle grade novel. It can appeal to a wide range of age groups, including adults. The characters and storyline were very unique. The details about the shades work, and the magical elements were very interesting, especially how memory works. I kept imagining the pensieve from Harry Potter as I read the scenes involving Lee and his mother’s work for Memory. I would highly recommend this book.
    • 2/5
      I really wanted to like this book. The premise is fantastic. One family working for two fates. Mom and dad can not see each other and they also cannot see one of their sons. Each son will be apprenticed to the respective parents' fate. It felt more like a YA novel and you really didn't get to know any of the characters very well. Interesting premise, just needed more fleshing out.
    • 3/5
      I received this book as part of the LT early Reviewer program. This is the tale of the Vickery twins, Lee and Felix. They are apprentices in the family business of assisting the shades, Death and Memory. When tragedy hits their small town, they are enlisted to help right some wrongs. It took me a few days to really get myself into reading this, but once it hit midway, the pace and plot both picked up nicely. A good solid book for late elementary or early middle school kids. Worth a quick read, especially around Halloween season.
    • 5/5
      I absolutely loved this book. I really enjoyed the characters, and how much depth they actually had. For the intended age group I did not expect this book to have as much depth as it did. As I got about 3/4 of the way through the book, I realized I was already hoping there would be more adventures to come, especially with Felix taking center stage. I enjoyed Lee and Gretchen, but I felt as though the most interesting character was kind of left out. All and all, I really enjoyed this book.
    • 4/5
      Note: received this as part of the Early Reviewer program.I really enjoyed this charmer of a tale. Although it is rated "children's/middle years", I never felt pandered to or talked down to. The writing was delightfully suited to the tale. The characters were complex and interesting, and never bland but continually surprising. The plot is dark and yet, ultimately, very satisfying. I really enjoyed the character of Gretchen who isn't particularly likable at first but very memorable and a great driving force of nature. Now I'm wanting to go read everything this author has written.
    • 4/5
      When I first started reading this, I kept thinking "would my son like this? Is this age appropriate?" Then I relaxed and just read it, and wound up enjoying it more than I thought I would. Don't get me wrong, there were some flaws. It took way too long for me to start caring for any of the characters, and it was definitely a slow start for the plot overall. But at the end of the day, I loved the uniqueness of the story and I am looking forward to Ormsbee's next book.
    • 5/5
      A great book to read for October, The House in Poplar Wood by KE Ormsbee is simply fantastic. Though geared toward Middle Graders, I found this to be delightful. The pacing was amazing, the ending very well done, and the characters enjoyable.Shades, spectral incarnations of Death, Memory, and Passion exist in a world where a select few know of them and are beholden to them. There are rules and laws to follow, but if you’re an all-powerful being, why should you? And what happens when you get tired of following the rules? One of the shades pushes the boundaries and resident know-it-all Gretchen Whipple simply won’t stand for it! Even if it means forcing the Vickery twins, sworn enemies of her family, to help!This was a great read that was super quick to go through. So quick I was worried the closer I became to finishing that the ending would not do the story justice (it did, I was a fool to doubt!) The characters stand out from one another and their interactions are fantastic. You can really see the difference in upbringing between Felix and Lee helping to mold how each behaves. Even though it was a short book, Ormsbee still threatened to wring a few tears with her earnest writing, conveying exactly what it was the twins lost and needed to endure (Felix especially.)As far as Middle Grade fiction goes, The House in Poplar Wood by KE Ormsbee is stellar and definitely one I wholeheartedly recommend, even if you’ve aged out! I know I’ll be buying a copy to gift to my 11-year-old niece!// I voluntarily reviewed a complimentary copy of this title. //
    • 5/5
      I received this as an earl review copy from Library Thing. The premise is that twin boys are the servants of death and memory. The boys are in servitude to the shades due to an agreement that their parents made. The parents were deeply in love and a mishap happens which forces them into an agreement with the shades, otherwise the mother will die or the father would lose all memory of the mother. The boys don't like the life of service and have looked for a way out in the past unsuccessfully. They may have found a way out with the help of the loud mouthed and bossy daughter of the town's "summoner. A summoner can call upon the shades to do what is right for their town. Many problems arise with this situation however, the boys and the summoner's families are sworn enemies The servant of death is not supposed to leave the area surrounding the house. The summoner's daughter is not all that she appears to be. And throw in a bit of murder mystery. Was a very entertaining book. Was interesting in how the ideas of death, memory and passion are represented as real people.
    • 4/5
      This book I found quite interesting and unique it's over all appearance was different to books I've read before. The almost squarish shape and odd font drew me in. The story line I found intriguing while it had a character arch found in most books being death it featured the shades Memory and Passion character that I found were not portrayed in many other books. The agreement in which Death and Memory had forced upon the Vickery family was I found common a normal occurs that had happened in books being the family split. However bringing in the summoner family made the story more interesting. It's over all performance was quite likable and I enjoyed reading such a unique book.

    Book preview

    The House in Poplar Wood - K.E. Ormsbee

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