. I thought this book was fantastic! It was very engaging and interesting for all ages. The writing was strong and mature despite it being a children's book. I loved all of the similes and metaphors, along with the detailed descriptions.I made notes to talk with Ellie about several parts of the book, including how she felt about Henry's parents. Their kidnapping and his subsequent trip to his aunt and uncle's house is what set the stage for the story. However, it seemed like they were extremely overprotective, to the point of ruining Henry's childhood. We had an interesting conversation about that. Ellie saw them as mean, not as just worried about Henry.
As we went along, we discussed several foreshadowing parts. I thought the little old man was Henry's grandfather, who wasn't actually dead. Ellie thought he was someone nefarious.
Another thing we discussed was, why Frank was so quick to overlook the odd things that were happening? Was he just really not that observant, or did he know something?
Spoiler alert!!
This book was so interesting that I'm considering reading the next book (despite not having the time right now) to see if some of my questions can be answered. These are also questions that Ellie and I are discussing now that we are finished reading.
1. Is it a coincidence that Henry (the boy), Henry (the town) and Henrietta (the girl) all have the same name?
2. Who really ARE Henry's parents?
3. Which world did Henry come from? Do you think it was the one with the broken tree and the stone slab? 4. Why did Henry see the dog alive in his dream and dead in real life?
5. What's up with the cat? Does he understand something, or is he just intuitive as a cat?
