Elisabeth

[|Facts vs Fiction]
=__Book Review__= __The Shadows__ by Jacqueline West Do you like mysteries or creepy stories? What would you do if you found out that you could step into certain paintings? You don’t have to be a fourth-grader to read this fantastic battle book, which was also nominated for a Texas bluebonnet award this year! In the book called __The Shadows__ by Jacqueline West, Olive, an 11-year old girl, and her parents move in to an old Victorian mansion. Olive soon notices that many strange things are happening in the house. The paintings won’t come off of the walls, she notices something white moving in one of the paintings, and there are three talking cats that seem to be hiding secrets from her. Olive discovers the most peculiar thing when she finds a pair of glasses that allows her to travel inside paintings. It seems like the house wants to get rid of her, and Olive doesn’t know whom she can trust. You will love this mysterious book full of twists and turns. I really enjoyed the illustrations in this book. They are highly detailed and expressive, even though they are in black and white. Jaqueline West does an exellent job describing events. She uses a lot of action verbs and imagery that uses all of your senses. For example, Jaqueline West writes, "The rusty mailbox began to bulge with odd and eccentric mail-order catalogs, which eventually overflowed the gaping aluminum door and spilled out into the street. The gigantic jungle fern that hung from the porch ceiling keeled over for lack of water." This book is hard to put down. Because it is so suspenseful, you will want to read more when you reach the end. Luckily the author has written two other sequels: __Spellbound__ and __The Second Spy__.