This book picks up where that one left off, with Portia's family renovating the abandoned mansion that her parents bought the previous summer. It's all about fixing an old house, and I have ALWAYS wanted to fix up an old house (in theory, anyway -- my adult self realizes that would be a LOT of work). Plus, you get to spend another whole book hanging out with Portia and Julian and all their friends, young and old, and hanging out with fictional friends is one of my favorite pastimes.
There are adventures and surprises and discoveries and treasure hunts, and it is altogether jolly good fun. I read this aloud to my kids, which was awesome, and I fully intend to re-read it in a few years.
If This was a Movie, I Would Rate It: G. There's one part where kids get stuck in a dumbwaiter that's a little tense, and very little kids might find that freaky. But it's clean as a whistle.
This is my 9th book read and reviewed for the OldSchool Kidlit Reading Challenge 2018. I need to read one more, and I'll have reached my goal for this challenge!
Both my kids loved these books. My daughter still rereads them every now and then.
ReplyDeleteJennifer, that's lovely! All 3 of my kids have been asking if I would read them again next summer... even though they're all perfectly capable of reading them on their own. (And my son has read them both repeatedly.) Something magical about reading aloud with a parent, isn't there?
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