When Todd's Aunt Morbelia comes to live in his house, she proves to be a bigger help than expected, entertaining the young boy with her weird stories. Reprint. SLJ.
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Book Description
Editorial Reviews
From School Library Journal
A very funny and touching story about a loving family that takes in an elderly relative obsessed with evil omens and bad luck. Todd is frustrated and angry that he has dyslexia and is terrified by his great-aunt's stories of screaming skulls and ghosts. The fact that his friends, particularly Jeff, can't get enough of her tales, compounds his dilemma. Aunt Morbelia steals the show here, but all of the characters are well rounded, including the family's fiercely independent cat and affectionate dog. Scenes change from a moving episode in Jeff's father's funeral parlor, during which the elderly woman faints, to laugh-out-loud escapades involving Aunt Morbelia's superstitions, to the tender ending in which Todd and Jeff convince the woman not to leave Todd's family and go to a nursing home. Aunt Morbelia is just eccentric enough to be believable, Todd's feelings about his learning disability ring true, and the whole comes together as an engaging, entertaining, and rewarding experience. --Trev Jones, School Library Journal
Copyright 1990 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.
Copyright 1990 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews
1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:
3.0 out of 5 stars
Aunt Morbelia and the Screaming Skulls,
A Kid's Review
This review is from: Aunt Morbelia and the Screaming Skulls (Hardcover)
Todd has dylexia and can't remember a lot of things and his Aunt Mobblia comes to live with him, his mom and his dad. When she gets there Todd felt like she could hear what he was thinking. He thought she was scary and wierd. That night he went to talk to Aunt Mobelia, and she told him a story about a ghost that kills people in there family. Then the next morning Aunt Mobelia was up before anyone and fixed bread, and stuff for breakfast, Todd's mom freaked out when she saw that she fixed them breakfast. Todd's friend Jeff came over and loved the bread she fixed. When Todd had his friends over they all had his Aunt tell them scary story's
5.0 out of 5 stars
Aunt Morbelia and the Screaming Skulls,
By
This review is from: Aunt Morbelia And The Screaming Skulls (A Minstrel Book) (Paperback)
ISBN 0671747843 - Whatever you expect from this book when you look at the cover, forget about it. The depiction of an old lady who looks a little crazy with skulls all over the place almost belittles the story inside.Todd has two parents, a dog, a crazy cat, a great group of friends... and dyslexia. Into this mix, he is told, is coming his father's great-aunt Morbelia. Todd's parents laugh over her superstitious ways, which makes Todd more than a little nervous about her arrival. This isn't helped by the fact that even his parents don't really seem to want her there. The family is welcoming and polite, but it is difficult for everyone to fit Morbelia into the family's life. Morbelia is sad over the death of her sister - she wears black all the time, has an almost endless list of things that are bad omens, doesn't like Todd's cat OR the cat's name (Banshee) and isn't really thrilled about packing up her old life to start a new one, either. Especially since she's aware that she is, in a way, intruding. On the other hand, she's a great baker, a huge help to Todd in dealing with his learning disability and everyone (except Todd) seems to love hearing her scary stories. How the family learns to accept one another, to communicate openly and honestly, and to consider each other's feelings is superbly done - but do they learn these lessons in time? Or will Morbelia leave, believing that she is still unwanted? I enjoyed the times that Morbelia got creative in helping Todd to learn things that he had trouble learning in more traditional ways. It was appropriate and in the background, but it was also nice that Todd's friend Rocky should slowly "become" a girl - they're 11 and it's about the right time for her to begin to spend time with other girls. More than that, I was really and truly shocked by how well Carris handled the end of the story: Todd becoming more sensitive to her age and much more aware of her feelings, and Morbelia herself helping him to do that, was a stunningly adult resolution of a book that had, to that point, seemed like just another kids' book. More than almost any other book I've read in a long time, Aunt Morbelia is a realistic, touching story about growing up. Kids will read it for other reasons, but I think adults will find it makes them tear up a little when Todd and Morbelia connect at the end. A pleasant surprise in a fun, generally light tale. - AnnaLovesBooks
2 of 4 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Aunt Morbelia and the Screaming Skulls,
By A Customer
This review is from: Aunt Morbelia and the Screaming Skulls (Turtleback)
This is an excellent book on disabilities and living with the eldering. I use it as a read aloud in my fifth grade classroom.
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