Dangerous Spaces (Lythway Large Print Children's Series) [Large Print] [Hardcover]

Margaret Mahy (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: November 1992 | Series: Lythway Large Print Children's Series

Two cousins living in a house that is haunted are drawn at night into a dream world which threatens to overwhelm their real world.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

Sturdy, earth-bound Flora resents her glamorous cousin. Newly orphaned Anthea has come to live with Flora's family in the house that is haunted by the girls' grandfather, Lionel. Unsure of her place in this chaotic adoptive family, Anthea retreats to Viridian, a strange dream landscape that was created and is inhabited by ghostly Lionel's long-dead younger brother. At first Viridian is a haven for Anthea, and seems more real than her waking life. But later, as her involvement with her new family grows, Anthea's nightly journeys become sinister and even life-threatening. It is fierce and noisy Flora who charges into Viridian, rescues her cousin and puts the family's stray ghosts to rest, at last. Readers with the tenacity to get past the initial tedious and disorienting descriptions of Viridian will find plenty of food for thought in the novel's closing scenes. The last third of the book is filled with the sort of writing Mahy's fans have come to expect: breathtaking adventure combined with honest and memorable insights into the workings of a family. Though it never achieves the seamless merging of magic and drama that characterize The Changeover and The Haunting , this novel will linger in the mind of the reader. Ages 10-14.
Copyright 1991 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

From School Library Journal

Grade 5-8-- Anthea, thrust into the tumultuous bosom of her uncle's family by her parents' untimely deaths, finds herself crowded physically and spiritually by their noisy, messy togetherness (which includes her grandfather's ghost). In her grief and discomfort, Anthea is ripe for the grand spaciousness of Viridian, a land created by a long-dead great-uncle also in need of large personal spaces. His spirit is still there, desperate for companionship to continue his "journey beyond." Anthea, willing at first, finds the seductive spaces of Viridian intruding on her waking life even as she begins to find her own place in her new family. Her cousin Flora, plump and freckled, at first resents slim and elegant Anthea, but as she too discovers Viridian, she also discovers a fondness for her cousin, and worries that she will be lost. Flora, always a life-force, faces her grandfather's ghost at last, forces his spirit to relinquish its grip on the family home and go to the aid of his brother, and she literally rides to Anthea's rescue in an exciting climax. The increasingly sinister spaces of the other world are replaced with expanding, loving family relationships. The contrasts are strong, as are the characterizations. While there are other dreamworlds in other books, Mahy's Viridian is unique in its slow slide from entrancing to spellbinding, its transformation from a place of beauty to one of menace and danger. Created from stereopticon slides and imagination, it has gone beyond the boundaries of the slide holder and the mind, and assumed a chilling reality of its own--no longer controlled, but controlling. Cool, careful crafting. --Patricia Manning, Eastchester Public Library, NY
Copyright 1991 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

Product Details

• Hardcover: 224 pages
• Publisher: Chivers; Lrg edition (November 1992)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0745116221
• ISBN-13: 978-0745116228
• Product Dimensions: 9 x 5.8 x 0.8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 12 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 3.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (4 customer reviews)

More About the Author

Margaret Mahy lives in New Zealand and is internationally acknowledged as one of the most outstanding children's writers today. She is the author of more than two hundred books for children of all ages, two of which have received England's Carnegie Medal and others of which have garnered numerous citations from the American Library Association. She is also the recipient of An Order of New Zealand, the highest honor a citizen can receive. In 2006 she received the Hans Christian Andersen award for her contributions to international children's literature.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

5.0 out of 5 stars High-Literature for Deep Teens, November 7, 2009

By 

Val J. (Minnesota) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Dangerous Spaces (Paperback)

The more dreamy meditative pace and increasing mist of dread on this profoundly deep tale will not be suited to many older children / teens in our Ritalin and turbo-tv show generation. However, the characterization, the longing, the depth of the central plot and the lack of any craft seams or author artifice make this novel one that haunts. If you want a novel that takes you on a journey somewhere, this is your ticket. In a certain way, I've never come back.

It would not be possible to write a book on dreams with greater depth and internal consistency. The central item of the story that first gives glimpses into the potential "other" of the story and the world is also haunting.

4.6/5 stars.

5.0 out of 5 stars Interesting Read, April 16, 2000

By 

Nikki Thean - See all my reviews

This review is from: Dangerous Spaces (Paperback)

Anthea, an orphaned girl who now lives with her cousin Flora, begins to have dreams of a strange place called Viridian and a boy called Griff, who lures her onto the end, the 'hole in the middle of the zero'. Flora in her turn dreams of Griff's brother, whom she helps to find Griff. As Anthea goes deeper into the dreams, she begins to lose touch with the real world. This is a beautifully written book, and I especially loved the world of Viridian. However, I found it a little bit confusing at times. Still, I give it five stars for its interesting content. The author also writes about friction between the cousins, who are totally different in looks and personality, and I found this interesting. A good children's book.

0 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars Dull Spaces, May 31, 2004

By 

Linda "Linda" (Australia) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Dangerous Spaces (Paperback)

The novel about a child living unhappily in a house (that could be haunted) with her relatives, may sound interesting.But it does not hold interest.