14 of 14 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
I've Got a Lovely Bunch of Peppermints, June 9, 2006
A bowl of lovely red and white peppermints waits on a table in the parlor . . . but the residents of Sugar Hill Hall are not allowed to touch them. That image sticks with me after finishing the final pages of Ms. Wallace's delightful adventure tale of a young orphan and the dire situation she finds herself in. This Victorian story of dramatic suspense is a perfect story for young readers just starting to break into longer fiction and craving something with adventure and intrigue.
Young Emily Luccock has recently lost her parents, and she is now going to live with her Aunt and Uncle Twice at Sugar Hill Hall, a fine mansion in San Francisco. Emily remembers her visits to see her Aunt and Uncle fondly and is looking forward to seeing them again. But something has gone terribly wrong. Aunt Twice has become a timid woman forced to be a servant in her own home, and Uncle Twice is nowhere to be found. The entirety of Sugar Hill appears to be under the thumb of the icy and forbidding Mrs. Meeching, and Emily is made a virtual slave, working in the kitchen and cleaning the rooms of the despairing old men and women who reside in the rooms of the house. But young Emily is not about to give up without a fight. She's determined to bring sunshine back to Sugar Hill and to discover what has happened to Uncle Twice. With the help of Kipper, a redheaded boy from town, Emily pits herself against the frightful Mrs. Meeching, and all the secrets hidden in Sugar Hill Hall. Ms. Wallace has provided a rousing adventure story that kicks off from the first page and never slows down until the satisfying ending. The story elements aren't particularly original, but the author uses them to good effect with engaging writing that makes us care about our heroes and hate the villains as the story progresses. Emily, for all her apparent fragility, proves herself to be tough in spirit, and to have a caring heart for the plight of others. She's likeable without being overly sweet or too plucky. Kipper adds to the flavor and fun with his cheerful commentary and use of street slang.
While the story has its dark elements: murder, betrayal, cruelty, Emily and Kipper's adventure doesn't become too frightening either. The story remains just scary and exciting enough for enjoyment of 9-12 year olds, but doesn't become gory or chilling. The book itself is a short read--those who enjoy such books as A Series of Unfortunate Events and want more of the type would probably find this title to their liking. It's also a good recommendation for young readers who want something with action and adventure, but require something without any fantasy or supernatural elements to it. If I have any complaints about the story, its that I felt the secrets unraveled a bit too quickly and all at once towards the end of the story. After wondering for so long what is going on and what happened to Uncle Twice, readers are provided the answers in short order--just in time for the final confrontations. Despite this, I found myself enjoying the entire story--and I particularly liked how the element of peppermints framed the tale. For those who enjoy this stand-alone adventure, Ms. Wallace has written a follow up story with the further adventures of Emily Luccock titled The Perils of the Peppermints. Readers might also want to check out The Half a Moon Inn by Paul Fleischman and the Illyrian Adventure by Lloyd Alexander.
Happy Reading! Shanshad ^_^
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7 of 7 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
I LOVE THIS BOOK, February 20, 2004
A Kid's Review
This review is from: Peppermints in the Parlor (Paperback)
When I first saw the cover of this book I thought it would be one of those trashy, dull mysteries (Who stole the peppermint candy from the christmas feast?!?) then I saw the sequal, with it's pretty, intresting cover, and began to reconsider buying the first one (if only so I could understand the sequal). I started to read it and was amazed. It has an amazing plot, and is definatly one of the best books I have ever read, and I've read a lot of books. It is completely Dickensian without the slow-moving plot, and hard to understand language that most children find boring and discouraging. It is a wonderful Victorian Melodrama! I LOVE THIS BOOK!
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4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Unforgettable!!!, May 3, 2002
This review is from: Peppermints in the Parlor (Paperback)
I must say that it has been many years since I first read Peppermints in the Parlor, but I remember my sixth grade teacher assigning us this book and I became so attached to it that I sat down and read the entire book in one day! And for me that was an extremely big deal because I had never really liked to read. Now I liked To Kill A Mockingbird, A Brave New World, and One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest, but out of all the books I read in school I must say that this was by far the one book that stood out the most to me! Even if you're not a kid this book will thoroughly entertain you! This book was the first to spark my interest in reading and I always keep searching for books that can entertain me the way that this one did. While my taste in reading material has matured as I've gotten older, this book has stayed at the top of my favorites list. Once you read this book you will understand just why it changed my outlook on reading, it was the first book that I found to be fun!!!
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