Customer Reviews

Something Upstairs

5 star:		(45)
4 star:		(26)
3 star:		(8)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

"Something Upstairs" is the only book I have ever read by the author, AVI. If this one is any indication, I should read more of him because I thoroughly enjoyed this book.

The story centers around two main characters: Kenny Huldorf, a boy who has just moved into a new house in Providence, Rhode Island; and the ghost of a slave he meets in his room, Caleb. Caleb was murdered in the room that Kenny discovers him and, after several meetings to earn Caleb's trust, their search for who killed Caleb and why he was murdered begins.

This book has enough twists and turns in it for to be a real page-turner. I've read it several times, and I've enjoyed it very much each time. The author claims that all the events in the book are real; in the forward, he claims that he actually met the boy, Kenny Huldorf, and was able to research everything the boy told him. I guess the reader will have to determine for himself/herself whether the events that unfold within the book are actually true.

The suspense level is also very-well maintained in this book as well. There is a twist toward the end that sort of throws the whole book on its ear, and it is only then that Kenny realizes the amplifications of what is actually going on in his adventure with Caleb to find a murderer.

I would highly recommend this book to young readers who like books with a little bit of history, a whole lot of mystery and a healthy dose of twists and turns. "Something Upstairs" is a genuinely good book, worth reading over and over again.

If you are into short scary stories, this book is for you! It tells about a slave from 1800 being helped by a modern boy named Kenny, who has just moved to Providence, Rhode Island. One night, Kenny wakes up and sees hands come up from a stain in his closet. He discovers that this is a slave boy from the past named Caleb who requires his assistance. What I liked about this book was that it showed the views between Caleb and Kenny on life. It was a good contrast because their views were so different. What I disliked about the book was the lack of details and the simplicity of the mystery. My favorite character in the book was Kenny because he was very brave and was not intimidated by a slave trader named Pardon Willinghast, who told him that if he helped Caleb he would be stuck in the year 1800 forever. The setting of Providence is important because Providence was once a slave port. Kenny has recently moved to Providence and is exploring his new home and learns about the slave trade and the previous owners of his house. I would recommend this book to people over the age of 10 because there is some blood and some little kids might be scared of the ghosts. This book is very readable because the style is fast-moving, short and easy. It is good for a quick read.

This is such a fantastic book! It always leaves you wondering what's going to happen next. A boy named Kenny moves into a house in Rhode Island. He finds out that there's a ghost there, and the ghost says that he was murdered. He asks Kenny if he would help him figure out who murdered him before he would get murdered for a second time. The rest of the book is about searching for the murderer. Kenny gets stuck back in time until he can get his key chain back. He has to do something in order to get it back so he can return to his own time. Can he do the task, or will he turn it down? I'm like Kenny because I like to help my friends out in anyway I can, even though I could risk my life to save them.

This book always is leaving you at a dead end when you reach the end of a chapter. Does great at not letting you know what will happen next so you will keep reading. The murder scene at the boys new house leads you off with a mystery right off the bat. No doubt this book deserves two thumbs way up. Its hard to even give a short summary of the book because it would spoil it for the reader. All that I can say is that I 100% recoment this book.

- A. Hill

Something Upstairs by Avi is a little haunting but not about to scare you out of your wits. It is about a young boy named Kenny who moves from his perfect home in Los Angeles, California where the sun shines almost all the time to the smallest country in the United States, Rhode Island, which can't even fit the city of Los Angeles. To Kenny's dismay, after the school year ended, his family got up and packed, took a road trip across the country and ended up at the front of their house in Providence, Rhode Island, staring at the plaque that read Daniel Stillwell House Built 1789. As he explored his new house, he had a feeling that the house was not empty, but continued on with his tour and finally came to the attic, which he claimed as his own. As he peered around the doors of the attic, he noticed a dark stain on the floor. The next days were filled with boredom and the nights were amazingly hot. One night, Kenny heard a strange sound and moved close to take a look at what was happening. At that moment, he saw a pair of glowing hands, seemingly sculptured of smoke reaching out of the stain. There is much more to happen, which includes being stuck in the past and helping a ghost alter what has already happened a century ago.
What I liked about this book was the descriptions of the ghost first appearing for the first time in front of Kenny. "A soft, pale, pulsing glow radiated from its body, a glow which formed a vague boundary between air and mass, in equal parts nothing and something," is a perfect quote from the book that shows how the ghost looks like. Before I read this book I never thought a ghost disappearing would be like how it is depicted in this quote, "Instead, he cringed back and, like melting ice, sank into the floor, leaving the room dark and as empty as it had been before."
My favorite part of the book is when Willinghast is revealed to be what he really is. He deserves everything happens to him. When everything is unveiled and light is brought to all the mysteries are always my favorite parts in any book, although it is a bit disappointing when you know that the book is over and done.

I read this book for my Summer homework in 4th Grade, and I loved it! It was my first book that I have really enjoyed. Personally, I have not enjoyed other books by Avi, but this book really caught my attention. Since then, I have re-read this book about 3 times and it never gets boring. It keeps you interested, and make your imagination run wild! I think that everyone should read this book.

Someting Upstairs is Kenny, who moved from California to Rhode Island. His new house is very old, and at night, suspicious events happen. This book keeps you interested every milisecond of the way!!

BEST BOOK EVER!!

It's one of the best books ever! I can't put it down. The book is even suppose to be true.

I had to read this book for a summer reading thing. I was reading the first few pages and could not stop reading. This book is one of the bost intresting gost-story books that I have ever read. The great thing about this book is that there is some educationail stuff and the book is only 119 pages.
This book probably took me an estimated 4 hours to read.

The kind of spooky moodiness that I'd hoped for in this book pretty much only appears in the first third of the book. After that, the book shifts into a maddeningly contrived time-shift story, and doesn't bother to give any real or consistent explanation for the scenario that follows. Sure, this is fantasy, but that *doesn't* mean that the author can simply ignore any kind of reasonable explanation for the events that happen. But he does. The protagonist goes back and forth in time, without a clear cause... It's given some kind of half-explanation having to do with people's memories - and yet people are shown to be existing in both past and present (and future?) and the very meaning of the word "memory" really doesn't make any sense to explain anything within that inconsistent portrayal. The ghost feels compelled to keep feeling at walls (for reasons never explained) and yet becomes able to carry on full conversations with the protagonist (living about two hundred years afterward) and is somehow aware of both his past and the future, somehow still being alive in the past (and aware of it) but dead in the present (1988), and yet doesn't know how he died, and then there's utter nonsense about a modern character somehow also running around in the past, serving only as a stock villain character and with no other explanation for who he is or why he also exists in the present in some form.

The annoying result is that the entire plight of the protagonist feels totally out of his control, except for one ridiculous "choice" that he's finally given at the end of the book. A "choice" which is quite absurd no matter how it's looked at. This book may feel in some way surprising to kids, and that's probably why it got published, but in terms of its plot, it's really quite junky and highly unsatisfying. Fortunately, it's short enough to be fairly easy to finish reading, anyway, despite its annoying faults. Characterization is modest - the protagonist was fairly well developed, but not in ways that served the plot or the "choice" he was given at the book's climax. The ghost character was extremely inconsistent and unconvincing - sometimes talking more like "Data" from Star Trek Next Generation than a slave from 200 years ago. The parent characters were underused. A couple of librarian characters that at first seemed promising were utterly wasted.

Caution: contains PG-level violent themes, and also several uses of the n-word, late in the book.

Something Upstairs by Avi is a frightening, suspenseful, and heart-pounding story about a boy that moves from California to Providence, Rhode Island, changing his life forever.

Kenny spends most of his days at the Library, interested in finding more about his new house, which dates back to the 1800s. When Kenny asks the librarian which way to the history section, he takes a wrong turn and enters a room with a very pale man by the name of Pardon Willinghast sitting in his office chair. Kenny soon finds out that Pardon Willinghast is not just a historian, as they meet again in another place and time.

Meanwhile, at home sleeping one night, Kenny hears a noise coming from the room next door. He slowly creeps into the miniature room and peers inside. Kenny sees a ghost-like figure rise from the blood stain on the floor. The ghost needs Kenny's help to set him free. The quest to help save the ghost from being murdered one night, by going back in time to the 1800s, is just one of Kenny's problems. Kenny also doesn't know that the enemy is closer than he thinks.

Lucas R., Ryan I., and Helena C.
Grade 6
Ms. Kawatachi

I really enjoyed reading this book. I think it was very good and a lot of people will like it. I think the book made your mind boggle and made you wonder what's going to happen next.
-Lucas R.

Avi's writing made me feel like I was Kenny, in a time not my own trying to help some ghost that just appears in my room one night. This book just sucks you in and you will find yourself turning page by page to find out what happens next!
-Ryan I.

I enjoyed the book very much. It was a very detailed and clear page turner, and every chapter left you wanting to read more. It is one of my favorite books, and I will definitely recommend this book to anyone.
-Helena C.