Customer Reviews

the dark behind the curtain

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4 star:		(1)
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I first discovered this book when I was in junior high school and enjoyed the way the author blended relatively ordinary youth experiences of cruelty, ostracism, gang-type bonding, and petty misbehavior with a disturbing representation of historical fact. Marshall, the callous but popular young star of a middle school production of "Sweeney Todd", becomes the channel of the play's evil, robbing the students around him of self-respect, fostering suspicion, and creating fear, much as his Victorian-slum counterparts did in days past. The handling of the narrator's relationship with Marshall and with the insecure and unattractive Ann is realistic and well-resolved, and the tension is effectively built, a series of innocuous clues leading to the supernatural conclusion. If the book has any weakness, it is the rather hasty and hey-presto ending, which technically satisfies but does not really do justice to the lengthy buildup.

I read this when I was a lot younger and my memory of it is that it was a wonderful tense and somewhat scary tale that had me thinking about the book for a long time to come.

There is some historical information here which is always educational - but ultimately it was a delicious and chilling tale, mixed with some themes of trust and friendship.

When I think back to my favourite books ever, this is one of them.

Maybe if I re-read it now I would not think so. These days maybe I am less easily excited by a ghost story. But for young adult readers and older children, this is a very good book.