The Mansion in the Mist: An Anthony Monday Book (A Puffin Book) (Paperback)

by John Bellairs (Author) "But, Miss Eells! It's gonna be really crummy with you gone for the summer!..." (more)
Key Phrases: quo conflatur, moonlit world, est locus, Miss Eells, Miss Fells, Grand Autarch (more...)

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly
Working as a library assistant in a sleepy town, Anthony Monday is having quite a different summer than he expected. While on vacation with his elderly friends Mrs. and Miss Eells the young man has discovered a passage into another dimension; the three are transported to an underworld by way of a magic chest. When they learn of a plot by the evil inhabitants to absorb humanity into their world, Anthony and his friends get a lot more excitement than they bargained for. Hampered by characters that do little but react predictably to their circumstances, the story must rely on its plot and concept for interest. While the notion of passage into another world is not new, the late Bellairs ( The Trolley to Yesterday ; The Secret of the Underground Room ) provides unique twists, as the characters must discover the keys to entry after their original passage is destroyed. Some readers will be caught up in the idea of inter-dimensional travel but others will feel, as these characters do, that they're just along for the ride and may not involve themselves along the way. Ages 10-up.
Copyright 1992 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-- Anthony and his klutzy librarian friend, Miss Eells, plan to spend an uneventful summer with her brother Emerson in an isolated old cottage in Canada. Events quickly take a sinister turn when Anthony finds a mysterious old chest that turns out to be a doorway into a parallel world in which a mad group of beings are plotting the destruction of Earth. The key to their success is a magical object, the Logos cube. Unfortunately for the Autarchs, a former member of their society has realized their evil ways and hidden the cube. Anthony, Miss Eells, and Emerson experience a series of harrowing adventures as they explore the strange world of the Autarchs and search for the object so that they can save the Earth. The atmosphere throughout this adventuresome chiller is appropriately scary and the villains are certainly evil personified, but there are several loose ends. Readers never know why the Autarchs have so much interest in the Earth or why they want to destroy it. Their world is certainly a terrifying place, but its origins and purposes are never made clear. This story will attract Bellairs's fans, but it is not likely to win many new ones. --Bruce Anne Shook, Mendenhall Middle School, Greensboro, NC
Copyright 1992 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

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Product Details

• Reading level: Ages 9-12
  
• Paperback: 176 pages
• Publisher: Puffin (May 1, 1993)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0140349332
• ISBN-13: 978-0140349337
• Product Dimensions: 7.5 x 5 x 0.5 inches
• Shipping Weight: 5.6 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 4.6 out of 5 stars See all reviews (9 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #1,530,581 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

7 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A Great Book, November 15, 2000

A Kid's Review

I have never liked reading but this John Bellairs book, The Mansion in the Mist, kept me reading. I got hooked onto his books in 4th grade and ever since I have enjoyed his books. The Mansion in the Mist has a lot of discriptive words in it, sets the setting and gets off to a great start. All the way through the book he is consistant on good adjectives and is very interesting. I like his endings the most though because sometimes they are scary but in the end his makes sure everyone's O.K. I think John Bellairs is the best author!!

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Mansion In The Mist, December 28, 1997

By A Customer

I think Mansion In The Mist is a wonderful book. John Belairs is a great author.I couldn't put the book down. It was like a magnet. I felt like I was in the book. It had very good discriptive words. This book was sooo good that I just had to read another one of his books.

6 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Sadly, the last, May 12, 2000

By	"adrianople" (Orlando, Florida) - See all my reviews

Sadly, this was the last novel completed by the late John Bellairs, the brilliant writer who more than anyone else sculpted the intellectual and imaginative structure of my mind as I grew up.

A welcome return by the Anthony Monday characters, this book does not have the rushed feel of THE SECRET OF THE UNDERGROUND ROOM and THE CHESSMEN OF DOOM, its close predecessors.

The marvelous characters further develop in surprising ways, and the enthralling mixture of atmosphere, mystery, humor, adventure, and horror that you've come to expect from Bellairs are happily present. The plot twists in the latter half of the novel are wondrous, as is the conception of the story itself.

MANSION is a strong late entry into the series, and it is a tragedy that Mr. Bellairs did not survive to further add to his volume of work. Unfortunately, despite Brad Strickland's valiant efforts, the novels since MANSION contain a void that I'm afraid will never be filled.