The Figure in the Shadows (Lewis Barnavelt) (Paperback)

~ (Author) "Lewis Barnavelt stood at the edge of the playground, watching the big boys fight..." (more)
Key Phrases: magic coin, lard ass, Rose Rita, Uncle Jonathan, Grampa Barnavelt (more...)

Editorial Reviews

Review

Brace yourself for a wild ride. -- Kirkus Reviews

Is there no end to the suspense John Bellairs can create? -- School Library Journal, starred review

There’s suspense and action aplenty. . . . Perfect for the pre-Stephen King set. -- Booklist --This text refers to an alternate Paperback edition.

Review

Is there no end to the suspense John Bellairs can create? (School Library Journal, starred review)

There’s suspense and action aplenty. . . . Perfect for the pre-Stephen King set. (Booklist)

Brace yourself for a wild ride. (Kirkus Reviews) --This text refers to an alternate Paperback edition.

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Reading level: Ages 9-12
  
• Paperback: 160 pages
• Publisher: Puffin (January 1, 1993)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0140363378
• ISBN-13: 978-0140363371
• Product Dimensions: 7.8 x 5.2 x 0.9 inches
• Shipping Weight: 5.8 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 4.6 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (28 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #1,288,880 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

11 of 12 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars One of the best Horror books ever, July 27, 2000

By	malicia (Fairfax, VA USA) - See all my reviews

I read this book in the 70s or early 80s. I was so frightened by it that I stored it under my sister's bed at night just to keep it out of my room and away from me. It scared me that much - It's very vivid. To this day, the smell of wet ashes reminds me of the book. I mean this all in the best way, of course. I was, perhaps, a little unprepared for the depth of spookiness found in this book, but now I realize that while it frightened the living daylights out of me, it also thrilled me. I credit this book and MacBeth (also read when far too young and impressionable) for my love of "unseen" psychological horror fiction today. Definitely talk with your child after they read this, though. You don't want them spooking at every imagined figure in the shadows.

6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Good fun, June 24, 2004

By	Michael Cornett "Madman" (Takoma Park, MD USA) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

Lewis Barnavelt (introduced in THE HOUSE WITH A CLOCK IN ITS WALLS) is having problems. He's picked on by bullies and he's afraid his best friend, Rose Rita, doesn't respect him because he's not rough-and-tough. When he finds his great-grandfather's lucky coin, he starts wearing it, hoping it will bring him luck...only to discover that it's actually a powerful talisman and a sinister hooded figure is watching over him.

This isn't quite up to the level that HOUSE was, but it's still a grand entertainment. We feel Lewis' pain and rage at being a target and at his inability to intervene when Rose Rita is attacked by bullies. Lewis' love/hate relationship with the talisman can also been seen as a symbol of drug addiction.

It all ends well, with a good message about loyalty and a caution against using outside props (talismans or drugs). Next in the series: THE LETTER, THE WITCH AND THE RING.

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars 2nd book in the 'Lewis Barnavelt' series, January 24, 2007

By	E. A. Lovitt "starmoth" (Gladwin, MI USA) - See all my reviews (TOP 50 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)

This review is from: The Figure In the Shadows (Lewis Barnavelt) (Paperback)

John Bellairs is best known as the author of sixteen gothic mystery novels for young adults comprising the Lewis Barnavelt, Anthony Monday, and Johnny Dixon series. "The Figure in the Shadows" (1975) is the second book in the Lewis Barnavelt series and is preceded by "The House with a Clock in Its Walls" (1973).

So far from what I've read of this author, his characters tend to be elderly eccentrics, or ordinary children (no superkids, here). Lewis is resourceful, but with a child's fears and limitations. Most especially, he is afraid that his uncle Jonathan might send him off to reform school if he discovers that his nephew has been dabbling in magic.

Lewis is a newly orphaned, plump, pre-adolescent boy who wears "purple corduroy trousers, the kind that go `whip-whip' when you walk." He went to live with his Uncle Jonathan (who is also a wizard) in New Zebedee, Michigan after his parents were killed in an automobile accident. It is the late 1940s, and New Zebedee bears a strong resemblance to Marshall, Michigan, where the author was born--- The Cronin House and the GAR (Grand Army of the Republic) Hall still stand in Marshall, just as their counterparts do in New Zebedee.

Lewis wants desperately to believe that an old coin belonging to his Great-Grampa Barnavelt has magical powers. He and his best friend, Rose Rita sneak a book out of Uncle Jonathan's occult library and perform a ceremony to `activate' the coin or `magical amulet' as Lewis likes to think of it. He is being bullied at school by a nasty character who stole his new Sherlock Holmes hat, so Lewis starts to wear the old Civil War coin around his neck for protection. Finally he turns on the bully and beats him up, but soon learns that the coin has other, even darker powers.

Late one night, Lewis hears the mail slot on the front door clang. When he picks up the postcard addressed to him, a line of writing appears on the back: "Venio" which means "I come" in Latin.

Lewis picks up a crumpled piece of notebook paper on the sidewalk with the same Latin message, and soon he begins to see a shadowy figure in a long coat. One night as he is walking home from the library, Lewis spots the figure standing under a street lamp. He goes up to it and "the figure walked forward out of the circle of lamplight. Now it was standing before Lewis. Lewis smelled something. He smelled cold ashes. Cold wet ashes."

After he manages to escape, Lewis is so frightened that he asks his friend, Rose Rita to take the coin and throw it away. She wrestles the coin away from him, but instead of throwing it into the storm drain, she hides it.

The bully starts in on Lewis again, and he decides he'll do anything to get the coin back again, even steal it from Rose Rita.

By the time we figure out who the shadowy figure is and why it smells like wet ashes, this story has taken a very frightening turn. Lewis has disappeared and it is up to his Uncle Jonathan, his neighbor, Mrs. Zimmerman, and his friend, Rose Rita to rescue him from a particularly unpleasant fate.