The Doll in the Garden (Paperback)

by Mary Downing Hahn (Author) "THE DAY WE MOVED into Monkton Mills, I made an enemy of our new landlady..." (more)
Key Phrases: please add postage, eight weeks for delivery, Miss Cooper, Anna Maria, Aunt Viola (more...)

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly
Hahn's captivating fantasy tells of two friends who unearth a mysterious doll in a tangled, neglected rose garden. Ages 9-12.
Copyright 1990 Reed Business Information, Inc.

From School Library Journal
Grade 4-7-- A young girl helps her cantankerous elderly landlord to resolve a childhood act that caused the woman lifelong guilt. Ashley follows a white cat back in time and meets Louisa, a girl who is dying and who longs for her beloved doll--a doll that Ashley and her friend Kristi have found buried in Miss Cooper's garden. In the end Ashley, Kristi, and Miss Cooper visit Louisa; the woman is able to make am mends with her childhood friend, and Ashley begins to accept her father's death. Hahn's portrayal of crotchety Miss Cooper is expertly drawn, giving vivid insight into why she acts and lives as she does. Ashley, her widowed mother, and Kristi are also fully realized characters. When Hahn sticks to her story, it moves along at a steady, scary clip. However, when she lapses into lengthy descriptions of flowers, birds, and landscape, she slows the pace of the story rather than creates the intended atmosphere. Ashley's first-person narrative often gets bogged down in a flowery adult voice, particularly in the descriptions: "As still as the cherub behind me, I watched the leaves sway in the breeze. Sunlight and shadow mottled the ground, and the weeds whispered to themselves, lulling me like distant voices of children at play." Still, it's an imaginative ghost story, fairly predictable, but with a completely satisfying ending. --Trev Jones, "School Library Journal"
Copyright 1989 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to the Hardcover edition.

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Product Details

• Reading level: Ages 9-12
  
• Paperback: 144 pages
• Publisher: HarperCollins (April 1, 1990)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0380708655
• ISBN-13: 978-0380708659
• Product Dimensions: 7.5 x 5.1 x 0.4 inches
• Shipping Weight: 3.7 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.5 out of 5 stars See all reviews (45 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #831,429 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Intreging!, September 5, 2000

By	"missymessedup" (USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Doll in the Garden: A Ghost Story (Hardcover)

This book may start out slow but it is so esensial and intreging. I read this at 11 in 3 days becuase of the suspense. If you like scary books, you'll like this.

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A spooky, moving story, July 4, 2004

By	pmegan "pmegan" (Massachusetts) - See all my reviews

Another well-crafted ghost story from Mary Downing Hahn, this book follows the adventures of Ashley, who moves into a rented appartment and starts exploring the overgrown garden. She comes across a doll, long buried, and sets out to discover why it is there, and what the mysterious cries that she hears at night are.

Not a scary ghost story, it is very moving and I found myself crying at a few spaces. It might be a little cliche for an adult reader, but it is a great read for a younger reader who is interested in ghost stories.

5 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars On Healing the Past and the Present, April 4, 2003

By	Tracy Robert (Albuquerque, NM United States) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

I purchased this book out of my personal interest as an adult doll/doll book collector, a collector of children's books, and an elementary teacher. I found this chapter book for middle grade (4th-8th grades)students to hold a solid story that kept me reading until the end. I would definitely recommend it to age appropriate readers who are interested in dolls, fantasy, mystery, or those who are recovering from a death in the family (but not too recently).

In this book, Ashley and her mother move to a house in the suburbs to begin a new life after the death of Ashley's father. The house they move to is a portion of a larger house owned by a cranky older lady (Miss Cooper) who constantly threatens to throw them out. Miss Cooper is particularly after Ashley, who wanders off to explore the garden around the house. During one of her explorations, Ashley and a younger neighbor discover a buried antique doll and Miss Cooper's buried source of regret. Ashley challenges Miss Cooper's crankiness in order to return the doll to its orginal owner and learns about making peace with people who have died.

I enjoyed this story for the fantasy element. Well written characters drew me into the story, and didn't make the fantasy seem too unrealistic. I also really liked the realistic discussion of feelings that occur when someone you love/are close to dies. This multilayered gem is worth the purchase price for interested readers.