The Old House

Welcome to Sally's book-a-day-for-2017 blog. If unfamiliar with the blog, scroll down.

The Old House (1998) (Post 226)

The Old House is one of the linked stories about Marcus and his sister Teena who are staying with their grandparents while their father is away. In this story, Teena invites her friend Kim for a sleepover. In Hit for Six (book of the day on May 1st) Kim was shown as being good at cricket, but in The Old House her achilles heel is revealed. Kim's not too fond of the dark and she finds the old house where Teena's grandparents live very spooky. Grandpa tells a ghost story, and Kim can't sleep for thinking of it. She hears creaks and rattles. She sees something weird and white. In the end, she creeps out of the house and runs home. In the morning, Mum takes her back, where the white thing is explained as Granny in her nightie. Kim feels silly but to her relief, Teena takes it all as a matter of course. Marcus has a nightlight, so she understands being scared of the dark is just one of those things.

The point of the story is different kinds of courage, and the importance of acceptance, and not mocking people for their fears.


ABOUT THE BLOG

Sally is Sally Odgers; author, manuscript assessor, editor, anthologist and reader. She runs http://www.affordablemanuscriptassessments.com and Prints Charming Books. (Sally is me, by the way, and I am lots of other things too, but these are the relevant ones for now.)

The goal for 2017 is to write a post a day profiling the background behind one of my books; how it came to be written, what it's about, and any things of note that happened along the way. If you're an author, an aspiring author, a reader or just someone who enjoys windows into worlds, you might find this fun. The books are not in any special order, but will be assigned approximate dates, and pictures, where they exist. If you enjoyed a post, or want to ask about any of my books or my manuscript assessment service.