The House of Dies Drear

Reader reviewed by Lindy

Thomas Small and his family are moving to a house in Ohio known as the House of Dies Drear. This house is known to be haunted by ghosts which makes Thomas a little nevous.There are many secrets, passages, and many more things in this strange house.
    I loved this book because it was a great mystery and the author always kept me interested.I also loved all of the suspence, unanswered questions,and figurative language thruoghout this book.
     This is a wonderful book for kids who love mysteries and historical fiction.I recomend this book to kids 10 years of age and older.

Reader reviewed by rhi

This book is thrilling, mysterious, and sapping with funny and frighting things. I recomend it to boys and girls of all ages. In the book, Thomas small and his mother, father, and his twins for brothers  move into the house of a dead conductor for the underground railroad with 2 slaves. Rumor has it  they were murdered and Thomas wants to know if its the truth, or if its false. But troubles brewing and it looks like someone is threating them. the secert gets revealed and relationships strengthin. This is a book you can't forget.

Reader reviewed by Liam of Wilmeth Elementary

This book is about a boy named Thomas that feels lugubrious a first when he leaves his grandmothers house.  He and his family move to a house on the outskirts of a town in Ohio.  On the steps of his house he falls thru a hole and lands in a tunnel.  In the tunnel he hears strange noises, but then gets saved.  After he gets saved he asks his dad if he can go up the hill next to their house.  There he hears the same strange noises he heard in the tunnel.  Then he runs down the hill and awakens an old man named Mr. Pluto.  Mr. Pluto opens a trap door that is under Thomas and Thomas almost falls thru the door.  Thomas gets up to see Mr. Pluto coming after him.  Mr. Small (Thomas dad) and Thomas sneak up on Mr. Pluto.  After that they meet Mr. Plutos son (Mayhew) and they learn the Darrow brothers scare Mr. Pluto all the time.  Knowing that, they make a plan to get back at the Darrow brothers.  They put this plan to action at night.  This plan involves surrounding the Darrow brothers with ghost-like creatures.  This plan worked and scared the Darrow brothers out of their socks and shoes.

This book is a page-turner mystery.  For those of you that like mysteries, read this book!!!

Reader reviewed by gabrielle

the house of dies drear is about a boy named thomas who moves to an old house in ohio that people say is hunted. weird things happen and thomas wants to know why. I personally didn't like the book because out of 19 chapters only 3 or 4 were not insipid to me. other wise the hole book was them saying stuff like "why is this happening" or "who is doing this".  I didn't like it but that doesn't mean you wouldn't like it. if you like ghost story/ mystery books where the people just sit around and say "what is happening" then you might like this book.

Reader reviewed by Kierstin M.

   This book started as a boy named Thomas Small drives to his new house in Ohio, the House of Dies Drear. He finds many warnings to leave the town and the house over time, including triangles, a scattered room, and arranged furniture. Many hidden passages and an Underground Railroad Tunnel come into place. Thomas and his family discover hidden history and learn many secrets as well as valuable treasure and true identities. This book includes friends, laughs, and unfriendly enemies. The House of Dies Drear keeps all suspense and leaves unanswered questions.
   This is a full of action and fun mystery. Some of it's confusing or worse qualities are not explaining things, such as when Thomas has dream and a character he does not meet until later is in it; this never gets an explanation. On pages 1,2, and 25. Another thing is that it does not use some characters for much. They are just there. Examples of this are in pages 157 through 161: Mr. Carr only tells a story and does not appear again, only mentioned. Billy and Buster Small do not have any action that is in any way important to the story. Good things are that it has many literary divices and lots of suspense. Idioms, similes, and more are used throughout the chapters.
   I believe that this is a good, action-packed mystery. I recommend this book to people around 5th grade (10 or 11 years old). If you are looking for at least one of the three S's, (Scary, Suspenseful, or Solving Cases), this is the book for you. I also recommend this people who like the Nancy Drew novels or other mysteries. This is a great book!

Reader reviewed by Khalil L.


The House of Dies Drear
        Book Review



      The Small famliy decides to move without knowing where the house even is except Mr. Small. They find themselves at the house of dies drear where they happen to meet Mr. Pluto. The house was used as a slave get away, but the story shows that dies drear and 3 slaves were killed in the same week. As the weeks go on warnings to leave are found. This books takes twists and turn into an unsuspecting ending which will keep you guessing the whole way through.
       I really enjoyed this reading book because of how you can't stop reading after some chapters, but the only reason I rated this a 3 is because of how long it took to lay out the story which sometimes made me have to reread many pages to understand what the author was trying to say.
    If you like a mystetry book that keeps you wanting to turn the pages I would recommend this book to you.

Reader reviewed by Ashley S.

Thomas Small is nervous about moving, new school, new house, and new friends. Its a lot to handle for a thirteen year old, but imagine having a haunted house on your hands! Once long ago, Dies Drear lived at a big house, which was a station for the Underground Railroad, but when Dies Drear was caught helping three slaves pass by, he was killed. Now, 80 years later, Thomas and his family are moving into the mysterious home. Thomas will discover the secrets and passages of the new place&while handling a ghost.

        I love this book because the mystery of it never ends. Everything is like a puzzle piece; you just have to put it together.

        I recommend this book for those who like mystery. Warning: You will never be able to put the book down&until you discover the untold secret of the house.

Reader reviewed by Tyler K.

   Young Thomas Small is newly moving into a house, in which is supposed to be haunted, but quickly learns there is more hiding than the supposed ghosts. The devil Pluto, the house, and one very mysterious house are just some of the problem. Soon, Thomas realizes that there is more and more to learn about this house than what is passed on, and it is up to him to find out more and more of this uncovered secret of the long-existing, mysterious, House of Dies Drear.
   This is a fantastic novel full of heart-stopping suspense, and one of those fantastic mysteries where violence and crime are not necessarily the answer to the problem. The House of Dies Drear is a fantastic book providing for all of the needs of a young reader. Suspense, unanswered questions, and common, yet deep figurative language are all some of the factors that this fantastic novel provides. The one problem is that there is so much to uncover during the book that at a few points it did get a bit dull, yet you cant resist learning more of the House of Dies Drear. This book is a great novel, and is worth every read word.
   I therefore conclude that to all people that like a good mystery are in for a fun ride reading this book. You will also most likely enjoy it if you are into cliff-hanging suspense, but not necessarily action-packed suspense, yet more like awestruck suspense. Now it is concluded to all who enjoy that type of book, there is no other novel like The House of Dies Drear.

Reader reviewed by Tyler K.

   Young Thomas Small is newly moving into a house, in which is supposed to be haunted, but quickly learns there is more hiding than the supposed ghosts. The devil Pluto, the house, and one very mysterious house are just some of the problem. Soon, Thomas realizes that there is more and more to learn about this house than what is passed on, and it is up to him to find out more and more of this uncovered secret of the long-existing, mysterious, House of Dies Drear.
   This is a fantastic novel full of heart-stopping suspense, and one of those fantastic mysteries where violence and crime are not necessarily the answer to the problem. The House of Dies Drear is a fantastic book providing for all of the needs of a young reader. Suspense, unanswered questions, and common, yet deep figurative language are all some of the factors that this fantastic novel provides. The one problem is that there is so much to uncover during the book that at a few points it did get a bit dull, yet you cant resist learning more of the House of Dies Drear. This book is a great novel, and is worth every read word.
   I therefore conclude that to all people that like a good mystery are in for a fun ride reading this book. You will also most likely enjoy it if you are into cliff-hanging suspense, but not necessarily action-packed suspense, yet more like awestruck suspense. Now it is concluded to all who enjoy that type of book, there is no other novel like The House of Dies Drear.

Reader reviewed by lily

Thomas Small has to move to house that is known as The House of Dies Drear. He has heard from his father that Dies Drear and two slaves were murdered there. He has also heard rumors that the ghosts still Rome the halls of the large house.

When Thomas finished bringing his stuff inside he brought the boys outside. He found a button on the door handle. He pressed it and the steps lifted up. Thomas had found himself a passage.

Then he went outside to look around, but not for long. A creature attacked him from behind and chases him through the large mass of pine trees. He managed to get inside with some scratches and mud splattered all over himself.

On Saturday night he grabbed his blankets and camped out in the front room, but when he was fast asleep a black figure came into the house and placed three metal and wood triangles at the door of Thomas parents, Thomas, and his brothers.

 

My opinion of this book is that it was good and bad at the same time, because the suspense I think would draw people in. But the ongoing conversations would make you snore for a million years.

 

I would recommend this book to adults and children the age of 9-30.