The House with a Clock in the Wall by John Bellars (1973) Puffin Books

An intriguing gothic mystery set around a little boy, Lewis, who is orphaned and taken-in by his Uncle Jonathan.  Jonathan is a warlock and lives in a mansion that was once owned by his friend, then enemy, before that man’s death.  Mrs. Zimmerman, who lives next door to Jonathan, has a degree in magic from a university.  The most disturbing thing about the new house is that it is full of clocks.  Sometimes at night, Jonathan goes around and silences all of them.  But the ticking remains in the walls of the house.

Lewis, who never seems to have any friends because he is overweight, is befriended by the local school hero, because his arm is broken and therefore he can’t participate in any of his favorite sports.  He teaches Lewis to throw a ball, to hit the ball with a bat.  Lewis tells him about magic and takes him home to prove it.  But the boy does not believe Lewis.  So upon finding a ritual in Jonathan’s library about raising the dead, Lewis and his friend go to the graveyard to raise a fearsome witch from the dead.

In the movie, there are more dramatic changes and the man in the passageway is the man who owned the mansion.  He plays a significantly more prominent role, but the outcome is the same.

Where the Crawdads Sing by Delia Owens (2018) G.P. Putnam’s Sons (7/24)

Southern Fiction at its best.  This is the story of a little girl living in the Marsh of the North Carolina coast.  Her mother, then her siblings and finally, her Father leave here to grow-up on her own.  She attends school for a day but runs away back to her home in the marsh, where she can avoid the truant officers. 

She finally makes a friend with a boy who teaches her how to read.  He provides only textbooks about biology and science.  She also reads the book of poetry that her mother left behind.  He leaves her too, goes away to college and does not return to her.  While he’s gone, the local jock woos her and promises marriage and a new life.  She gives him a shell necklace that she made, and he promises to wear it for the rest of his life.  But she finds he is engaged to marry another girl from the town.  So, she rejects him.  

The college boy comes back and even though she will not trust him, he sees her collections of shells and feathers from the marsh and convinces her to write a book on the subject.  She does and it gets published.  With this money, she pays back taxes on her 300+ acre property inherited from her father.  

The local jock, drunk, reminiscent of her father, traps her in a local lagoon and tries to rape her.  She fights back and escapes but is noticed by some local fishermen.  

She’s invited to go see her publisher at a writer’s conference in Greensboro and takes the bus.  Everyone notices her, because she was dressed a little differently for the time.  While she’s gone, the jock dies, falling off a tower they’ve both been to before.  The mother, retrieving his personal effects, notices the shell necklace is missing.  

The marsh girl is accused of murdering the boy and goes to trial.  But in the end, the jury does not believe there is enough evidence to convict and she is let free.  She never returns to the town where she was shunned and accused of murder.  She does connect with the college boy and they live a life of research and love.  That is not the end of the story.  

Lost Souls by Dean Koontz (2010) Bantam

The fourth volume of his Frankenstein series reveals that Victor Frankenstein's clone, released when he died, has found its way to a small town in Montana - just like Erica five and Jocko on a separate path.

Carson and Michael have moved to San Francisco, married and had a child, whom they named Scout, after the character in To Kill a Mockingbird.  Deucalion (the monster who is much more of a protector) visits them and recruits them to help find Victor.  This incarnation of Frankenstein has revised a new race plan and created something he calls Builders, which can replicate themselves by devouring humans.

Between Shades of Grey by Ruta Sepetys (2011) Philomel Books

The story of Lithuanians who, like other people from Estonia, Latvia and Finland, were displaced by Stalin because they were educated, writers, or teachers, and sent to Siberia in hopes they would provide slave labor and die.  It is a heartbreaking account from one girl’s perspective of how she lost her mother and father.  Her father was a professor and died in prison for the crime of having an opinion that was counter to the invading Soviets.  Her mother died trying to keep her children safe.  The enduring strength of those who survived was met when they finally were able to return home thirty years later only to find their property and even their names stolen by strangers who threatened to turn them back to the Soviets for further punishment on the charge of seeking the truth.  These stories are only coming to light in the last twenty years as time capsules are found in construction sites.

 A Coyote’s in the House by Elmore Leonard (2004) HarperCollins

This is a different kind of book by a master storyteller.  In this tale, the Coyote is the main character and he runs with a gang of coyotes in the Hollywood hills.  He becomes friends with a German Shepard who was in the movies and is now essentially retired.  The German Shepard leads him into his master’s house and introduces him to a Standard Poodle who is a show dog.  The German Shepard wants to join the Coyote’s pack. Hence ensues fun and mayhem.

Way Station by Clifford D Simak (1963) Del Rey Books (7/3)

A soldier comes home from the Civil War to farm with his father.  When the horse runs away with his father and causes his death, the man calmly buries his father, then goes out to the field where the horse is still in its braces and kills the animal. Later a traveler comes by and asks for a drink of water, then recruits the soldier to be the attendant of an inter-galactic way station in his home.

Over time the man meets many different types of people coming through the way station.  He never seems to age because time is suspended in the station.  After 150 years, people have noticed there’s something different about him, but the local culture is to keep to yourself and not mess in other people’s business.  He takes walks into the local woods to watch the sunset or just to look in the sky.  There is a girl, considered by most to be retarded and a witch, since she is able to heal broken things.  Her father is afraid of her and beats her mercilessly.  One day she comes to the station and lets the soldier see her back.  He takes her into the station to apply first aid.  While there she manages to turn on a trinket left by one of the travelers, one the soldier was never able to work.

The soldier’s recruiter visits and reveals a political upheaval in the galaxy due to a missing spiritual token.  It may mean the end of the station.