Middle-grade, time travel novel, 8-12 years
cover & illustrations by Edward Hagedorn
Common Deer Press, 2020
ISBN :
print: 978-1-988761-51-0
e-book: 978-1-988761-52-7
Maddy Rose lives in two worlds. A hundred years apart. In the same strange house built as an octagon. When a mysterious black cat leads her into its unknown attic, she meets Clare and his very sick sister Eva. Together Maddy and Clare jump into a money-making scheme in his uncle’s dangerous soap factory to buy a cure for Eva. But an unexpected tragedy befalls them. And then Maddy is pulled back into her own time to confront the premature birth of her own sister. Will Maddy be able to deal with the hardships of two lives? Will the skills she learned in the past help her solve the problems of the present? Can the strange shape of the house make a difference? As the Girl from the Attic, Maddy must rise to the challenges of both worlds in order to find her own place in the life of the octagon.
Reviews
The Kirkus Review of Books – “Uncommon elements give this time-travel novel a charming spin.” full review
Quill and Quire – “A nostalgic time capsule for the first decade of two successive centuries, The Girl from the Attic is a charming lesson in gratitude and what it means to live in the present.” full review
CM Reviews – “The journey Maddy takes in The Girl from the Attic is a fascinating one to watch and not because of the fantastical elements of time travel…but because she is forced, along with the reader, to face themes that are so universal they transcend time…themes of death, illness, and fear of an “outsider” parent and a new baby.”
Awards
The Uncommon Quest 2019 Silver Winner at Common Deer Press
Purple Dragonfly Awards, Story Monsters Ink, 2021 – First in Family, Second in Mid-grade
SCBWI Canada East Crystal Kite Awards finalist, 2020