Summary (taken from author's website):
Twelve-year-old Henry York wakes up one night to find bits of plaster in his hair. Two knobs have broken through the wall above his bed and one of them is slowly turning . . .Henry scrapes the plaster off the wall and discovers cupboards of all different sizes and shapes. Through one he can hear the sound of falling rain. Through another he sees a glowing room–with a man pacing back and forth! Henry soon understands that these are not just cupboards, but portals to other worlds.
What I Thought:
I think the kids in the school book club will love this book. I, however, am not a huge fan of fantasy novels and this is obviously a fantasy. I love the original idea- a wall of cupboards that lead to other worlds! However, the other worlds couldn't quite keep my interest. I felt that the whole book could have easily revolved around the already odd Henry since the other left several story lines barely touched on, let alone finished. What happened to his parents? Who are his real parents? Why did he not seem to get a normal life (full of baseball and other "boy" things)? Why did he not seem to worry about his parents? I felt like we didn't get to know Henry himself very well since hints about him were dropped but never explored. Perhaps the author answer all of these questions in the sequels, though, I guess I'll just have to keep reading and find out!
Rating: 5/10
