The House of Months and Years

Amelia Howling, 10, resents her family’s move into a curious old house in order to care for her recently orphaned cousins. Beyond feeling ignored and angry, Amelia can’t shake the sensation that she’s being watched, or that the house almost seems sentient. After Amelia learns that the house is an architectural oddity known as a calendar house—with rooms, floors, windows, and other elements that correspond to months, days, seasons, etc.—the mysterious presence manifests as Horatio, the house’s builder. Horatio explains that the house can transport her through time, whisks Amelia away on adventures to medieval periods and pirate ships, then invites her to build her own calendar house and live forever, traveling through time. In a clever twist, the very magic that fuels Amelia’s adventures is drawn from memory and emotion, tethering Amelia to her family and highlighting the importance of empathy amid difficult situations. Trevayne (The Accidental Afterlife of Thomas Marsden) creates an eerie and enchanting story in which an unhappy girl’s discontentment nearly blinds her to the dangerous forces that surround her. Ages 8–12. Agent: Brooks Sherman, Bent Agency. (Feb.)