Greenglass House

Utterly charming, with an old-fashioned vibe that gives the impression that it was the inspiration for [b:The Westing Game|884562|The Westing Game|Ellen Raskin|https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1327934000s/884562.jpg|869832] rather than the other way round. I love all the made-up books and games and words... but I'm glad to learn that [b:The Holly-Tree Inn|4906066|The Holly-Tree Inn|Charles Dickens|https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1328300304s/4906066.jpg|4971585] by [a:Charles Dickens|239579|Charles Dickens|https://images.gr-assets.com/authors/1387078070p2/239579.jpg] is real, and I will be reading that. The name of Milo, of course, must be from [b:The Phantom Tollbooth|378|The Phantom Tollbooth|Norton show more Juster|https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1438887022s/378.jpg|1782584].

I love all the individual characters. Some are more simply sketched than others, but all add value. One, for example, just shows us how to offer comfort: "He didn't ask if Milo was okay, or if he needed a tissue, or if he wanted to be left alone for a little. He just stayed there and kept Milo company." Love that the parents are very present, very loving, but that Milo still gets to have as much adventure as if he were the stereotypical MG orphan.

The plot and the setting are fantastical, but in a good way, with the dichotomy of the juicy historical fantasy contrasted with the actual setting of the 'present day', but in an inn that apparently doesn't have TV or access to a cell-phone tower... it's all rather slippery....

I bet the audio is pretty good, but I'd avoid it. You don't want to miss the little illustrations, or the ability to flip back and check on something. You also want to have a cup of hot chocolate, or at least cider, while reading this, as the winter storm, and the measures the characters take to alleviate the chill, are characters in their own right. There's also an author's note explaining the background of the story, including an explanation of Milford's pending adoption of a Chinese orphan. (I wonder if it's gone through, and business w/ that is slowing down production of the sequel.)

Normally I read only the first book of an adventure series because I don't like adventures and am just reading it for the world-building. But this is much more than an adventure, and so I'm thrilled to learn that a sequel to this is planned, and will reread this when I can get that. Also I learned that the author's other books are set in the same world and so I will investigate them.

I feel like I'm not doing the book justice, but rather than struggle to say something more, let me just highly recommend this to interested readers, with the caveat that it may not have universal appeal. show less

It is the start of the Christmas holidays, and Milo is looking forward to spending some time alone with his parents. Although the Pine family run Greenglass House, a hotel on the Skidwrack River, in the old smuggling district of Nagspeake, they usually don't have guests at this time of year. When the unexpected happens, and people - lots of people! - begin arriving, it looks like the holiday has been ruined. But a series of mysteries, in which it is revealed that each of the guests has some connection to Greenglass House, and a role-playing game that Milo becomes involved in with his new companion Meddy, end up making it one of the most memorable Christmases ever. A surprising turn of events at the conclusion of the story, in which one show more guest's most unexpected identity is revealed, helps to resolve the final crisis...

I enjoyed Greenglass House immensely! It is an involving mystery, or rather, series of mysteries, whose resolutions are not immediately apparent, making the tale all the more entertaining. It is also an engaging tale of a young boy who is struggling to understand himself and his place in the world. Adopted from China as an infant, Milo is conscious of the fact that he does not look like his parents, Ben and Nora Pine, and fantasizes about his birth family. This aspect of the story is worked seamlessly into the larger narrative, which centers on the eponymous Greenglass House itself. Milford excels at creating a very strong sense of place here - something I particularly value, in stories - and she weaves an atmospheric tale in which each character's connection to the house and its fabled history of smuggling adds to the sense of excitement and discovery. The surprise ending, in which one character's true nature is revealed, took me completely by surprise, and had me reevaluating the entire store. Wholeheartedly recommended to anyone looking for engaging children's mysteries, or children's stories featuring old and mysterious houses and quirky characters. I know I'm already looking forward to the forthcoming sequel! show less

Milo Pine lives with his adoptive parents in their rambling old mansion-like house halfway up a mountain (or maybe just a really tall hill - I don't remember this being made clear), which they've turned into an inn that caters mostly to smugglers. And if that isn't enough to hook you, a bunch of guests turn up completely unexpectedly on the first day of Milo's school holiday, which he usually enjoys with his parents and no guests at all. Before he knows it, he's snowed in with a suspicious group of people, who all seem to have suspicious reasons for being there. And then stuff starts going missing. Milo and his friend, Meddy, combine the fun of a role-playing game with the challenge of finding the stolen items to try to solve the show more mysteries of each of the guests and themselves as well.

This one is such a good middle-grade mystery. Milo was loveable from the first page and you'll find yourself rooting for him all the way, through his dealings with the deliciously shady guests (whom you'll also find yourself loving (or loving to hate)) and through his wanderings around the Greenglass House, which may be the best and most interesting character of them all (and that's saying something, folks). The mystery is unfolded at just the right pace so that it's neither frustratingly slow nor disappointingly quick or too easy to solve. Like Baby Bear's porridge, this one is just right in all sorts of ways. And what makes it even more wonderful is that underneath the mystery-solving, it's a story about family, and how you don't have to look the same to be part of one and be loved. show less

I found this novel really engaging and well-crafted, a pleasure to read, and also a little spine-tingly and emotional. (I didn't realize it was a ghost story before I started reading, and even though I noticed fairly early on that "Meddy" didn't seem to be Meddy-the-cook's-child and that no one else was seeing/hearing her, by then I was interested enough to keep reading in a genre I'd normally avoid. I particularly enjoyed the use of role-playing games as a way to explore identity, and the deep sense of setting where the house itself is very much a character--the title character, I suppose. I have some questions about the politics of international adoption here, in light of the story itself (Milo has Chinese ancestry and was adopted as show more an infant by his white parents) and the very personal author's note at the end, but here I'll just say that it was interesting to read a novel so preoccupied with adoption and family/ethnic/etc. identity that refused to be a novel ABOUT adoption et al., that carried on being a mystery-with-a-dash-of-fantasy in playful relationship with various genre tropes. show less

Dear Greenglass House,

I am so very sorry, but it's just not working. I thought we were made for each other- smugglers, a creaky old stained-glass inn, winter vacation, mysterious thefts- it looked like everything I could want in a cozy little book. But as I read more and more, I just couldn't get into you. It seemed to be just kids dressing up and spying on guests, and while that's all well and good, I was looking for a more... mature relationship. I wanted a plot twist, or a hidden truth finally uncovered, something to move the story along from the wandering, meandering, overly leisurely pace it was taking. And I hate to say this, but- I just didn't care. Maybe it was the humid summer air, or the other books sending me seductive, show more beckoning glances from my to-read shelf, but by the hundredth page, I knew it was too late for us, Greenglass House.

I hope that someday I'll be able to try again. But for right now, I think we're better off apart. Another time, another place, another lifetime- maybe we'll be together then.

All my love,
Mia show less

Greenglass House by Kate Milford is everything I've ever wanted in a middle grade story, both kid-me and adult-me. This story has

smugglers
thieves
local history
mysterious maps
role-playing games
like, a million mysteries
an adoptive family
Christmas
snow
a creaky old house with an attic full of goodies and stained glass windows
evening stories by a fireplace
folktales

The way this all comes together is brilliant. Milo is the Chinese adopted son of the Pines, owners of Greenglass House, a smugglers' inn on the east coast. It's the first day of his winter vacation and he's excited because the inn is usually empty at this time of year, which means free time for him and his parents. Unexpectedly, though, guests start showing up and they are a strange show more bunch. Luckily, a friend also shows up for Milo and they begin a private role-playing adventure that eventually gets put to use in solving some very real mysteries.

I told my husband around mid-book that we would have both LOVED this book as a kid. I loved it now. I think the kid will love it. I want to read it again and again. I want to go to a smugglers' inn and search through the attic. And ... I want to start reading as many other Kate Milford books as I can get my hands on. show less

Greenglass House by Kate Milford is a multilayered tale of smuggling, role playing, story telling, and family. Milo lives with his adoptive parents in an inn at the edge of ocean. It's accessible by trolley or via a treacherous road. When the snow begins to fall, the inn typically closes. The family celebrates a quiet Christmas together. But this year, one by one, guests start to arrive, unannounced.

Included in the guests, is a girl named Meddy. She uses a Dungeons and Dragons style role playing game to turn the adults' stories of the Greenglass house in its days as a smuggler's den, into an adventure. Through larping Milo and Meddy take on the task of decoding a treasure map and solving the mystery of the Greenglass House.

Greenglass show more House, like The Boneshaker is a poetic and layered book. Story telling features prominently and each character has his or her story to tell, except for Milo, who has a foundling, is desperate to know his origins. He knows he's Chinese but he doesn't know anything of his parents or how he came to this smuggler's hideout. So instead, he invents a new story for himself which he plays out through his larping as a master thief named Negret.

Although I started reading Greenglass House as a library book, I ended up purchasing a copy for my home library as my renewals ran out. In the nine weeks I had the book, I had only managed to read half a book. It's the sort of story that is so resplendent in language that I needed to record my favorite quotes. These I collected through live blogging on Tumblr. show less