Up from Jericho Tel

Two outsiders, Jeanmarie and Malcolm, bond while burying dead pets in a makeshift cemetery they call "Jericho Tel". Their lives change when they fall into a hole beneath their cemetery and meet Tallulah, the ghost of a famous, deceased actress, who sends them on a magical quest to find her stolen necklace,

Full of Konigsburg's typical quirky, intelligent children and a handful of understanding adults, Up From Jericho Tel stands out from her other books because it contains a touch of the fantastical. Wise and amusing!

This is a story of a girl and boy named Jeanmarie and Malcolm who bury dead animals in an abandoned area behind the trailer park where they live. They encounter a dead movie star and her dog and are sent on missions to complete.

The story is very fun and lighthearted just like fantasy should be. The characters are recognizable, believable, and not stereotypical. The setting is fresh and unique and allows the characters to change over the course of the story. This story is written so that it suspends the reader’s disbelief by developing a consistent point of view. The book has elements of time travel with the woman coming back from the dead. This boo,k in comparison to Konigsburg’s other works, is less realistic; however, the writing show more is just as fun to read as her other books. This story is relevant to children because chances are there is a cat or dog in their life in some way that means something to them.

Reading Level: 4-8
Genre: Fantasy show less

Quirky characters are Konigsburg's stock in trade, and they are here in abundance. Including, inexplicably and delightfully, the ghost of Tallulah Bankhead. The plot is fairly thin, but it doesn't matter much, because this one's all about how the characters relate to each other and their world. The dialogue struck me at first as stiff and distracting but I soon got used to it.