The Velvet Room

An early story by ZKS, and perhaps written at a stage when her writing style hadn't approached her pinnacle in terms of pacing and engagement. Instead, the narrative did not flow smoothly or articulate children's emotions and perceptions until well into the story.

The younger me would probably have abandoned the story before arriving at the place when Robin (the main character) found the secret tunnel and the library she named as 'The Velvet Room'. This was a very engaging part of adventure and discovery. I can understand that the story feels special to readers who enjoyed the book at the right age. Snyder supports the slight 'otherness' and independent-thinking kids superbly. However, I rated it as I found it in comparison to her later show more novels which are thoroughly enjoyable as adult reading material. show less

What a delightful book! I read this as an adult last year, and was enchanted by the world and characters that Zilpha Keatley Snyder created. Her writing is gloriously full of detail that takes you into the time and place of the story, and makes you feel exactly what the little girl heroine is feeling. The best children's/young adult authors are those whose work is also appealing to adults. This must be a terribly difficult feat because so few writers for the young achieve it, if they even try (I'm not sure this actually is something to be striven for in this genre). Snyder is apparently a master at this.

This is the first of Snyder's work I've read, sorry to say. I am certain that if my library or bookmobile had had any of her books when show more I was growing up that I would've sniffed them out - I was always on the prowl for the weird and the supernatural, but since Snyder is such a talented author I can certainly enjoy her books now.

The Velvet Room is about a young girl who is given a wonderful educational opportunity and discovers a fascinating mystery along the way. She, of course, solves it, and the ending is quite surprising.

I highly recommend this book. show less

Snyder's second novel is the first one to really feel like a completed work, and it's a generally solid piece. What it lacks in the vaguely "supernatural" qualities that hallmark so many of her later books it makes up for in good, solid historical detail.

Robin's world is a depressing and gray 1937, with her ill father desperate to find work and many of the rest of the family earning their keep as peach pickers. (Snyder is almost certainly channeling some Steinbeck here.) And if Snyder's Mexican dialect is sadly (and unusually) stereotypical, her ability to sketch vivid characters from minimal material is very much in evidence, from Robin to her parents, the kind old lady Bonita to the rich girl Gwen. What the book really lacks is any show more urgency in the plot; it lopes lackadaisically along until Robin actually *enters* the titular velvet room some 70-odd pages in, and really only picks up when she discovers an old diary with a mystery. From there on, "The Velvet Room" develops more and more into classic Snyder - an enjoyable sophomore effort, with some hints of better stories to come. show less

Like much of her work, this second book by Zilpha Keatley Snyder is set in the author's native California. It takes place during the Great Depression and follows the story of a sensitive young girl named Robin, a book-lover who longs for beauty, and for a quiet and peaceful refuge. But with her father forced into migrant work by the difficult times, and her family constantly on the move, Robin's longing seems destined to remain unfulfilled. But then her father finds work at the McCurdy ranch, and Robin discovers the Velvet Room...

Although Snyder's debut novel, Season of Ponies, had a certain charm, it was here in her second book that she truly began to display some of those qualities that I have come to think of as hallmarks of her show more work. Her sensitivity to the inner life of the child, perhaps most brilliantly displayed in her masterpiece, The Changeling, really begins to reveal itself, as does her impeccable sense of time and place. Convincing, both as historical fiction, and as a coming-of-age story.

Like many of Snyder's early novels, The Velvet Room was illustrated by Alton Raible. show less

I enjoyed this book - but, I am starting to think that no matter how good an older YA book is, if you didn't read it as a child, you can't or won't appreciate it as much as an adult. Just a theory, but one that might apply to this particular book in my case.

A book from a bygone era, written in 1965, this a classic piece of tween literature set in the aftermath of the Great Depression, during the Dust Bowl era in California. The itinerant Williams family is jammed in their Model T trying to find work when they crash. Luckily, they find the chance to work on the local fruit orchard, picking/pitting apricots. The main character is the 12-year old daughter, Robin, who tends to wander off, discovering an abandoned mansion on the property. Robin is a likable character, befriending an old woman mysterious named Bridget, with her "family" of pets, including a cat, raccoon, birds, and a goat. Bridget senses a yearning in Robin, and gives her a mysterious key that ultimately leads to the Velvet show more Room, a sanctuary from the harsh realities of her life. The wealthy daughter of the property owning McCurdy family befriends Robin and they develop a true friendship. The story is poignant, with an underlying message that Robin must learn to stop hiding and learn to appreciate the good things she has in her life, such as family and friends. show less

“There was that special smell made up of paper, ink, and dust; the busy hush; the endless luxury of thousands of unread books. Best of all was the eager itch of anticipation as you went out the door with your arms loaded down with books.”
― Zilpha Keatley Snyder, The Velvet Room

I am so glad to see this book rated so highly on good reads.

I never forgot The Velvet room. I read it in my early years and it was, along with a precious few others, a favorite from childhood.

I understood Robin with her passion for reading and the way she fell in love with the Velvet room so much, and how it became her sanctuary.

This book, along with "The Changeling", one of the other works from this writer, remaining two very precious books on my forever show more favorites list.

The velvet room is a beautiful book that should be read in everyone’s childhood and if, as an adult you realize you missed it, don’t hesitate to pick up a copy as Robin and her velvet room will enthrall you show less