"Irresistible." - The New York Times
Illustration by Greg Call
- A Children’s Book of the Month Club main Selection
- A 2010 Parents Choice Recommended Award
- A Junior Library Guild Selection
- An Indie Heartland Bestseller
- A Kids Indie Next List recommended Book
- “A smoothly written fantasy with an appealing premise. The fantasy of a parallel world is irresistible.”—New York Times
- “Marianne Malone has tapped into a fantasy that is both very Chicago and completely universal.”— Chicago Tribune
- “Kids will love this exhilarating novel, rich in detail and peppered with realistic subplots.”— Chicago Sun Times
- “Intriguing... enormously appealing.”— The Bulletin of the Center for Children’s Books
- “A fantastical story with plenty of real-world elements.”— Booklist reviews
- “Who hasn’t seen the carefully composed exhibits of miniatures at a museum, or even a simple dollhouse, and wondered what it would be like to be small enough to walk inside?.”— Kirkus Reviews
- “A solid story. Recommend this book to fans of Blue Balliett’s Chasing Vermeer”—School Library Journal
- “The Sixty-Eight Rooms isn’t a regular magic book. . . This book is exciting, and it will make you want to visit the Thorne Rooms again and again.”—Olivia I., age 10, Chicago, IL
- “My favorite part was when they went back in time with Sophie. Oh, and that cockroach fight was awesome!”— Gabrielle M., Age 10, Montclair, New Jersey
- “I would recommend it to anyone who likes mystery, adventures, battles and mystery.”— Arran R., age 10, Montclair, New Jersey
- “While I was reading The Sixty Eight Rooms I was reminded of books I had read as a child. It was an entirely enjoyable read and I highly recommend it.”— Patti Roden, Wonderland Books, Putnam, CT
- “I absolutely loved this book! Marianne Malone has returned me to my childhood with a very exciting story.”—Betty Pellegrini, The Bookstore, Michigan City, IN
- “This is a wonderful and special novel about time travel, adventure, history and magic. Children, young adults and adults will love this book.”—Marilyn MacIvor, The Bookstore Plus, Lake Placid, NY
- “I LOVE THIS BOOK. This book will make a great read-aloud. It’s good for classrooms and libraries and birthday party gifts for kids you don’t know (and kids you know). Did I mention I LOVE THIS BOOK?.”—Melissa Posten, Pudd'nHead Books, St. Louis, MO
- “The Sixty-Eight Rooms is a fantastic book for middle grade readers who like their stories fantastic and fun.”—Blogcritics.org
Almost everybody who has grown up in Chicago knows about the Thorne
Rooms. Housed deep within the Art Institute of Chicago, they are a collection of sixty-eight exquisite – almost eerily realistic miniature rooms. Each of the rooms is designed in the style of a different time and place, and every detail is perfect, from the knobs on the doors to the candles in the candlesticks. Some might even say the rooms are magical.
Imagine… what if, on a field trip, you discovered a key that allowed you to shrink so that you were small enough to sneak inside and explore the rooms’ secrets? What if you discovered that others had done so before you? And that someone had left something important behind?
Ruthie Stewart and Jack Tucker are best friends in sixth grade. Ruthie has the feeling that nothing exciting ever happens in her life, while Jack experiences every day as an adventure. The Sixty-Eight Rooms is the story of an adventure they have together. It starts with a field trip and ends with…well, Ruthie will never say “nothing exciting ever happens” again!
If you love fantasy and adventure and magic, with a little mystery-solving thrown in, The Sixty-Eight Rooms will be a book you can’t put down.
For a link to see photographs of the Thorne Rooms. go to
www.artic.edu/aic/collections/thorne
Online Purchase
Indie Bound
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