House of Dolls

May 24, 2010
Fans of Block's edgy novels and admirers of McClintock's traditional artwork will be equally surprised by this unusual yet successful pairing. Turning away from her usual subject matter and unabashedly evoking Rumer Godden's The Doll's House, Block sets her story in an antique dollhouse, incongruously placing it in a contemporary "cool, all-white-and-gray penthouse apartment." Owned by lonely and "sour-faced" Madison Blackberry, the dollhouse is warm and cozy, and the nontraditional, deeply loving family that lives in it inspires the girl's jealousy; her own family is cold and distant, except for Grandmother (the dollhouse's original owner). Succumbing to her bad instincts, Madison takes out her boredom and jealousy on the unsuspecting dolls, who suffer greatly, yet wish only for her to be loved as they themselves have been. The small, slender book is generously imbued with McClintock's delicate b&w line art, including many full-bleed spreads depicting the elegance of the dolls' world, but Block's slightly dark undertone tempers the story's saccharine potential. The tale's roots in the time-honored tradition of dolls' secret lives lend it weight, and the ending, though somewhat predictable, is satisfying. Ages 8–12.

June 1, 2010
Gr 5 Up-The gorgeous House of Dolls is home to Wildflower, Rockstar, and Miss Selene. It belonged originally to Madison Blackberry's grandmother. The dolls live small but contented lives, until spoiled, sullen, and emotionally neglected Madison takes out her frustrations on their world. Jealousy causes her to send the dolls' boyfriends (a soldier and a small teddy bear) off to war (a hidden shoebox) and then remove the beautiful dresses her grandmother made for them. The dolls slip into a genteel decline, until one of them writes a note to the grandmother, who figures out what is happening and fixes everything. An afternoon spent with her grandmother, plus a new dress, causes the child to return the boyfriends and the dresses and the baby doll she had evidently removed before the story starts, and suddenly both worlds are made right. Despite the fact that this is a story about a child and some dolls, it reads like a selection in a highbrow collection for adults. There are lessons to be learned here, but not necessarily by children, and, in the end, even McClintock's fine, exquisitely detailed illustrations and Block's lyrical language don't make this slight, wistful tale satisfying."Mara Alpert, Los Angeles Public Library"

Copyright 2010 School Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

Starred review from March 15, 2010
Grades 3-6 *Starred Review* Grief, inhumanity, redemption, and several layers of metaphorwhat heavy lifting Block does in just 80 pages! From the outside, this feels like just another dollhouse tale (which makes it work for younger readers): the book itself is just a few inches in either direction. McClintocks illustrations are of the precious and timeless variety, and Blocks plot involves a touch of magic and plenty of pretty dresses. Yet the overall impact is tremendous. Young Madison is growing tired of her dollhouse and its residents: Wildflower, Rockstar, Miss Selene, and their boyfriends Guy (a G.I. Joe type) and B. Friend (a teddy bear). Increasingly abandoned by her mother, Madison begins exercising a capricious cruelty that starts by sending Guy off to war. Then B. Friend is pronounced MIA. Then all of the ladies gowns are stolen. The reality/unreality of any of this is a tightrope Block toes with precisionwhen necessary, readers will happily shield their eyes so as not to break the breathless artifice. What at first seems to be about the perennial war between familial generations is expanded into a message about the global forces of pride and avarice that plunge innocents into devastation. This is powerful, haunting, andjust when you dont think its possibleinspiring, too.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2010, American Library Association.)