The Hotel Between

June 1, 2018

Gr 4-7-Cameron's only link to his absent father is a coin which he wears on a chain around his neck. When a mysterious hotel appears in a strip mall near his home, the coin proves to be a link between Cam's mundane life and the magical world of the hotel, where doors open onto every part of the globe. There is some connection between Cam's missing father and the hotel. A cheeky teen doorman who befriends Cam promises to help solve the mystery. However, everyone at the hotel has secrets, and Cam must navigate treacherous circumstances and shifting allegiances in order to achieve his goal. The plot is fast paced but a little muddled. Reluctant hero Cam stumbles into adventure while single-mindedly pursuing the father he can barely remember. Cam's grandmother and his twin sister Cassia, who has spina bifida and uses a wheelchair, are incidental characters and remain left behind for most of the book. The hotel staff is diverse, though only a few of them get any significant character development. VERDICT Purchase for large collections where fantasy circulates well.-Misti Tidman, Mansfield/Richland County Public Library, OH

Copyright 2018 School Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

June 15, 2018
A nervous, routine-loving middle schooler finds a hotel that's magically connected to doors all over the world.Cam and Cass Kuhn live with Oma, their grandmother. Twelve years ago, when they were babies, their mother died and their father vanished. Cam broods over his "Worst Ways to Die" list (No. 52: a murder of grackles; No 340: flesh rot) and worries endlessly about his sister's health. Cass has spina bifida, and Cameron is petrified that she'll die at any moment. A chance magical encounter brings him to The Hotel Between, a hotel whose magical doors appear all over the world: in Cam's own Dallas, in Budapest, in Dubai. Though Cam now has new, magical Worst Ways to Die on his list, he can't ignore the strange connection between the Hotel and his long-lost father. Under the tutelage of Nico, a boy who works at the Hotel, Cam gets a probationary job at the Hotel himself. What's the Hotel's mysterious mission? Some notable funny touches help build a charming magical world, though the global travel tends toward the shallow and exotic. Worse, Cam's focused on finding a magical cure for Cass even though Cass (who needs repeated rescue) doesn't want one. Denotation of nonnormative characters--Nico has "bronze" skin, among other kids of color on staff--plus the twins' Germanic heritage will likely lead readers to infer that Cam and Cass are likely white.A charming adventure marred by its overwhelmingly paternalistic attitude to a disabled character. (Fantasy. 10-12)

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August 1, 2018
Grades 4-7 Twins Cameron and Cassia have lived with their grandmother since they were babies, left by a father they've never met. The only keepsakes they have of their parents are the tree-etched coins each wears as a necklace: Cass' is gray, having belonged to their deceased mother, but Cam's was their father's and still glitters, indicating their dad is alive. While walking home from school one day, Cam notices a door in a strip mall with the same design as their pendants. Believing it's a clue to their dad's whereabouts, Cam goes inside, thus entering the Hotel Between. What awaits him is beyond belief: doors that lead to all parts of the world, hints about his parents, and an unexpected realization. Easley's first novel is a fantasy adventure brimming with action and anchored by familial love. Cam constantly worries about Cass, whose spina bifida confines her to a wheelchair, but he also must learn that she's more capable than he gives her credit for. The story begs a sequel and will draw in fans of A Wrinkle in Time.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2018, American Library Association.)