BEWARE of spoilers. One man's bookflap summary is another man's spoiler.I'm a native Ohioan, so a story involving Ohio and the historical Underground Railroad was right up my alley. Dies Drear is the name of a white abolitionist.Interesting to read a story structured from the viewpoint of a 20th-century black family.Loved the mystery involving the abolition-era house occupied by the protagonists, namely the family (including children) of a black scholar, Mr. Small, who's taken a faculty position at a small liberal-arts college somewhere in rural Ohio.In addition to getting to know some secrets of the house (yes, passages and hidden spaces galore!), the reader learns the dynamics of the small town, including one family known for trouble-making and an elderly black man who's been caretaker of the Drear house for what seems like eons. (The dwelling has sat vacant for what seems like eons, too, due to its bad name as a haunted house.)I know this novel is considered a masterpiece. I'd say it deals with important themes (slavery, freedom, reputation, property rights, outsider-trying-to-fit-into-new-milieu). But I just don't like it when an author seems to be sloppy -- or leaves gaps -- just because the target audience is younger readers, who evidently aren't expected to notice leaps of logic, odd transitions or abrupt dropping of threads. Could just be me, but, for example, I thought the insertion of the "triangle markers" in the story was done without finesse, a transparent effort to include a little color about code-leaving during the slavery era without enough suggestion of why the bad-guy characters would think the little triangles would be so frightening to the Smalls.I also thought the history of the Darrow family could have been better sketched, as well as the reason why the girl Pesty lives with the Darrows, or why M.C. Darrow would, after all, want to be friends w. young Thomas Small. Also wanted to know more about why Mr. Pluto's wife and son had left him.There were important values at stake in the story's principal conflict, so an elaborate practical joke seemed sort of a let-down as the solution.And yet, I acknowledge the author probably knows better than I what a young reader would enjoy. Let me conclude, then, that this is strictly a young readers' book. I'd recommend it to a youth but not an adult. ... To contrast, I think such youth titles as "Wrinkle in Time" or "Little House on the Prairie" work equally well for all age groups. And then, of course, we also have so-called youth titles that are actually meant, in my opinion, for adult readers. Into this last category I place the "Velveteen Rabbit" and "Winnie-the-Pooh."
Amir LewisttEnglish: C block I read “The House of Dies Drear” by Virginia Hamilton. I actually enjoyed some of the book and most of it I didn’t seem too interested in it. The parts I did like is how adventurous “Thomas” the main character is. Do to his love of adventuring, he is the reason why most the events in the story happened. Thomas suspected that the house he was moving into was haunted, so as soon as he got there, he started exploring and finding different things. The things I didn’t like about the book is how slow the story was being told. tIn “The House of Dies Drear” Thomas and his family were moving from their home in North Carolina to a new house in Ohio. This new house is supposedly a mansion with a housekeeper named “Mr. Pluto”. This house is haunted by it’s owner, a guy named Dies Drear, and other slaves who died in the house. Dies Drear is an abolitionist. An abolitionist is a person who is against slavery. Thomas then started searching around his home and found hidden passageways. There were hidden passageways in the house because the house was located along the underground railroad. The underground railroad was a trail that slaves used to freedom. Hidden passageways weren’t the only things found in the story. One afternoon Mr. Small takes his family to the college campus, where he'll be working. Thomas gets very upset in his father's office. He feels unwelcomed in the new neighborhood and environment they moved into, he then is back to his normal self after lunch. The Smalls spend the afternoon driving around town.When they get home they find that someone, or something, has made a huge mess in their kitchen. The Smalls automatically blame Mr. Pluto. Thomas and his father go to Mr. Pluto's house, which happens to be in an underground cavern. When Mr. Pluto sees them he runs into his cavern home. Mr. Small and Thomas let themselves in and find themselves in the middle of an amazing treasure.tFirst off I read this book because I wanted to try something new. I don’t usually read childrens novels, I am more of a realistic/non fiction reader. I found the book to be a little too boring and it didn’t catch my full attention. Things that I didn’t like were how slowly the events were being told. Also I thought that the book had bad imagery and how long it took just to get to the rising actions of the story. There weren’t specific events I liked in the story, it was mainly just how curious Thomas was the whole way through and how he found all of these cool things and history behind this home.
Do You like book The House Of Dies Drear (2006)?
GOLDEN TRIANGELS--CHARMS OR WARNINGS?This is a real mystery and suspense novel with historical overtones and a great choice for October reading lists' "Haunted" category. A Black family relocates from North Carolina to Ohio, when the father accepts a teaching position at a local college. Working for a Foundation which preserves Black history, Mr. Small rents the rambling old house of Dies Drear, a Dutch abolitionist who helped fugitive slaves on their dangerous journey to Canada. Riddled with hidden passageways and secret doors, this old house is protected by local superstition and an irascible caretaker named Mr. Pluto (like Hades, god of the Underworld and Vulcan, the blacksmith). Young Thomas is captivated by the idea of living in such a house--but also terrified at times--as he learns more about the Underground Railroad. But why is the Black community so reserved towards the new family? They have stumbled into an area of almost-forgotten feuding between hostile neighbors who are obsessed with the idea of finding the legacy of rich Dies Drear: probably hidden treasure. So Thomas must use his brain and his shaky courage to tackle the town nasties who seem committed to driving his family from the place. He also has to cope with two snoopy neighbor kids, his father's reluctance to reveal all he knows, and the indifference of the house itself. Because Thomas and his father intend to stay and to make a real difference, despite someone's agenda of Hate. Thomas is too spunky to remain cowed for long, nor will he permit the house force his family into surrender; he certainly will not let that Mr. Pluto scare him off with his tricks. The Smalls are here to stay! If only the house at least were on their side. How many generations must suffer while searching for the elusive treasure of that mysterious Dies Drear? And if such treasure truly exists, who has the right to claim it? This is a fascinating and exciting book for readers of all ages--a good introduction to Black History. Discover for yourself the Real treasure of Dies Drear! (PS: Thnere's a great sequel: The Mystery of Drear House.) (October 31, 2011. I welcome dialogue with teachers.)
—Gale
Hamilton, Virginia. The House of Dies Drear.Rating: *****Summary: The Small family moves North Carolina to Ohio into a historic house owned by Dies Drear during the Civil War. The house is known to help the slaves in the underground railroad. Through out the story, parts of history unravels.Main characters:Mr. Small is a history teacher at the college. He specifically chooses the house of Dies Drear to live in. He knows all about the secret passage ways and tunnels. He wants to preserve the history that Dies Drear left behind.Thomas is Mr. Small's son. Thomas is very curious and investigates the history of Dies Drear house on his own. He discovers tunnels and children who are playing underground. He is not sure how the children are getting in and out of the tunnels.Pluto is the caretaker of Dies Drear's house. He has lived on the land for over fifty years. He knows the history of the house, the tunnels, and the tricks that helped Dies Drear help the slaves of the south escape to freedom.Mayhew is Pluto's son. He is an actor who is raised by is mom in the big city. He is an actor and his skills come in handy to deal with the trouble from the locals in town. Mayhew comes back to help his father out in his time of need. Related topics: Civil War, slavery, humanity
—Angie Orr
I think that this book was good. It was spooky and had ghosts which I like so that was a bonus. also I did like how the character was created and how the book explained him. the house itself sounds very old and mysterious and I would want to explore it but I wouldn't want there to be ghosts of course. but this book I think could have had a few more intense scary parts to it that would have made it better but I enjoyed it. the thing I liked was that when Thomas was in the maze of a basement he got lost and his flashlight died and he couldn't see anything. but the ghost was following him. there was this man the care taker of the house Mr. Pluto was a strange and mysterious man and he never seemed to be around. even though he is strange I guess you could say he tried to help. when the small's first arrived at their house the furniture was arranged how Mrs. Small had imagined it and they had wondered who di this and how they knew that this was how they had wanted their furniture. on conclusion I the book had a bit of a twist at the end with Mr. Pluto but that's all I'll say I don't want to ruin the book for everyone else but it was good although for me there wasn't enough ghosts I still would recommend the book to other people.
—Olivia Fournier
