Drift House review

I have finally gotten around to changing the "now reading" list to the left. I have actually read quite a few books since I last changed this, and I will try to keep it up to date. I am also going to try to review a few books that I like as I finish them.

Recently I finished Drift House by Dale Peck. Dale usually writes about troubled boys who have grown to be men, and homosexuality, and a combination of the two, but in this complete change of pace he has written a children's book in the same vein as the Series of Unfortunate Events books, only.....better. I love Lemony Snicket, don't get me wrong. I just got tired after the first few books of reading the same thing, no matter how clever he said it. This book is lighter, just enough so to be a really fun read. It also has some characteristics of the Narnia books, much more so perhaps than the Unfortunate Events books. In Drift House, three children are left with their uncle while their parents stay in New York City in the months post 911. The children are intelligent in different ways, and annoying in different ways as intelligent, independent-thinking children should be. Good ways. Uncle Farley takes them in and they soon discover that Drift House does just that, hence the name, however it sails from the Bay of Eternity into the actual sea of time. Soon they have to figure out how to use their wits and individual strengths to save the house and perhaps the world as we know it from Impending Doom. While some of the plot is predictable, Peck writes it in a way that is fresh enough and interesting enough to keep me moving forward at a steady but not annoyingly quick pace. If you like Narnia type fantasy and children's books that break the fourth wall, you will like Drift House.