Saturday, December 7, 2019

Mystery meets fantasy for the middle-grade reader in THE OTHER SIDE OF THE WALL

HALLIE EPHRON: Up to now, my favorite children’s story set in a hotel has been ELOISE - all about a cheeky 7-year-old who lives in New York City’s Plaza Hotel. Now there’s another wonderful children’s book set in a hotel - the posh Sanborn House Hotel in London. In it there’s a mysterious fourteen-year old boy who lives on a floor that may or may not exist, and a sister and brother try to figure out what’s going on. 

Sounds intriguing, right? The book is called THE OTHER SIDE OF THE WALL, and it’s my sister Amy Ephron’s middle-grade fantasy novel (with brilliant covers by Jennifer Bricking and magical interior maps and scary creatures bu Vartan Ter-Avanesyan). 
It's the third in a fabulous series, but the books can be read in any order. This time Amy’s poaching on my territory: it’s also a mystery.


Looking for a holiday present for a budding mystery reader, a middle-grade boy or girl in your family? This one's a winner. 

Welcome Amy! The hotel. The mysterious fourteen-year old boy. London. A curious glass marble. Shadows that pass outside windows and vectors of the marble that seem to pass through walls. Please, tell us about how you came up with some of the wonderfully original ideas that are in this book, and how it turned into a mystery.

AMY EPHRON:  This is the third in The Other Side series, where Tess, whom I think of as a remarkable heroine (although she does jump in sometimes without thinking about what might happen next) and her brother Max, who’s younger and much more methodical and logical (although even he admits it’s sometimes hard to be logical especially when they go to England...) go to visit their Aunt Evie at a posh hotel in London.  

It’s Christmas and after a freak snow storm in London (which global warming gave me after I wrote it) and a visit to watch the snow fall in Hyde Park, Tess is charmed by a 14-year old boy having tea in the dining...except that no one else can see him....

By itself, almost, the book turned into a puzzle, a mystery.  As Tess unlocks the secrets of The Sanborn House and the story of the mysterious boy named Colin, whose last name is also Sanborn (just like the hotel) and who also, if he exists at all, seems to live there all year round...

The hash tag is #unlockthesecrets and Tess has a funny history of getting herself and Max into situations that are almost impossible to get out of, but if and when they do, they heal the hearts of the people they’ve interacted with, as well as their own.

I call them a modern-day mash-up of an old-fashioned children’s book. They’ve been reviewed as standalones and kindly compared The Secret Garden or an Edgar Eager book.  

Tess is a modern (and old-fashioned) super-hero, from feats of aerial ballet to a real (or imagined) dance with the stars, or a crazy flight down an orange path of vectors on the other side of the wall, not to mention excellent horsemanship!  She comes to the fore to rescue them from seen and unseen dangers in all three of The Other Side novels...but they are mysteries because she has to in all cases figure out how and why!

The Other Side of the Wall is the one that really unfolded as a mystery -- as Tess has to figure out what happened in the Sanborn House so many years ago to understand what’s happening now and what she has to do to fix it or at least to try...  It was lovely to be able to also write in period as well as in contemporary times, in the same novel, as what appears at first to be a 20’s costume party on the 8th floor (the floor Max insists didn’t even exist the day before) may turn out be in fact a step back in time.....but time travel, it turns out, may be a precarious thing.  

These books also have an intentional subset of rules: no guns, no explosions.  The dangers are real but also existential and there will never be any version of a hand-to- hand battle or combat in that way.  Just a curious amount of magic, a back story that has to be revealed and changed, whether it’s in the past or in a different space of time, and a real danger if they don’t get back in time, or even get back at all.    

Real mysteries, which my sister Hallie taught me, are often best as an emotional roller coaster (read her the new book: Careful What You Wish For and you’ll see what 
I mean.)  And the emotional undercurrent in The Other Side of the Wall -- the perceived and unperceived loyalties and flat-out deceptions, were an amazingly rich field to write, imagine, and explore.  

Thanks to all of you at Jungle Reds for welcoming me into your extraordinary mystery corner. 

HALLIE: The book is flat-out terrific, and it's definitely an emotional roller coaster.
One thing I especially love about The Other Side Series is that they're adventures with siblings. I've always love books about siblings... Starting with Hansel and Gretel. Anyone remember the Twins books? Or Meg Murry and her little brother Charles Wallace, or Lucy and Edmund Pevensie in the Narnia books. 

Why do siblings make especially good characters for fantasy/adventure books with a touch of mystery?

The Other Side of the Wall
It's Christmas break and Tess and Max are in London, staying at the posh Sanborn House with their Aunt Evie. As they wait for their parents to arrive, there is an unusual snowstorm that makes the city seem as if it's caught in a snow globe. Perfect weather for an adventure in Hyde Park. But when Max, Tess, and Aunt Evie leave to search for a cab, they find a horse and carriage and driver curiously waiting for them at the curb. And that's just the beginning...

Soon Tess is charmed by a mysterious boy named Colin who lives at the hotel all year round--on the 8th floor. But Max is sure the elevator only had 7 floors the day before. And how come everyone at the hotel seems to ignore Colin? Things seem to get stranger and stranger. There's a 1920s costume party in Colin's parents' apartment. A marble that seems to be more than it appears. And a shadow that passes mysteriously by Tess and Max's hotel window.

Tess wants to figure out what's going on, but finds only more questions: Is it just a coincidence that Colin's last name is Sanborn, the same as the hotel? Why does the cat's-eye marble look eerily similar to the crystal at the top of their hotel room key? And, most importantly, what happened in that hotel one Christmas long, long ago?

In this mysterious story sprinkled with holiday enchantment, Amy Ephron transports readers into the magic of London at wintertime, where it's just possible that what seems imaginary is real, and your wishes might come true.

Amy Ephron lives in Los Angeles. Her new book "Carnival Magic" the continued, startling, sometimes magical adventures of Tess and Max is a bestseller and was featured in "Teen Vogue," tagged as a standalone, "Parade," "Story Monsters, inc," "The Jewish Journal," etc. It has been nominated for an American Library Association award, The Grand Canyon Award to be announced in 2020. A companion to "The Castle in the Mist," (the intro to Tess & Max and their Aunt Evie,) was an Amazon Best pick, a B&N pick, and claimed a nom for a SCIBA award.








51 comments:

  1. Amy, I love middle-grade books and “The Other Side of the Wall” sounds like an amazing story . . . I’m looking forward to reading your wonderful series.

    I’m not sure why, but there always seems to be something special about stories with siblings as central characters . . . perhaps it's that special family bond, that unique place that siblings share in each other’s lives that makes them so appealing.

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    1. I agree - and that bond raises the stakes too.

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    2. Thanks, Joan. There's also a kind of upstairs downstairs thing about childhood, when you and your brother or sister are out their on your own, waging your own battles, finding your own miracles, and trying to have each other's backs, even when they're mad at each other, as all siblings can have a fight over something as simple as guacomole or a monopoly game but in the end they have each other's backs .

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    3. ‘Unknown’ is Amy! But you probably figured that out

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  2. Amy, welcome! This book sounds fantastic, and I'm off to order it for my almost-eleven year old (boy) friend. I think he'll love it, and his big sister might, too. I also notice you have two historical novels out - those are going on my list for me.

    Siblings - I just realized two of my protagonists don't have any, and one only has a half-brother. I also grew up with sisters (and a bratty younger brother) and now I wonder why I don't write about them!

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    1. And that, she said, is a very good question! I’ve written women with sisters and brothers but honestly (really!) none of the characterizations were based on my relationships with my sisters... at least not deliberately

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    2. thank you Edith & Hallie. I love writing Tess & Max as they're also siblings who have such different points of view, different ways of seeing the world. And the complications of being siblings is also very fun to explore, especially as in these three, they got older, their relationships changed, their attitudes toward each other, but under it all, a remarkable sense of loyalty. Pinkie Swear. Getting into enormous amounts of trouble as they find magic along the way....

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    3. And another clue solved -- I was the person who was coming up as "unknown." Kind of like clue on a mystery blog.... Very fun to creat "the man in the bowler hat" though for The Other Side of the Wall and his white terrier Princess.... !!

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  3. Good Morning Amy. I thoroughly enjoyed reading The Other Side of the Wall. If I could use one word to describe it, that word would be ethereal. More adjectives mysterious, haunting and wonderful. I passed the book to my daughter, also an Amy. If she releases it we happily will share it with my grand daughter Eliza. So great that you wrote something 3 generations can love. thank you

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    1. That is so sweet! Thanks for sharing that Coralee

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    2. Thank you so much!! Very excited about this, Coralee!! (and so are Tess & Max & Aunt Evie.)

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    3. Yep, that's me again, being unkown.... Identity revealed in bottom of 1st act....

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  4. Welcome Amy. And how beautiful and talented the Ephron sisters are! I'm off to have a look at you latest book and order it for Cooper, almost eleven. It sounds as if it's right up his alley.

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    1. Thank you, Ann, and tell Cooper to make a wish for all of us!

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  5. Amy, I certainly enjoyed reading this and would have loved, loved, loved this book when I was a kid, a period when fantasy had slipped out of popularity and hard to find. (I have theories about why it came back big a little later. In 60's) My grandkids are not yet out of picture books. I think I have to go buy it for myself! Sounds wonderful. Good luck!

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    1. I think I might need it for myself too Triss! and welcome Amy!

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    2. I'm coming up as unknown here. (but that's part of the fun of a mystery I guess.) It's Amy Ephron (and I'm the unknown commenter replying....Thanks Lucy! And thanks Triss for your kind words.....

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  6. Middle grade and YA fantasy are my favorite comfort reads

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  7. Congratulations on your new release! My kids (and I) adored The Mixed Up Files of Mrs. Basil E. Frankweiler. When we visited the MMA, we all furtively cased the bathing fountain and 18th c. bed.



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    1. How did I miss that one? It's a classic, and set at the Metropolitan Museum of Art! Here's a piece from the New Yorker that was written on the 50th anniversary of its publication (they had a celebration AT the museum!) https://www.newyorker.com/books/page-turner/from-the-mixed-up-files-of-mrs-basil-e-frankweiler-fifty-years-later

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    2. Margaret and Hallie,

      I think the Mrs. Basil novel was adapted into a movie with Lauren Bacall as Mrs. Basil E, Frankweiler?

      Diana

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  8. I've put your books on my list; maybe my nine year old grandson would like them.

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    1. It's also available as an audio book!
      https://tinyurl.com/ueg8e4w

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  9. I swear, THE OTHER SIDE OF THE WALL has everything that used to delight me as a young reader, and that I like to see in the books I gift to the young readers in my life.

    London check
    Rambling old house/hotel/library/train station to explore check
    Mystery and magic intersecting with real life check
    Clever and brave siblings to solve the riddle/save the day check
    Snow and Christmas extra bonus check!

    The Ephron family must have had some of the same books in their library as mine did.

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    1. I’m sure we did! My mother made sure we had lots of great books... especially with strong girl characters

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    2. Hallie, that is wonderful! This reminds me of when my mom gave me a book about Helen Keller because I had just lost my hearing. I learned that Helen Keller accomplished a lot despite the loss of her hearing and her sight! Although I lost my hearing, I can still see.

      Diana

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    3. Julia,

      This novel is wonderful and I loved the other books in the series.

      Diana

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    4. And your kind words Julia -- triple bonus check. #believeinmagic .

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  10. Sounds absolutely terrific… Can’t wait to snap it up! And I have a stash of Edward Eager books in my house even now… I have extras, too, to give to any kid who comes over. I have Johnny Appleseeded those books all over the country. I loved them as a kid, and they still hold up. Congratulations!

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    1. Hank,

      The kids will love this book. Although I am a grown up, I am still a child at heart and I love the books.

      Diana

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    2. All I can say to all of you at JUNGLE RED. YOU ALL ROCK. AND THANKS FOR LETTING ME ON THE SITE. AND GIANT THANKS HALLIE!!

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  11. What a fun idea, Amy! It's just the kind of book I would have loved as a kid. And probably will love now, too.

    Siblings are complicated! They are either our first friends or our first enemies, aren't they? My sister and I have a weird relationship, possibly because we are close in age, and our mom compared us constantly. She still does. I had and have a much better relationship with both brothers, and I could easily imagine an adventure with my youngest brother. We thoroughly enjoy one another's company.

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  12. I wish I had children to use as an excuse to purchase this book. But alas no children so I'll have to just find it for myself. This sounds like a great read for a winter day at home when they (you) just need to be quiet. Talented siblings for sure.

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    1. Love this series. I think you can borrow a copy from the library?

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  13. Hi, Amy, This series sounds delightful - London hotel, siblings, wintertime -- I'm in! As a former children's librarian I love YA fiction and since I have an Irish twin older brother, I've always been drawn to the the brother-sister quest as a story dynamic. I am absolutely picking up this book for myself!

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    1. Jenn,

      I loved the first two books and I look forward to reading The Other Side of the Wall.

      Diana

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    2. thank you Diana (Bibliophile) -- so fun to write the Tess & Max fantastical adventures in The Other Side -- what if there is another side, right below where we're standing or just on the other side of the hawthorn trees. So glad you loved the first two....they really get into trouble this time!! and hopefully get back in time for Christmas....

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  14. HI Amy! Welcome to Jungle Reds! Your series is delightful. Even if I am a grown up, I still love reading children's novels. I discovered your first novel The Castle in the Mist at a library book sale and fell in love with the characters. When I saw The Other Side of the Wall at Barnes and Noble, I broke my book buying ban and bought copies. I look forward to reading the book during the Christmas season.

    Tess and her brother Max reminded me of young siblings in an episode that I saw on Midsomer Murders with Tom and Joyce Barnaby. And I thought of the siblings from Wrinkle in Time. And Narnia too.

    If you were making a movie, which actress would you pick to portray Auntie Evie? Helen Mirren? Helena Bonham Carter?

    Diana

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    1. Amy Ephron here to Bibliophile: thank you for all our amazingly kind words. Aunt Evie...hmmm... I think she's younger than Helen Mirren and despite her sometimes affected accent, definitely American, and more glamorous than her dialoge at first connotes (making a wish and can't tell...) . !! Thanks for your so kind words about The Castle in the Mist. So excited about The Other Side of the Wall!

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    2. And let's not forget that other books about sisters #LittleWomen four sisters and the youngest one was Amy. Hallie, is that why our mother named me that?

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  15. This story sounds right up my alley! My godson just turned 13. Is he in the right age group for this? I don't know yet if he is a reader. Hopefully his mom will get back to me soon on this question. At any rate I need to make him a reader!

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  16. Amy, I'm so glad you're here on the Reds today. I had meant to order at least one of this series for my granddaughter for Christmas, and with all the holiday madness, I had forgotten to do so. I will now do so immediately after typing my comments here. I would have loved this series as a kid, and as I still read young adult and kids' books, I am looking forward to reading The Other Side series myself if I can borrow back from my granddaughter.

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  17. Congrats on the new book, Amy.

    And if we are talking Narnia siblings, you can't leave out Peter and Susan.

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