Money Room By Eloise Jarvis McGraw

182 pgs

Stephen

Eloise Jarvis McGraw writes great books for middle school grade children. Many years ago I loved one of the few of these that was then published in the UK - Master Cornhill (about the Great Fire of London). The books can be hard to track down, except that the Internet Archive's Open Library has many of them so I got hold of this one and read it. That is a fantastic resource.

The Money Room is about a family who move back into a family home in Oregon. The great grandfather of the two children in the story reputedly had a hidden money room and so they go searching for it. Most adults dismiss that as childish fantasy, but it seems not all. It seems someone else is after the contents of the money room, and seeks out to defraud the family of it.

As with many of this author's books, there are lessons about history (specifically the great depression for this one) intertwined with a good plot and wonderful characters. There is good reason why this author one three Newbery honours. I will read more of her work as and when I can find it.
Elizabeth Gibbs

When their father is killed, a young boy, his little sister, and their mother move into an ancestor's home. The boy and his sister search for the infamous "money room". There wasn't a lot of action and climax was weak. I expected a lot more.
Wendy

I wanted to like this, but it was just never very interesting.