The Winter of the Dollhouse - by Laura Amy Schlitz (Hardcover)

Book Synopsis

"Intricately detailed and nuanced characters, relatable domestic scenes with emotional heft, and evocative writing make for an enchanting, gratifying read." --Publishers Weekly (starred review)

This captivating coming-of-age story is touching, funny, and beautifully layered, with a fairy-tale ending that only Newbery Medalist Laura Amy Schlitz could deliver.

On a gloomy November night, eleven-year-old Tiphany Stokes saves an old lady from collapsing in the street. An antique doll named Gretel watches them, longing for Tiph to rescue her from life in a shop window. Though none of these three characters realizes it, their worlds are about to change: Gretel will no longer be a precious prisoner. The old lady--is she a witch?--will discover the secret hidden in her long-neglected dollhouse. And Tiph--whose parents rejoice that she is "never any trouble"--will become a thief, a dog walker, an actor, and best of all, a friend.

Review Quotes

Newbery Medalist Schlitz (Splendors and Glooms) braids parallel story lines into a cozy fantasy that lauds the power of connection to uplift and inspire. . . . Intricately detailed and nuanced characters, relatable domestic scenes with emotional heft, and evocative writing make for an enchanting, gratifying read.
--Publishers Weekly (starred review)

Schlitz tenderly develops her characters, giving each a rough-edged complexity. . . .It's Schlitz's clear-eyed portrayal of Tiph's emotional inner life that anchors this cozy fantasy, with the dolls' nocturnal adventures providing lift.
--Kirkus Reviews

About the Author

Laura Amy Schlitz is the accomplished author of four previous middle-grade novels--A Drowned Maiden's Hair, the Newbery Honor Book Splendors and Glooms, The Hired Girl, which won the National Jewish Book Award for Young Adult Literature and the Scott O'Dell Award for Historical Fiction, and Amber and Clay. She was awarded a Newbery Medal for Good Masters! Sweet Ladies! Voices from a Medieval Village. Laura Amy Schlitz lives in Baltimore, Maryland.