Between Two Ends

Between Two Ends By: David Ward

Yeats is a young man with a family that is falling apart. His father has suffered for years with depression and a mother that has had it and is going to leave. As a last effort his father has taken the family to his childhood home to sort through some things that happened there as a child. But Yeats is so confused and feels strange in the house. His father's best friend disappeared in this house when they were younger and she has not returned.  While in the garden Yeats finds a bookend that is a pirate buried, he takes it upstairs into the library and finds it's match. Much to Yeats' surprise they talk, and when he catches them they must grant him a wish to go into a book of his choosing.  Yeats finally understands what happened to his father's friend. She went into a book and never came out!  Yeats decides to help cure his father by going into the same book and bringing his friend home, but will it work?

I would have to say that at the start of this book I felt really confused and the story was not flowing for me.  I almost put it down and didn't finish. But about the fourth and fifth chapter the book really started to pick up and get interesting.  After that I really liked the story and the characters began to make sense to me.  I do think that this would be good for a middle school reader and up, they might have the patience to wait out and read the first chapters.  I loved that the storyline is that they go into a book and become part of it while they are there.  The descriptions of them on a boat in the words was a wonderful image for me.  So I would recommend this book, but be patient because the good stuff does come. :)

I borrowed this from the public library.
ISBN: 978-0-8109-9714-1