Not bad, but...there's an awful lot of assuming meaning. Neely keeps thinking she knows what people (Grub, mostly, but Carmela too - and her parents, for that matter) mean - and every time we get more information about what they did mean, she's at least slightly wrong. So I wonder about her assumptions about Grub. It's an amazingly non-action story - very little actually happens, and when it does the POV character is barely involved. They don't even go to look at the remains of the house. Not particularly satisfying, to me. ( )

"The Trespassers," by Zilpha Keatley Snyder, tells the story of Neely and her little brother Grub, who live in Carmel, California. One summer, they find their way into a long-empty mansion known as Halcyon House, a place full of secrets and tragedy. When the house is re-occupied by relatives of the original owner, they start trying to unravel the mysteries of the family, and the secrets of the house…. I remember reading at least one book by Zilpha Keatley Snyder as a child, and I was surprised to find this novel, written as recently as 1995! Clearly she had a long career as a writer, and that shows in the ease of her characterizations and her understanding of the inner lives of children and young teenagers. Quite enjoyable, especially if like me, you still like reading children’s novels. ( )

This isn't a bad book at all. It's well-written, and the plot has an interesting concept. But somehow I just never connected with it. The characters didn't particularly move me, and all I can say about it is that the experience of reading it was...okay. I didn't hate it, I didn't love it, and once I was done, it didn't linger in my mind. I've enjoyed other books by Snyder, but somehow this one just left me completely unmoved.

Despite my rating, I wouldn't say this is a book to necessarily stay away from--I think other readers would certainly get a lot more from this book then I did. But if you pick it up hoping for another "Egypt Game", you're probably going to be disappointed." ( )

I remember reading Zilpha Keatley Snyder's books and enjoying the supernatural scares as a kid, but this one felt more like an episode of Law & Order SVU than an elementary school ghost story. I think if I had read this as a kid when I was reading the rest of her books it would have freaked me out miserably. ( )

The story starts a little slowly, as there are six chapters of preparing the ground before the two children actually begin trespassing in a nearby mansion; but once we get going this is a good read, with some interesting characters and a story that keeps the pages turning.

The relationship of Neely and her introvert brother Grub perhaps owes something to Madeleine L'Engle, but the ghostly haunting of Halcyon House is dealt with in a successfully low-key way alongside the more adventuresome goings on with the dysfunctional Hutchinson family. ( )