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The Spirit House
Julie's parents have invited a Thai boy to come live with them for a school year. Julie becomes upset. The boy's letters and photograph gives him the appearance and attitude of a nerd, someone who might embarrass her at school, where she has worked hard to heighten her popularity status. However, the boy who arrives is a poised, heavy smoker. He acts politely, as expected, but also possesses an imperturbable demeanor. Bia's good looks and cool composure promise to supply him with a high social status at school, and Julie the envy of her girlfriends. Then her younger brother Dominic builds a traditional Thai spirit house in their backyard in hopes to make Bia feel more at home. Strange events start to occur. Suddenly, Bia acts hostile towards Julie. Does a spirit actually dwell in their backyard?
And is Bia using its power to help himself - and harm Julie?
And is Bia using its power to help himself - and harm Julie?
144 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 1991
About the author
William Sleator
44 books306 followersWilliam Warner Sleator III was born in Havre de Grace, Maryland on February 13, 1945, and moved to St. Louis, MO when he was three. He graduated from University City High School in 1963, from Harvard in 1967 with BAs in music and English.
For more than thirty years, William Sleator thrilled readers with his inventive books. His House of Stairs was named one of the best novels of the twentieth century by the Young Adult Library Services Association.
William Sleator died in early August 2011 at his home in Thailand.
For more than thirty years, William Sleator thrilled readers with his inventive books. His House of Stairs was named one of the best novels of the twentieth century by the Young Adult Library Services Association.
William Sleator died in early August 2011 at his home in Thailand.
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Displaying 1 - 9 of 9 reviews
November 18, 2022
I give this book three stars because it was highly entertaining... in an "it's so bad it's great" type of way. The characters in this book are so incredibly stupid. It's like the author had zero faith in the intelligence of his readers. I realize it's completely a product of it's time, which is mainly why I'm being so kind to it. And it really was a page-turner, if only because I wanted to see what stupid thing the MC would think up next. Just read my notes on this book if you want to see what I really thought of this book. I actually had a lot of fun reading this. Seriously every stupid thing the characters could possibly do, they did. And the ending didn't even make sense. Which... of course not. Why would it? 😂
Seriously though, this book made me appreciate modern-day YA so much more. This was YA from the 90's and it totally shows. Authors back then talked down to their readers. With the exception of very few books (such as Harry Potter), most YA books were this insulting back then, which I'd forgotten until I was getting into this one. I do think my 15 year old self would've loved this though, if only because I didn't know back then that books could be better.
It feels like this was written at a third grade level, with characters about as smart as that. Even though the MC is supposedly in high school. The characters, relationships, and plot were all very one-dimensional, with zero regard for logic or reality. I would actually be very curious to read this same story written today, with more nuance and backstory and depth to it. The concept was fascinating, it was just executed with all the grace of a hippopotamus ballerina.
Seriously though, this book made me appreciate modern-day YA so much more. This was YA from the 90's and it totally shows. Authors back then talked down to their readers. With the exception of very few books (such as Harry Potter), most YA books were this insulting back then, which I'd forgotten until I was getting into this one. I do think my 15 year old self would've loved this though, if only because I didn't know back then that books could be better.
It feels like this was written at a third grade level, with characters about as smart as that. Even though the MC is supposedly in high school. The characters, relationships, and plot were all very one-dimensional, with zero regard for logic or reality. I would actually be very curious to read this same story written today, with more nuance and backstory and depth to it. The concept was fascinating, it was just executed with all the grace of a hippopotamus ballerina.
March 25, 2010
"The Spirit House" is written by William Sleator about a teenage girl named Julie and what she goes through when a foreign exchange student named Bia comes to live with them for the year. Little do they know of the dark secret he is hiding from them. A few weeks after Bia arrives Julie little brother Dominic, builds a spirit house for Bia. But shortly after Julie has terrible bad luck and starts to investigate why Bia is being so hostile towards her.
I would recommend "The Spirit House" to any girl who likes mysteries about teenage girls. I would give this book two out of five because it was okay but I could not connect to any character in this story.
I would recommend "The Spirit House" to any girl who likes mysteries about teenage girls. I would give this book two out of five because it was okay but I could not connect to any character in this story.
June 16, 2012
An ok but predictable book. At the end all the supernatural aspects are explained away and tidied up. However, it does end with a bit of a cliff hanger like all of sleator's books. His cliff hangers leave so much hanging I feel like a fair portion of his books are written right before the exciting things happen...
April 21, 2022
The suspense in this book is palpable. I loved learning about the characters and Thai culture, but it was the suspense that really made this book stand out. The ending nicely set up a sequel. I highly recommend this book.
December 27, 2023
This book begins with promise for cultural intrigue, but falls short with a somewhat poor attempt at an adolescent mystery novel. Better story development with some depth would’ve made the 2nd half of the book seem less rushed to it’s underwhelming conclusion.
July 16, 2014
Julie thinks the new Thai exchange student is going to turn out to be a drag. He's nothing like her, has nerdy interests, and looks like a dork in his photo. But when he gets there, he actually looks a lot hotter in person, seems to have no interest in math, and actually wants to socialize with Julie and her friends. And what's more, he's a natural--a lot more like her than she expected, and she even finds him attractive. But when her brother builds a spirit house as a gift for Bia, terrible things start happening--it's like their happy-go-lucky exchange student has been followed to the US by something malevolent, and it's affecting Julie and her family as well. She doesn't know whether they can fight or appease whatever entity is after Bia, but she's also unsure of whether she can trust him. . . .
This was the second book I read by Sleator in which the protagonist woman character was self-absorbed and obsessed with popularity, and read as very shallow, so I wondered what was going on there--and I didn't like Bia either. I suspected early on--way before protagonist Julie did--that Bia wasn't the designated exchange student, and I hated how image-conscious he was as well, but when everything started to get scary, I still didn't want them to get hurt and got invested in their escaping the angry spirit. There was a little bit of grossness and actual horror in here, but not so much that it was overwhelming for me as a sensitive kid. I really liked that some of the characters had muddy motivations and weren't necessarily good guys or bad guys.
This was the second book I read by Sleator in which the protagonist woman character was self-absorbed and obsessed with popularity, and read as very shallow, so I wondered what was going on there--and I didn't like Bia either. I suspected early on--way before protagonist Julie did--that Bia wasn't the designated exchange student, and I hated how image-conscious he was as well, but when everything started to get scary, I still didn't want them to get hurt and got invested in their escaping the angry spirit. There was a little bit of grossness and actual horror in here, but not so much that it was overwhelming for me as a sensitive kid. I really liked that some of the characters had muddy motivations and weren't necessarily good guys or bad guys.
August 13, 2008
All of William Sleator's books, pretty much, are good for young science fiction readers. He has a way of taking even science fiction clichés and making them something to wonder about again.
This one was rather creepy and really helped me understand, as a child reading, that there was a lot of "gray" between black and white and that characters will sometimes turn out to have intentions and motives you really didn't see coming.
This one was rather creepy and really helped me understand, as a child reading, that there was a lot of "gray" between black and white and that characters will sometimes turn out to have intentions and motives you really didn't see coming.
June 5, 2016
Very good! The ending is a cliffhanger...
August 4, 2016
Well, at least the narrator was female, this time. Other than that, my last Sleator review still stands.
Displaying 1 - 9 of 9 reviews