Everand Logo

Welcome to Everand!

  • Discover millions of ebooks, audiobooks, and so much more with a free trial

    Only $11.99/month after trial. Cancel anytime.

    Unavailable
    House of Dolls
    Unavailable
    House of Dolls
    Unavailable
    House of Dolls
    Ebook55 pages19 minutes

    House of Dolls

    By Francesca Lia Block and Barbara McClintock

    3.5/5

    ()

    Currently unavailable

    Currently unavailable

    About this ebook

    In a little house from another time, with lace curtains in every window and paintings hung in gold doily frames, Wildflower, Rockstar, and Miss Selene live a warm and cozy life. They wear fancy dresses, bake play-dough cakes, and spend their days enjoying one another's company.

    For the three dolls, life is small but good.

    But life is not good for Madison Blackberry, the owner of the dollhouse. Her grandmother pays more attention to the dolls than to her. The dolls have one another, but she is lonely in her big, empty apartment.

    Then one day, as things always do—even for dolls—everything changes.

    This beautiful story from the acclaimed team of Francesca Lia Block, author of such novels as Weetzie Bat, and Barbara McClintock, author and illustrator of many picture books, including Adèle & Simon, brings to life the power of love, family, and friendship.

    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherHarperCollins
    Release dateJun 1, 2010
    ISBN9780061997365
    Unavailable
    House of Dolls
    Author

    Francesca Lia Block

    Francesca Lia Block, winner of the prestigious Margaret A. Edwards Award, is the author of many acclaimed and bestselling books, including Weetzie Bat; the book collections Dangerous Angels: The Weetzie Bat Books and Roses and Bones: Myths, Tales, and Secrets; the illustrated novella House of Dolls; the vampire romance novel Pretty Dead; and the gothic werewolf novel The Frenzy. Her work is published around the world.

    Related to House of Dolls

    Related ebooks

    Children's Toys, Dolls & Puppets For You

    View More
    View More

    Related podcast episodes

    Related articles

    • Article

      My Fairy-Tale Life

      Apr 6, 2023

      Jack Zipes has spent 80 years thinking about fairy tales. Here's what he learned. The post My Fairy-Tale Life appeared first on The Millions.

      10 min read

    • Article

      Wow Women

      May 19, 2020

      I was thrilled to see that you opened The Fix pages of the April issue with a paragraph about fierce mythological women. It is fabulous to see strong women celebrated in mythology, when in our culture we typically read fairy tales in which women and

      1 min read

    • Article

      Making A Photo Zine

      Feb 22, 2022

      Making A Photo Zine
      3 min read

    • Article

      Eliza Clark: ‘I’m More Primary School Teacher Than Enfant Terrible’

      Jun 24, 2023

      As a teenage goth in Newcastle upon Tyne, Eliza Clark would fall down Wikipedia rabbit holes in her bedroom while tuning into lurid true-crime podcasts with an avidity she now calls “prurient”. The 29-year-old, recently named on Granta magazine’s pre

      5 min read

    • Article

      Paint Vibrant Portrait Art

      Oct 4, 2019

      In this workshop I’ll take you through my process of painting a portrait of a woman in her mid-20s. I’m going for an overall painterly and expressive style that makes use of a vibrant warm colour palette. I’ll start with a line drawing with some basi

      4 min read

    • Article

      The Soft Colonization of Small Territories

      Aug 7, 2017

      There is something calming about crafting a sense of comfort in a place outside of my control. The post The Soft Colonization of Small Territories appeared first on The Millions.

      4 min read

    • Article

      On Writerly Jealousy

      Dec 5, 2018

      On Writerly Jealousy
      7 min read

    • Article

      Magic Words

      Nov 2, 2022

      Magic Words
      7 min read

    • Article

      Harpies, Sirens, And Other ‘Nasty’ Women: Going Beneath Misogyny.

      Apr 5, 2021

      Mythology is rife with female monsters. Essayist Jess Zimmerman sees their stories not as cautionary tales, but as inspiration for powerful women.

      3 min read

    • Article

      Your Own True Adventure

      Jun 6, 2022

      Your Own True Adventure
      4 min read

    • Article

      An Anti-Racist Poetry Reading List

      Jun 8, 2020

      These recent poetry collections offer poignant narratives and snapshots of racial injustice in America. The post An Anti-Racist Poetry Reading List appeared first on The Millions.

      1 min read

    • Article

      The TikTok Lesbolution

      May 27, 2022

      The TikTok Lesbolution
      3 min read

    Related categories

    Reviews for House of Dolls

    3.5/5

    45 ratings7 reviews

    What did you think?

    Tap to rate

    Review must be at least 10 words

    • 2/5
      Not what I expected, kinda odd and heavy for a bedtime story.
    • 4/5
      Francesca Lia Block is known for a certain kind of edgy young-adult fare - her books don't draw back from depicting tough or disturbing issues that affect young people's lives - and she brings her unique sensibility with her, when exploring other genres (see The Rose and The Beast for some of her fractured fairy-tales). Her style and themes have won her a remarkably loyal fan-base (I've a friend who is simply besotted with her work), so when I learned that she had penned a "doll story," in the form of a chapter-book, I was intrigued. When I discovered that said story had been illustrated by the marvelously talented Barbara McClintock, I was even more excited. Now, having finally read House of Dolls, I am pleased to be able to confirm, at least for myself, that Block has triumphed again, taking a genre that might, at first glance, seem ill-suited to her particular style of story-telling, and making it her own.This is the tale of a groups of dolls, heterogeneous in their construction, appearance and antiquity - you have Wildflower, a celluloid doll made with real hair, who had belonged to her current owner's grandmother; Rockstar (ironically named), a plastic doll with a mousy appearance, who had been a Hanukkah gift; Miss Selene, a delicate fairy-doll, with wings, green skin, and a secret sorrow; B. Friend, a "devastatingly handsome" stuffed bear, who only had eyes for Rockstar; and Guy, an army-fatigued African-American action-figure, who, despite their many differences, was the one true love of Wildflower's long life - and it is the story of a real live little girl, Madison Blackberry, who was a little too tall, had a sour face, and was desperately unhappy. The interplay between the dolls and the girl unfold in four brief chapters, as Madison enacts her feelings - about her distant, socialite mother, her frequently absent father, the grandmother who seems not to care - through the dolls, making them bear the brunt of her anger and her grief. Making them the scapegoat of her sorrow, and all those dark parts of herself that she cannot express to those around her, or even to herself.An incredibly astute depiction of young girl psychology, A House of Dolls is rather dark in places (because, contrary to certain mythologies, we weren't all "sugar and spice" at that age), but it is not unrelievedly so, and has both happy moments and a happy ending. Despite this last, it treats it subjects and their experiences, whether girl or doll, with the respect they deserve. As my friend Kathryn, who recommended this one to me, (thanks, Kathryn!) notes in her review, playing with dolls is a far more complex activity than it is often given credit for being, by many grown-ups, and it is good to see a doll story taking that into account. After all, there's a reason therapists often use dolls to get children to communicate their difficult-to-express feelings and experiences: it is an activity that they already use, in that capacity. Madison Blackberry's resentment of her dolls might seem silly at first glance, but the truth behind it, the deeper feelings that her ostensibly petty acts reveal - feelings of abandonment, of being unloved by those whose responsibility it is to protect and care for her - are anything but.I was struck, in my reading, not just by this nuanced depiction of the role of dolls, in a child's emotional life, but also by the idea that cruelty, especially in children, is so often the result of deep unhappiness. I can imagine many children enacting their frustrations in this way (or even by being cruel to animals, I'm sorry to say), so I think it's instructive that Block avoids condemnation, and focuses her readers' attention on the root causes of the problem. This is a fascinating little book, of course, but I don't want to focus solely on the psychological implications, as it is also just an engaging story, with delightful artwork by McClintock. She really is a master at depicting dolls (see Dahlia, for another of her doll stories), and her black and white drawings perfectly capture the emotional register of each scene.All in all, this an outstanding little book! Despite its brevity and (ostensible) subject, I would recommend this one primarily to young adults, or to more mature middle-grade readers.
    • 5/5
      Wildflower, Rockstar and Miss Selene live a quiet and isolated life away from all the sadness and pain of the real world, surrounded only by all that is beautiful and loving. That is until their world came into the hands of a little girl called Madison Blackberry.Madison Blackberry is a lonely little girl who is bored with her life and jealous of everyone about her. Vulnerable and powerless in her own world she takes out her pain on the doll house and its occupants Wildflower, Rockstar and Miss Selene.House of Dolls is an enchantingly illustrated fable that demonstrates that being little does not mean being insignificant. Beautifully written, this is a touching and tender story of life and lives intertwined, showing how our actions affect others and how in small ways we can change someone's world. A simply enchanting and powerful story for children and adults alike.
    • 3/5
      Madison Blackberry's dolls--Wildflower, Rockstar, and Miss Selene--have lives that she envies, with their beautiful clothes and warm, cozy house, while she is lonely most of the time.
    • 4/5
      Ages 8-12Wildflower, Rockstar, and Miss Selene are all dolls living in a house belonging to Madison Blackberry. They love living there with each other and with Madison’s other dolls, their friends. But Madison is jealous of the time her grandmother devotes to the dolls – and not to her.
    • 3/5
      A short quick read from a familiar name in the YA genre, this book carries more message and meaning than story (that's good thing here). Uncovering the true meaning of family and strength of that bond, your heart will be warmed by books end for certain. For those that believed once-upon-a-time (or still do) that dolls have a life of their own beyond their play time with their human counterparts....
    • 5/5
      This story intrigued me. When I was young I often wished I could be a doll in my dollhouse. To read about dolls having feelings and enjoying their world was very special. Hopefully when I past this on to my granddaughter she will treat her toys with more respect. I think this is a story any young person would enjoy.