This book made me late to ALA Midwinter. Where they give away lots and lots of free books.

I loved the Capitol Hill setting, especially because I was in Capitol Hill while I was reading it. I didn't find the house which is perhaps lucky because I would have felt compelled to ring the doorbell and demand that the current residents read this. I would possibly have demanded a tour as well.

The plot follows a satisfying arc as a large family of interesting kids moves into an old house and finds a trail of clues to something fabulous left by the last large family of interesting kids, a generation ago. It's also pretty funny- I was laughing aloud before I got to the second page. I liked the parents very much, and had no trouble telling all the kids apart. There's some odd stuff about integration and prejudice that felt entirely tacked-on, like a poster stuck over a hole in the wall. There's also some strange but compelling stuff about PTSD that feels less grafted on to me.

Recommended, unless you live in Seattle, in which case there's no excuse for not reading it.

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