This is a fantastic middle grade book. I loved reading it. The plot and mood were very deep and I loved getting to know the characters.

I loved the colour and the premise of the book which made me request it on Net Galley.

The starting was a drag and one could not figure out the purpose of the scenarios being presented in the book but it proceeded well. The simple language and a moderate pace made it a quick read.

The main character, Maddy Rose, however, is very, very annoying. Kind of unrealistic in my opinion and it was difficult to relate to the decisions she was making some times.

Overall, an enjoyable one time read.

A warm, touching read. Coming from someone who does not really read middle grade anymore, I got some major Coraline vibes (one of my favorite animated films).

The Girl from the Attic is an engrossing, exciting middle grade historical fiction. I cannot wait to share this book with my kids. It is sure to be a hit!

Thank you NetGalley and Common Deer Press for the ARC in exchange for my honest review.

I received a copy of this book from NetGalley, this is a honest review.

Maddy just moved in a old house in the countryside with her pregnant mom and her new stepfather. Days are really boring for her and the only thing she hopes for are the emails from her dear friend Amy who is in some paradise beach on holiday while she is stuck in this pathetic old house just because her new stepdad decided it was nice to move from the city to the country. Days pass by until one day she see a cat sneaking into the attic and she decides to follow it thorough a door and she find herself in the past!
Here start her travel between past and present at the discovery of the house when it was first built and of the family that used to live there!

I liked the book.
Maddy is a very spoiled kid, as all 12year old kid are nowadays, that only want with to stay all day in front of a computer chatting with friends, until she discover how people used to live in the past and that all that she gives for granted it was not granted at all once, not even your own bed.
I liked Maddy's growth in the book, from totally spoiled brat to more patient and understanding kid (but not too much :D), I loved Clare and aunt Elle and most of all Shadow!
The only thing that I didn't liked is the pace, it's a rather slow book that burns everything at the end so while I dragged for the first chapters I read the last chapters in a flash.

Recommended for young readers :)

This was an enjoyable easy MG READ with the teenage protagonist, Maddy travelling back in time within her own house. Issues such as tuberculosis, loss, family values, personal responsibilities, step parents and a new baby are all thrown into the mix and Maddy has to grapple with all of these. There is a good depiction of egotistical preteen/ teen angst and an evolving sense of personal responsibilities in a changing family. Maddy realises she may have to soften or change her tone and to not take everything as a personal attack, and that her attitude affects others.

Thank you to Netgalley, the author and the publishers for an ARC of this book.

This was such a wonderful story, and honestly reminded me a little of Coraline in a way. The story follows Maddy as she grows accustomed to a new home, only to discover a secret door that’s opens to he past! I was super excited by the premise and it did not disappoint. Throughout the way Maddy learns to accept change instead of remaining averse to it.

The flow of the book was really good and the language isn’t hard to read at all. I’d definitely recommend this book for children!

Plot line: Maddy moves into a strange new house in the country with her mother and step father. She meets a black cat that leads her through mysterious door in the attic.
Review: When I saw the title of the book, I knew I had to read it. It’s a book that pulls you in the story with each turn of page. I was curious like our main character Maddy to find out what was going on behind the attic door. Her meetings with Clare were interesting and insightful. I liked how meticulously the author showed the changes in time and relationships through a house. I also liked the role of our furry figure Shadow. It was an enjoyable read. I would recommend the book to readers who are trying to escape from reality in fiction.
Thank you Netgalley , Common Deer Press and Marie aprons for the ARC for honest review.

I decided to use my tools from my blogging to see if I could find something that I could read with my 11 yr old in an attempt to encourage her to read a little more. We discussed the synopsis and she agreed to read it with me.

Ms Prins does a wonderful job of telling a story that blends to past with the present, using the similarities of the octagonal home that Maddy moves into. We found it fun to learn about the differences in how things were done between the two time periods. On her ventures to the past she learns many lessons that make her rethink her opinions and feelings around the issues and events going on in her own home.

The characters are likeable and help to draw you into the story. The reader can easily understand the emotions and feelings of the characters as you read. In fact my daughter might have gotten a little teary eyed a time or two while reading. We found ourselves looking forward to read time to see what was going to happen next.

I feel many middle aged girls would enjoy this read.

*** Advanced copy provided in exchange for an honest review. ***

Title: The Girl From the Attic
By: Marie Prins
Publisher: Common Deer Press
Genre: Middle Grade | Sci Fi & Fantasy
Pub Date; 01 Oct 2020
Review on Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/3339664217

Maddy is a young girl who has just moved to a new home. This is not by her own choice and she is angry, Angry about the move,. angry that her mam married Dan and that they are now having a baby. That is until Maddy discovers a hidden door and a black cat.

It is possible that Prins uses the past to show the reader just how far medicine has come in the last 100 or so years. The rest of the story seemed to have little discernible lessons. Maddy constantly does the opposite of what she is told and even when there is no real reason for her to go through the door she does.
Her friend Amy is also a convenience to the story I'm not sure how many parents would look after someone else's child for three weeks, and this is when Maddy's little sister is seriously ill, yet she is off having fun with her friend.

Though I enjoyed the time travel aspect, unfortunately a lot of things in this story felt disjointed and not well knitted together. The last 100 pages were written well where emotion was concerned, but it all lacked a feeling of conclusion. As in the rest of the story it didn't make complete sense..

I felt Dan to be be a controlling, borderline abusive character who had a sudden change of heart. I am sure that if he were real that change of heart would have reverted once Carla and Coralee where home
I think there was a good plot here but the execution was sloppy.

This is a well paced time traveling story where a young girl is able to go back in time in her new (old) house. It does a good job dealing with issues like stepparents, feeling alone and ignored, and health scares, while also giving kids a realistic view of life in the early 1900's with all of its risks and realities. The chapters are short, making it good for read-alouds or early readers.

I requested and received an e-ARC of this book from Marie Prins and Common Deer Press through NetGalley in exchange for my honest opinion.

I found the very beginning of this book hard to read as it focuses a lot on the shape of the house Maddy and her family have moved into and I didn't find it particularly interesting. Then we got into the meat and potatoes of the story of Maddy and her blended family and all of the feelings she was having about the changes in her life. I think that kids will relate to the emotionss Maddy is going through as she figures out her place in their new family. I liked the time travel aspect of this book and I love how it all tied together at the end.

I would definitely recommend this book to young readers.

A fun introduction to time travel books for the middle grade set, I enjoyed seeing Mandy interact with both the past and the present. This wrapped up well, and I think my 7 year old would enjoy it a lot!

What an impudent little girl, especially to her stepfather Dan and her mom Carla, Maddy she shows all respect and kindness to the folks she met in her strange trips back to the past. when her very pregnant and exhausted mother needed her, she quickly disappears, hiding away in the past from doing any chores. She thinks Dan hated her, when in fact, she was the one who didn’t want him in her life. She wanted her real father, sad to say, the twirp had walked out on them when she was a toddler. I find Maddy’s jaunt’s into the past had been too frequent for she seems to be two different persons a nice little girl when in the past and, in reality, she was rude and a little too much into herself.

I received an electronic ARC from Common Deer Press through NetGalley.
Maddy has to adjust to a new stepfather, a move to the country and a new sibling on the way quickly. It doesn't go well. She's angry and confused and feels like she can't trust either adult in her life.
While exploring the old home, she finds an old quilt and sees a black cat. She follows the cat and discovers an old doorway that doesn't make sense in their house. She goes through and is immediately back in time to the early 1900's. She bravely gets to know a boy about her age and interacts with him and his aunt more than she does in her own time period. Events happen in each that bring heartache. Maddy figures out how to be part of her new family and life calms again. I like the connecting characters to both times - human and feline.
Prins created characters that are not completely likeable but are realistic. Middle grade readers will relate to Maddy's feelings about adjusting to new normals. The setting provides enough eeriness and action to appeal to most readers.

A huge thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for sending the e-ARC of this book in exchange for an honest review.

It's a really touching story that almost got me into tears. It is really interesting, fascinating and relatable. I love the way it teaches children to be grateful for being in a decent family. I highly recommend this to older kids because of its length and the depth of the topic.

“The cat sat on the old windowsill, as she had on and off for a hundred years.“

I was hooked.

Maddy, almost 12, has just had her life turned upside down. Her mother’s brand new husband forced them to move from their little house in Scarborough, Ontario, to “the middle of nowhere”: Colebrook, just outside Belleville, Ontario, and Maddy resents everything about it. Especially the man. Especially the new baby.

Recovering from a recent long illness and dealing with both asthma and allergies, Maddy follows a mysterious cat and finds a door that opens into the past. As she steps through into the hard times of a hundred years ago, she learns a lot about her own life and comes to see her family, and her place in it, through fresh eyes.

There are several things I appreciated about this book:

* It’s set in small-town Ontario and in Toronto.
* It features a heroine with a health issue and it demonstrates very compellingly the life-changing difference medical and social advantages have wrought in the past century.
* Set in 2001, it will also lead young readers to compare their own infrastructure and relationship to the Web with Maddy’s, which could be a good starting point for conversations.
* The way Maddy approaches coping with her asthma and allergies, and the descriptions of some other respiratory conditions afflicting other characters, would make a good springboard for conversations during these “extraordinary times”, when illness and cures is on everyone’s minds.

It’s refreshing to see a main character who is coping with a physical challenge and who lives an adventurous life.

And did I mention it’s an absolutely ripping yarn? Easy and quick to read, there is a satisfyingly large number of short chapters to encourage reluctant readers, and enough novel vocabulary to stimulate accomplished ones.

Those who enjoyed Janet Lunn’s The Root Cellar or loved Tom’s Midnight Garden as a child, will enjoy this book.

#TheGirlFromtheAttic #NetGalley


I was hooked from the first line- "The cat sat on the old windowsill, as she had off and on for a hundred years." I read this book in one sitting and loved it.

Maddy has no interest in moving from the city, even if its into an octagonal house.

She resents her stepfather for "making" them move.
Her mother is going to have another baby and Maddy resents Dan's requests for her to help mom out.

Shadow the cat appears and Maddys adventures begin.


I enjoyed Clare and Maddys friendship so very much, adored the glimpses of Shadow, and cheered for Maddy's growth in this delightfully entertaining book.

My thanks to NetGalley, the author and publisher for the complimentary e book in exchange for my honest review

The Girl from the Attic is a middle grade novel that focuses on eleven year old Maddy, who finds a mysterious door in the attic of her new home that sends her tumbling back in time to the early 20th century.

Faced with problems in her own time, Maddy finds her trips to the 20th century cathartic and enjoys the time she spends there. However, she soon realises that she has to face up to her own problems and with the help of the past, she soon faces the future.

Though I found The Girl from the Attic to be enjoyable in places and to have some wonderful life lessons, overall I found this novel to overly long for a middle grade.

This appealing book for middle grade readers captures the challenges of children in this age group-dealing with change; increased responsibilities; making and leaving friends. Readers will sympathize with Maddy as she moves back and forth in time all the while coping with her family’s move, accepting her stepfather, taking on new responsibilities and facing the consequences of her sometimes rash actions.
A door into the past gives Maddy a chance to appreciate her family and to witness others’ hardships and will make this story of particular interest to readers who enjoy finding out about life for pioneers.
Maddy’s experiences in the present and the past build suspense. As we’re reading, we wonder how Maddy will manage the increasing pressures of both her actions when she ventures into the past and her choices in the present. There are big issues at play but Ms. Prints brings us to a satisfying conclusion with a feeling of connectedness of family and place.