The Face at the Window

By Vivien Alcock

Book Overview

Alcock explores a contemporary issue: the plight of a child who is a refugee in an alien society. And as four children try to provide a safe haven for this stranger in a strange land, they begin to understand their own strengths as well as their limitations. Stranger at the Window contains the elements that are the hallmark of Vivien Alcock's books - a strong plot, a determined heroine, and a beautiful command of the English language. "Childhood is," Alcock has written, "an exciting and dangerous time, and it fascinates me." Her books reflect that excitement, danger, and fascination.

• Format: Hardcover
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0395816610
• ISBN13: 9780395816615
• Release Date: January 1998
• Publisher: Houghton Mifflin
• Length: 200 Pages
• Weight: 1.00 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.8" x 5.8" x 8.6"
• Age Range: 12 years and up
• Grade Range: Grade 7 and higher

Customer Reviews

I highly recommend this story for both children and young adults...

Eleven year old Lesley is still recovering from a serious illness (Hepititis) and so she isn't able to travel to Egypt when her mother takes a temporary job there. So Lesley goes to live with her elderly Auntie Amy in London for the summer. Auntie Amy is very kind to Lesley, but never having had any children of her own, is not quite sure what to do with Lesley, and so she leaves Lesley alone a lot while she works in her sewing room. Lesley is still recovering from her illness so she mostly watches the neighbors from her bedroom window or her aunt's back yard. Until she notices a little boy's face peeping out of the neighbor's attic window, and her curiosity pushes her into investigating what the children next door are hiding in the attic. At first Lesley doesn't like the three older Harwood children who live next door to her aunt, but she comes to see them in a different light when she is drawn into their efforts to help a young boy who has entered the country illegally. I buy a lot of books for my own child, and all my nieces and nephews, but I read all the stories first to make sure they are not only age appropriate, but interesting and written in a way that is easy to follow. I highly recommend this book for both children and young adults.

THE STRANGERS THAT CAME TO TOWN REVIEW

THE STRANGERS THAT CAME TO TOWN WAS A GREAT BOOK. iT WAS ABOUT A YOUNG 11 YEAR OLD GIRL WHO HAS TO STAY WITH HER AUNT IN LONDON WHILE HER MOTHER IS AWAY WORKING IN EGYPT. LESLEY IS LONELY AND TRIES TO MAKE FRIENDS WITH THE TEENAGERS NEXT DOOR. THEY HAVE NO INTREST IN HER. THEN SHE INSISTS THAT SHE SEES A YOUNG BOY IN THEIR ATTIC. THEY SAY SHE IS IMAGINING AND ITS PROBABLY HER SICKNESS. SHE WAS RIGHT THERE WAS SOMEONE HIDING THERE. AN ILLEGAL IMMIGRANT IS HIDING THERE. WHEN THEY ARE IN GREAT RISK OF THERE BROTHER TELLING ON THEM LESLEY STARTS HELPING. VICTORIA IS MEAN ROBERT IS NICE AND CHRISTOPHER JUST DIDNT THINK THAT THEY SHOULD KEEP ERRI THE IMMIGRANT. SOONER LESLEY FINDS VICTORIA A NICE GIRL AND FINDS OUT SHE LIKES ROBERT. LATER VICTORIA MAKES LESLEY HER HONORARY SISTER, AND ROBERT KISSED HER, CLAMING IT WAS ONLY A BROTHERLY KISS WHEN VICTORIA PROTESTED. SHE SAID LESLEY WAS TOO YOUNG FOR HIM TO PRACTICE ON. HE SAID HE DIDNT NEED PRACTICE AND ASKED LESLIE. SHE BLUSHED AND HE LAUGHED. THAT IS THE KIND OF STORY THIS IS. I HOPE YOU READ IT AND LIKE IT. ITS A GREAT STORY.