The House of Dies Drear (1968) by Virginia Hamilton
Thomas Small and his family--Dad, Mom, and brothers--move from North Carolina to an old house in Ohio. Thomas's father is a history professor who has always been interested in the Underground Railroad that helped slaves escape to Canada during the Civil War era. When he learns about the Dies Drear house--a major station on the railroad, complete with secrete passages and tunnels--he is eager to take up residence in the home and learn everything he can. But the house comes with a legend of ghosts. Dies Drear, the man who ran the station and assisted slaves, was murdered as were two of the runaway slaves. And now it is said that their ghosts haunt the house where they were killed. The Small family doesn't believe it, but as soon as they move in add things begin to happen. Someone is entering the house at night and leaving artifacts and then the family finds every dish and glass in their kitchen smashed to bits.Who is behind the destruction? Is it really ghosts or is someone trying to drive the Smalls out of the house for purposes of their own?
This young adult Edgar Award winning mystery is beautifully done. Excellent backdrop, wonderful depiction of an African American family in the Midwest, written by an African American with a cast of African American characters. Hamilton brings her readers into the story and we absorb the cultural significance without lectures or obvious references. Young people reading this novel will learn facts about the Civil War without realizing it--because they'll be so caught up in the mystery of the house and the adventures that Thomas and his family have. It's not a complicated mystery (one know very soon who is behind everything), but it's very entertaining and educational. ★★★★
First line: Thomas dreamed he walked a familiar forest, following a timeworn path of the Tuscaroras.
Last lines: And they didn't mind waiting, not this day nor the days to come. They had years.
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Deaths = one shot
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