THE HOUSE IN THE SNOW

An offbeat story distinguishes this tale by an author new to children's books. Fleeing his cruel guardian in the middle of winter, the orphan Benjamin finds himself on the edge of a clearing in the middle of a forest, contemplating a mysterious house rumored to be inhabited by demons. He is startled by Mackie, a young boy who has escaped from the house, which is really occupied by robbers with a talent for invisibility--and who hold boys as slaves. Benjamin decides his best bet is to take over the house, defeat the robbers and perhaps earn the admiration of his village; with Mackie, he sneaks in through a tunnel during the robber-chiefs birthday celebration to recruit some of the boys for a rebellion. There ensues a series of action-packed, suspenseful scenes as Benjamin, having discovered the robbers' cloaks of invisibility, leads the boys in a series of skirmishes against the robbers, especially difficult because one side can rarely see the other. In the end, the boys triumph and plan to open an inn where their new talent for invisibility will attract customers. The chief virtues of this book are Engh's vividly described battle scenes and originality of plot, but since characters are not particularly well-drawn, the motivation for the story suffers. Nonetheless, an interesting effort.