Diana wynne jones autobiography of malcolm
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| The Ogre Downstairs | |
|---|---|
| Attribution | |
| Author | Diana Wynne Jones |
| Cover Artist | |
| Publication information | |
| Publisher | |
| UK Release Date | 1974 |
| US Release Date | |
Plot[]
The Ogre Downstairs falls among Diana Wynne Jones' earlier works. They give the impression, which appears to be supported by some of her biographical sources, that they were written primarily for the amusement of her family -- specifically her three sons, who often complained about the stultifyingly preachy tone of so many books aimed at children in their time, and pointed out that what they really wanted to read more of was funny books.
This book, then, is one of those that is steeped in the atmosphere of Things That Are Funny to Boys Bored With Literature. In it, two families are blended by the marriage of two widowed parents, and the children of each family dislike those of the other. And the mother's children particularly dislike their new stepfather, and think of him as a kind of ogre. The stepfather gives one boy in each set of children a huge, elaborate chemistry set which turns out to have magical properties.
In discovering this, and exploring exactly what the magic does and what the rules are for having fun with it, both sets of kids come to accept and even grudgingly
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BellaOnBooks's Blog
Diana Wynne Jones
August 16, 1934 – March 26, 2011
Anyone who has ever talked to me about books knows that my favorite author ever is Diana Wynne Jones.
I discovered DWJ’s books when I was in junior high–Witch’s Business was the first one. It’s about a brother and sister who lose their allowance for four months and decide to start a business to make some money–Own Back, Ltd. For a slight fee, they’ll make sure their clients get revenge for any perceived wrongs. The only problem is that their customers have much bigger problems than Frank or Jess ever imagined…and there’s already a witch in town who is in the revenge business. It was such a wonderful set up! Here were two real world kids, with real world problems, who suddenly find themselves all muddled up with magic and revenge and treasure hunting.
I promptly went back to the library and took out the only other book they had–The Ogre Downstairs. That one might have been even better–Caspar, Johnny and Gwinny’s mother (a perfectly reasonable woman) has just married Malcolm and Douglas’s father (who Johnny immediately dubs “the Ogre”)…and the two sets of kids are not getting along. The Ogre buys M
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The Ogre Downstairs
Book by Diana Wynne Jones
The Ogre Downstairs is a 1974 inventiveness novel shelter children. Menu is Brits author Diana Wynne Jones' third publicized novel.
Plot summary
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