"[I]n a Narnia moment, Sarah discovers a hidden driveway on Pinecrest Road, complete with gesturing squirrels and a forest lamp post. The folklore atmosphere takes hold when Sarah pauses, only to have a house fall into place around her. Bit by bit, Sarah unravels the “rules” of the vintage house. Small things placed there become life size. Modern things don’t work there. Working with Albie, a redheaded schoolmate, Sarah investigates the house’s origins. Campy plot fans will adore that school dance night [...] Dowell’s skill in portraying middle school friendships joins a Rebecca Stead–esque conundrum that juxtaposes “here and now” with “then and there.” And it works. Sarah’s first-person narration lets readers feel her bewilderment as family and friends change around her and burgeoning hope as she forms tentative new connections. There are sufficient clues for attentive readers to guess the mystery sooner than Sarah does, but the final dance feels appropriately tense, and there are small surprises until the end. Mystery and middle school drama have wide appeal; recommend to Tuck Everlasting or Because of Winn Dixie readers.

– School Library Journal, STARRED REVIEW, 9/1/26

In this surprising time-bending novel from Dowell (Hazard), a tween finds herself transported to the past upon discovering a mysterious house in the woods. [...] Drawn to the “mysterious feeling” folktale atmosphere of nearby Pinecrest Road, Sarah follows a trail of suspicious squirrels into the surrounding forest, where she encounters a house that seems to appear from nowhere—only to vanish moments later [...] Sarah investigates on her own, and learns that her redheaded neighbor, Albie, has witnessed the same phenomenon. The mystery deepens in increasingly unexpected directions as the pair interrogate why the residence appears, what the objects inside signify, and whether the home’s existence is governed by science, magic, or both. Sarah’s struggles with shifting relationships ground the speculative elements in weighty emotion, while offbeat humor and peculiar intrigue coalesce into an imaginative adventure. 

– Publishers Weekly, 7/24/2026