The Humming Roomby EllenPotter

Hiding is Roo Fanshaw's special skill. Living in a frighteningly unstable family, she often needs to disappear at a moment's notice. When her parents are murdered, it's her special hiding place under the trailer that saves her life.As it turns out, Roo, much to her surprise, has a wealthy if eccentric uncle, who has agreed to take her into his home on Cough Rock Island. Once a tuberculosis sanitarium for children of the rich, the strange house is teeming with ghost stories and secrets. Roo doesn't believe in ghosts or fairy stories, but what are those eerie noises she keeps hearing? And who is that strange wild boy who lives on the river? People are lying to her, and Roo becomes determined to find the truth.Despite the best efforts of her uncle's assistants, Roo discovers the house's hidden room--a garden with a tragic secret.Inspired by  The Secret Garden, this tale full of unusual characters and mysterious secrets is a story that only Ellen Potter could write. (goodreads.com)

Well, hello there! Bet you all thought I'd fallen off the face of the earth, huh? My only excuse is that I don't ever seem to have time to sit and actually write down thoughts any more. Work is so busy that when I get home, I'm wiped out and the last thing I want to do is sit and write more and stare at a computer screen. Alas. Good news is that I seem to have completed 5 books in the last week and I'll get all of those written about today so there will be something up every day for a while. Go, me!Back to this book I'm supposed to be writing about. I first fell in love with Ellen Potter through a gifted copy of The Kneebone Boy. The book was so magical without being magical and boy can Potter tell a great story. When I saw a new book was out I knew I had to pick it up. The premise of The Humming Room sounded just as magical and mysterious so I had high hopes.My hopes were not disappointed. I was instantly enamoured by Roo, tragic life and all. I think Ellen Potter captured the feeling of a troubled childhood and tragic death very well. I found Roo believable and sympathetic. Of course she wouldn't trust anyone. She was like a wounded, wild animal whose trust you had to gain slowly, painfully, but eventually they might come around so you can help them heal.When I was a child, I, too, felt the magic of the water and earth (water more-so, and fire, too!). I would sit for hours at the end of the dock or on the rocks of Lake Champlain every summer and just daydream or write songs. I connected to that part of Roo quite strongly. The way she could hear the hum of the earth and hear it talking to her. It made me very nostalgic for my summer place and that part of my childhood. I think that's a part of childhood I truly miss - the connection with everything around you. The limitless imagination and sense of wonder that you eventually lose as you grow older - no matter how much you insist you won't ever lose it. If I had more time to sit on the rocks by the water, I don't think I'd be as empty of it as I am now. Life is such that you are robbed of the simple pleasures as you take on more and more responsibility in adulthood. That, as I shall eloquently put it, sucks rocks, yo.Ellen Potter has once again written a story that left me thinking about it for days. It was magical and enchanting, without being magical. It was real but fantasy. The story is very well-told and I think all middle grade readers (young and old) should read an Ellen Potter book at least once in their lives.