The Doll People
By Ann M. Martin
Hi! Do you ever just wonder where something goes after it’s lost? Well, Annabelle (a doll) does. She misses her Auntie Sarah who, one day, just mysteriously disappeared!
It all starts in Annabelle’s home (a doll house). She was in the nursery. She didn’t dare move because Mama Doll had forbidden it and Captain (the cat) was right outside the door. Kate (the girl who played with the dolls) was still sleeping. Annabelle wished Captain wasn’t right outside the door. Then they could have free time. Little did Annabelle know, she was about to find something extraordinary that would change her life forever.
One night, Kate went to bed and shut Captain out of the room. They finally had some peace and quiet. Annabelle decided to explore the library and look at the books. She found her Auntie Sarah’s journal! She was excited. She started to flip through the pages. She saw a lot in there about spiders. She went back to her room and read some, but soon, Kate woke up. She had to put the book away and hide it for next time.
The next time she had free time, Annabelle read a little bit more. She read the word radio. She thought that was funny because there wasn’t a radio in the dollhouse. And then she read the word blend. That was funny. It had said “blend in with the radio.” She didn’t know what that meant. And then she thought back to childhood memories about when Auntie Sarah told her about great things that came off of the television. She never knew where she got those stories. Maybe Auntie Sarah was exploring Kate’s house! Annabelle decides to go in search for Auntie Sarah. Uncle Doll agrees to accompany her on her voyage.
On their way looking for Auntie Sarah, they find a box. They see a family of dolls inside it. They are called the Funcrafts. The Funcrafts said that they were Nora’s new dolls. (Nora is Kate’s little sister.) The next day, the Funcrafts invite the dolls over for a visit to their house. Annabelle has become especially close with the sister doll. She started telling her about Auntie’s journal. They continue reading through it. Then Annabelle decides that she should go looking for her one last time. The parents did not agree that much, but she finally won the argument with her parents and went looking.
Will she find Auntie Sarah and bring her home to her family and all be happy that Auntie is back? Or will they not succeed in finding her and Annabelle’s life go back to boring, ordinary, anything that describes a life where you just do the same thing over and over again? As I always say, read the book to find out!
I recommend this book to readers who can get through the boring parts to the rest of the parts. At first, I really thought I wasn’t going to like this book. But I kept reading, and it turned out to be a really good book!
A few helpful things I like to say about the books I read:
“Run and Get Mom” (how I describe the scariness factor):
There were just a few scary parts in this book. Nothing I couldn’t handle. I read a few of them out loud to my brother. He could handle them, and he’s only 6 years old.
“Yucky-Lovey Stuff” (how I describe the romance factor):
There was no yucky-lovey stuff in this book. Besides hugs, but hugs don’t count.
I give this book 4 wands.
I didn’t like it very much in the beginning, but it turns out to be a really good book. My favorite part was when Annabelle found the journal. It made me feel like she was getting into an adventure. That’s actually what made me stop thinking this wasn’t a very good book.
