Button Hill

by Michael Bradford

Overview

Dekker isn’t happy that he and his little sister, Riley, are stuck in Button Hill with their weird old great-aunt Primrose.

When he discovers an old clock in the cellar, made entirely of bones and with a skull for a face, he doesn’t think much about it. But when Riley goes missing, a strange boy named Cobb appears in Button Hill. He tells Dekker that Button Hill sits on the border between Nightside and Dayside—and that Riley is in Nightside and may never return. In order to save her, Dekker must follow her into the darkness and sacrifice something he thought he couldn’t live without.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781459807570
Publisher:	Orca Book Publishers
Publication date:	04/01/2015
Sold by:	Barnes & Noble
Format:	eBook
Pages:	264
Lexile:	640L (what's this?)
File size:	2 MB
Age Range:	9 - 12 Years

About the Author

Michael Bradford was born in 1975 in St. Albert, Alberta. He has worked as a grass cutter, waiter, pizza-delivery boy, literacy teacher, elementary-school vice-principal and published poet. Button Hill is his first novel. He lives in Saskatoon, Saskatchewan, with his wife and two children.

Editorial Reviews

[Starred review] "A scrumptious Gothic treat, oozing high-calorie horror and delectable dread...Although Dekker's quest seems hopeless at times, Bradford never lets him or the reader slide into complete despair. A cheerful optimism bounces through the story, much of it coming from the upbeat, buoyant Riley...A rollicking good read, with adventures tumbling one after the other...Gleefully thrilling."

Quill & Quire

"A dark yet delightful tale for readers who love the unexpected, who long for secret passages and who live for annoying their siblings. When Dekker is trapped in the scary world beneath his strange Aunt's spooky house, he and his sister have to discover what really matters to even have a hope of seeing the real world again. The dead come alive, sort of, in this thrilling novel written by the talented, fun, and lively Michael Bradford.

award-winning author Alice Kuipers

"A highly recommended title that will fascinate readers between 9 and 12, especially those interested in ghost stories, horror, fantasy, adventure and mysteries. There's an underlying theme of sibling rivalry, loyalty, and love that will attract readers of other genres."

Resource Links

"This fast-paced story has twists and turns as well as many characters in various stages of bodily decay. But Dekker and his sister escape the Nightside and return to Button Hill with most body parts intact. This book will keep readers on edge until Dekker and his sister are safely home again."

School Library Connection

"The reader is hooked into this story immediately through the atmospheric foreshadowing of things to come, the tangible depiction of place and the use of clear, concise language liberally sprinkled with picturesque phrases that show rather than tell. Each and every character, even those in minor supporting roles, are so well delineated they are totally authentic. The relationship between Dekker and his sister that begins as one of teasing rivalry and turns into a deep, loving one, where each is willing to sacrifice themselves for the other, is particularly touching as is the strength and wisdom of the quirky Aunt Primrose."

CM Magazine

"A dark yet delightful tale for readers who love the unexpected, who long for secret passages and who live for annoying their siblings. When Dekker is trapped in the scary world beneath his strange Aunt's spooky house, he and his sister have to discover what really matters to even have a hope of seeing the real world again. The dead come alive, sort of, in this thrilling novel written by the talented, fun, and lively Michael Bradford.

Alice Kuipers

03/01/2015
Gr 4–6—Dekker discovers a mysterious clock in the cellar beneath the basement of his great aunt Primrose's old house. After twisting the skull that decorates the Nightclock and unknowingly opening the border between the living world (Dayside) and that of the dead (Nightside), mischievous Dekker inadvertently allows a sinister, pointy-toothed boy named Cobb to kidnap his sister and hide her in Nightside. To find Riley and return to Dayside before it is too late, Dekker embarks on a dangerous journey through a twisted world full of train-riding ghosts and skeleton gangs. Harper, a strange girl who traverses Dayside and Nightside, joins Dekker on his adventure, seeking her mother and an otherworldly music box that Cobb has stolen. The atmospheric descriptions of the spooky scenes and inhabitants of Nightside create a strong sense of place, and the children's well-crafted dialogue adds humor to balance macabre scenarios. Despite a slow start to the plot and some inconsistencies in the characters, the action unfolds at a steady pace that will keep readers curious about what happens next. VERDICT An additional purchase for those who like their fantasy with plenty of skeletons (and a soft-hearted zombie).—Whitney LeBlanc, Staten Island Academy, NY

School Library Journal

★ 2014-12-22
A moment's messing with an odd clock plunges a lad into the strange and dangerous borderland between the living world and the realms of the dead in this decidedly offbeat chiller.Great-aunt Primrose's old house has no TV or Internet…but it does have a bone Nightclock hidden in the root cellar. Hardly has Dekker given its skull-shaped face a twist than he's engaged in a desperate game with a malign doppelgänger—who plucks Dekker's heart out and escapes into the shadowy Nightside. Fortunately, even though Dekker begins to decompose (his annoying little sister, Riley, rightly dubs him "zombie boy"), Aunt Prim grows special tomatoes that work as temporary heart replacements. Unfortunately, for all her joking, Riley intrepidly sneaks off alone into the borderland to get his stolen life back. Impelled to follow, he plunges into a huge impending crisis: The mighty Nightclock at the final gateway to the realms of the dead has been forcibly stopped so that no spirits can get through at all. Though strewn with scary creatures and tons of spooky bones, the tale is also leavened with such tongue-in-cheek elements as a bustling "Bizarre" of the dead and borderland trains lit by lanterns hung in the rib cages of skeletal conductors. Both Dekker and Riley are admirably clever, and Bradford keeps the stakes satisfyingly high. Rare, scary fun. With tomatoes. (Horror. 11-13)

Kirkus Reviews