The House With a Clock in Its Walls by John Bellairs

The House With a Clock in Its Walls by John Bellairs - 179 pages

When Lewis meets his uncle Jonathan he is amazed to discover he is a witch.  He loves watching the magic Jonathan and his friend Mrs. Zimmerman do.  But then he tries some magic of his own.  He's shocked when it works and he raises an evil witch from the dead.  Now they must somehow stop the evil witch from using a clock to bring around the end of the world.

I read this as the movie was coming out and a colleague went on and on about how it was her favorite book as a kid.  Honestly, I was not a fan.  If I hadn't determined to read it because of the movie, I would have put the book down pretty quickly and never returned to it.  I never really came to care about the characters and I didn't really think it was all that scary.

The Inventor's Secret by Andrea Cremer

The Inventor's Secret by Andrea Cremer  373 pages

In this world, sixteen-year-old Charlotte and her fellow refugees have scraped out an existence on the edge of Britain's industrial empire. Though they live by the skin of their teeth, they have their health (at least when they can find enough food and avoid the Imperial Labor Gatherers) and each other. When a new exile with no memory of his escape or even his own name seeks shelter in their camp he brings new dangers with him and secrets about the terrible future that awaits all those who have struggled has to live free of the bonds of the empire's Machineworks.