(3) 4-6 Books of Elsewhere series. Illustrated by Poly Bernatene. In this series-ending fifth installment, Olive learns further secrets behind the paintings-as-portals magic of Elsewhere, its origins, and the world's creator. The magic's ability to preserve life indefinitely gets creepy, but characters with silly quirks keep the tone from becoming too dark. Illustrations are shadowy but still manage to make the heroes appear friendly.

Reviewer: Shoshana Flax

(3) 4-6 Books of Elsewhere series. Illustrated by Poly Bernatene. Olive's parents go missing, and it quickly becomes clear that the stakes are high in this fourth volume, as beings both human and supernatural want control of her family's powerful house. The book's heart tempers its scariness; most readers will discern that all will be well in the end. Shadowy, cartoonish illustrations bring more humor than darkness to the magical world.

Reviewer: Shoshana Flax

(3) 4-6 Books of Elsewhere series. "Olive put on the pair of antique spectacles...and watched the paintings...ripple into life." This third installment continues the conceit of "living paintings," here populating the story's real world with painted characters. The conceit is at its best when Olive applies her painting skills to re-create her friend Morton's missing parents. Black-and-white illustrations differentiate the painted images from scenes of Olive's world.

Reviewer: Shoshana Flax

(3) 4-6 Books of Elsewhere series. Illustrated by Poly Bernatene. Olive's quest to free Morton from Elsewhere, located inside the paintings in Olive's house, involves a search for a spell book and family connections obscured by time. Though this installment gives Olive less Elsewhere time than The Shadows, it generates plenty of magical creepiness by exploring the idiosyncrasies of the house--and the neighbors. Shadowy (but not scary) black-and-white illustrations enhance the mystery.

Reviewer: Shoshana Flax

(3) 4-6 Books of Elsewhere series. Illustrated by Poly Bernatene. Olive finds a pair of spectacles that let her enter the paintings in her family's decrepit Victorian mansion. There she finds cats who aren't quite feline and late homeowners who aren't quite dead. Even at their most dire--and darkly illustrated--Olive's circumstances are too fantastical to be really frightening; naive Olive figures it all out in time to regain control.

Reviewer: Shoshana Flax