Books by Penelope Lively
Style: Good
Attitude: Unobjectionable → Fairly Positive
Peter and Mair Jenkins come to live in a village when their father becomes headmaster of the school there.
Intriguing, mixing semi-supernatural with modern superstition.
Coping with, Spooky
Style: Good
Attitude: Positive
James Harrison's family have recently moved into a cottage in a village.
Magic
Style: Good
Attitude: Unobjectionable → Positive
Clare, a 14-year-old orphaned when young, is living with her great-aunts in the draughty big Victorian house her family has always owned when she finds the tribal tamburan her great-grandfather brought back from New Guinea.
A multi-layered book, exploring cultures which differ by place and by time. Clare's level-headedness and responsibility in the face of her elderly aunts' occasional inability to focus on the real world. The robust history and interests of Clare's aunts.
Growing-Up, Historical, Spooky, Thought-provoking
Style: Weak
Attitude: Positive
12-year-old Lucy returns to Hagworthy to stay with her aunt.
Magic, Spooky