{"product_id":"1416914064-the_house_on_the_gulf","title":"The House on the Gulf","description":"\n\n\u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cb\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n[If only] Bran would stop acting weird....Probably he had a perfectly reasonable explanation for everything.\u003cp\u003eI just couldn't imagine what it would be.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eWhen Britt's older brother, Bran, lands a summer job house-sitting for the Marquises, an elderly couple, it seems like a great opportunity. Britt and Bran have moved to Florida so their mother can finish college, and the house-sitting income will allow their mom to quit her job and take classes full-time. Having never lived in a real house before, Britt is thrilled. There's only one problem: Britt starts to suspect her family isn't supposed to be there.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eShe's been noticing that Bran is acting weird and defensive — he hides the Marquises' mail, won't let anyone touch the thermostat, and discourages Britt from meeting any of the neighbors. Determined to get to the bottom of things, Britt starts investigating and makes a startling discovery — the Marquises aren't who Bran has led her and their mom to believe. So whose house are they staying in, and why has Bran brought them there?\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eWith unexpected twists and turns, award winner Margaret Peterson Haddix has again crafted a thriller that will grip readers until its stunning conclusion.\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\nClaudia Mills - Children's Literature\n\u003cp\u003eIn this stunning page-turner about a house-sitting job gone awry, Haddix combines exquisitely painful suspense with a powerful and poignant message on the importance and limits of forgiveness. Twelve-year-old Brit comes to suspect that all is not right with the summer house-sitting job her adored older brother, Bran, has arranged for their family, so that their overburdened single mother—disowned by her own family after eloping at sixteen with the children's no-good father—can finish her undergraduate degree and pursue her dream of someday becoming a doctor. Why is Bran so reluctant to introduce Brit to the homeowners before they leave? Why will he not let Brit touch the thermostat? Why does he insist on packing away all the Marquises' dishes and family memorabilia? It turns out that the Marquises are not who Brit and her mother think they are, as one gut-wrenching revelation follows another. Haddix has Hitchcock's flair for making even the smallest detail reverberate with agonizing significance—we squirm unbearably over a telltale scrap of paper cut out of the junk mail circulars delivered to the Marquises' house. As impressive, however, is her sensitive creation of a struggling family whose overly-protective older son is ready to make a tragic mistake from love. And the theme of when and why one ought to forgive—or possibly withhold forgiveness—is genuinely deep and moving. 2004, Simon \u0026amp; Schuster, Ages 8 to 12. \u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cbr\u003e\u003cp\u003eCategories:\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cul class=\"category-tree\"\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eChildren's Books\u003cul class=\"category-tree\"\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eGrowing Up \u0026amp; Facts of Life\u003cul class=\"category-tree\"\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eFamily Life\u003cul class=\"category-tree\"\u003e\u003cli class=\"category-tree\"\u003eNew Experiences\u003c\/li\u003e\u003c\/ul\u003e\n\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003c\/ul\u003e\n\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003c\/ul\u003e\n\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003c\/ul\u003e\n\n","brand":"Simon \u0026 Schuster Books for Young Readers","offers":[{"title":"Used - Good","offer_id":46691948986558,"sku":"1416914064-4","price":11.76,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":false}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0640\/9689\/5166\/files\/51TuJmMl2jL.jpg?v=1777389311","url":"https:\/\/shop.sustainablebooks.com\/products\/1416914064-the_house_on_the_gulf","provider":"Sustainable Books","version":"1.0","type":"link"}