Product Description

Long before there was Dolly the sheep, Jeanmarie Troxell dubbed the look-alike, think-alike girls in her school "clones" and decided she wanted nothing to do with them. That's how Jeanmarie forms an unlikely friendship with another outsider, Malcolm Soo, over an equally unlikely activity -- burying dead animals at the remote spot they name Jericho Tel.

It's at Jericho Tel that Jeanmarie and Malcolm encounter Tallulah, a famous actress who happens to be dead -- although not too dead to send them on a magical quest to find out who stole the famous Regina Stone. But their search leads Jeanmarie and Malcolm to something far more valuable than a missing diamond -- adventure, friendship, and self-knowledge.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #685068 in Books
• Published on: 1998-11-01
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Paperback
• 192 pages

From Publishers Weekly
Konigsburg delivers a witty, fast-paced story of two likable, headstrong children, who encounter the ghost of an old actress. Jeanmarie and Malcolm are plummeted into the magic underground world of flamboyant, red-haired, cigarette-puffing Tallulah. Tallulah sets them a series of tasks righting wrongs on earth (including exposing a phony faith healer by exposing him, in one of the book's funniest scenes), and making them invisible in order to perform these works. The tasks lead, in fine fairy-tale fashion, to the one big task, and then to the rewardin this case, realizing their talents and finding the courage to let them emerge. The dialogue is sharp and funny, the characters pleasing and Tallulah is a pip. And although Konigsburg is not didactic, it seems clear that with all this talk of magic, the real magic is the discovery of one another by two lonely chidren, and the loving friendship that ensues.
Copyright 1986 Reed Business Information, Inc.

From School Library Journal
Grade 5-9 "There was a time when I was eleven years old. . .when I was invisible," begins Jeanmarie Troxell, future star and heroine of Konigsburg's humorous fantasy, which is set on Long Island in the early 1970s. Feeling invisible at her new school, Jeanmarie makes friends with Malcolm Soo, also a loner, over the burial of a dead blue jay. Digging in the earth mound they call Jericho Tel, they are whisked underground by Tallulah, the ghost of a red-haired actress, who wants them to discover her missing diamond. Now made truly invisible by Tallulah's Orgone box, they begin a search which leads to some very odd people, as well as to self-discovery and deeper friendship. By the time The Regina Stone is found, Jeanmarie has gained the confidence to shed her "invisibility" at school and try out for her first play. Konigsburg excels at creating unusual characters. She is less successful at tying her fantasy to the real world; there seems no particular "rightness" in Tallulah being reached through a hole in the ground in a trailer park. However, the wry humor of Jeanmarie and Malcolm's invisible adventures among Tallulah's old theatrical friends is worth the mental leap necessary to get there. Each chapter ends with one of Tallulah's maxims, such as "a child actor is a vacuum that Nature has every right to abhor." Ruth S. Vose, San Francisco Public Library
Copyright 1986 Reed Business Information, Inc.

Review
Booklist Focus review Konigsburg writes with flashes of brilliance, and her multilayered story is as fresh and funny as any that has come center stage in a while. -- Review

Customer Reviews

Amazing!
I always feel that the characters are real--Jeanmarie, Malcolm and Tallulah!! What a wonderful story. So sweet. Witty. Provoking. I really love it.
Whether you're a girl or a boy ( or a future scientist or future actress), you would do very well to treat yourself to this book. HIGHLY recommended.

Quotable quotations at the beginning of every chapter
I read this book years ago, and still find that its quotable quotations have come up in many relevant situations. The full wit of these quotations only came up years later.

In fact, they are the single best reason for picking up this book.

Examples below:

"Good explanations are like bathing suits: Meant to reveal everytying by covering only what's necessary."

"Never have a long conversation with anyone who says 'between you and I.'"

"The light bulb and the telephone were invented by men who knew how to make them work without knowing why. I believe that's the way people should raise children."

"Exercise is good for the heart, the lungs, and the unemployed."

amazing book for kids and adults
I absolutely ADORED this book the first time I read it, in elementary school, and have come back to it again and again. It gets better every time I think. Part who-done-it, part showbiz tell all, it's completely enjoyable and a great read. Highly recommended.