78 pages • 2 hours read
Betty Ren WrightThe Dollhouse Murders
Fiction | Novel | Middle Grade | Published in 1983A modern alternative to SparkNotes and CliffsNotes, SuperSummary offers high-quality Study Guides with detailed chapter summaries and analysis of major themes, characters, and more. For select classroom titles, we also provide Teaching Guides with discussion and quiz questions to prompt student engagement.
Introduction
The Dollhouse Murders
- Genre: Fiction; middle grade mystery
- Originally Published: 1983
- Reading Level/Interest: Lexile 670L; grades 3-7
- Structure/Length: 19 chapters; approx. 160 pages; approx. 3 hours, 52 minutes on audio
- Protagonist/Central Conflict: Twelve-year-old Amy Treloar gets in trouble at home and runs away to the house where her great-grandparents used to live, now occupied by her Aunt Clare. When she finds a dollhouse in the attic that is an exact replica of their house, strange things happen. The dolls move on their own and might be trying to communicate a secret. Can Amy solve the mystery of her great-grandparents’ murders?
- Potential Sensitivity Issues: Cold murder case
Betty Ren Wright, Author
- Bio: 1927-2013; American writer of children’s fiction; lived in Kenosha, Wisconsin, with her husband; also wrote short stories and over 30 picture books; children’s book editor with Western Publishing; loved reading from a young age; craved stories about ghosts who were ordinary people
- Other Works: Getting Rid of Marjorie (1981); Christina’s Ghost (1985); The Ghost of Ernie P. (1990); Out of the Dark (1995); The Moonlight Man (2000)
- Awards: Texas Bluebonnet Award (1986); Pacific Northwest Library Association Young Reader’s Choice Award (1986); Rebecca Caudill Young Reader’s Book Award (1989)
CENTRAL THEMES connected and noted throughout this Teaching Unit:
- Coming of Age Means Facing One’s Problems
- Different Kinds of Abilities and Their Value
- Guilt as a Growth Obstacle
