A Door Near Here Mass market paperbound - 2000

Excerpt

Alisa's fingers were digging into the knees of her jeans.  Her nails were turning white.  "Is she mad?" she asked.

I looked at her, wanting to hug her but at the same time feeling a weird sense of responsibility, like I should try to be at least sort of parental.  "Why would she be mad?" I asked carefully.

Alisa looked at the letter in my hands.  "Well .  .  .  what did she say?" she countered.

Smart.  I didn't smile, though.  "Why would she be mad, Alisa?"

She paused and then crumbled.  "She doesn't believe me."

"What doesn't she believe you about?"

"Narnia." Her voice was disappearing, so I reached out and took one of her hands to reassure her.  Then it registered what she'd said: "Narnia." Narnia?  Was this about that letter?  "What .  .  .  ," I started, then stopped.  I couldn't figure out what question to ask.  "What are you talking about?"

That came out wrong.  Alisa bit her lip but kept her head up.  "I told her I saw the door to Narnia," she said, her blue eyes looking not quite at me but off to one side.  "And I did.  In the woods.  I was trying to get to it, but Miss Barnes came and caught me before I could.  She ran faster than me.  And she yelled at me and the door disappeared .  .  .  because she made too much noise.  She scared it away."

"The door to Narnia," I echoed stupidly.

Media reviews

"Sad, powerful, and compelling."
--VOYA, starred review

"This story of siblings trying their best to survive without a functioning parent [will] pull in almost every YA reader. . . . Memorable."
--KLIATT, starred review

"A painful, authentic story."
--Booklist

"Katherine's hard-edged and driven narration will draw teens."
--The Bulletin