# Need Help Identifying a Book **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [November 11, 2011, 7:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/need-help-identifying-a-book/602628 "2011-11-11T19:09:43Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 3\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Storm\_Girl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/b3f665/32.png) [@Storm\_Girl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Storm_Girl)\ **Post date:** [November 11, 2011, 7:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/need-help-identifying-a-book/602628/1 "2011-11-11T19:09:43Z")
When I was in about the 6th grade I read a book that was fascinating to me…have been searching for it off and on for years. Here are the pertinent details: \*13ish boy living in an old house, possibly in England with a hidden secret room/suite of rooms with a mysterious family living in it \*There are rose patterned dishes mentioned a couple of times \*At the end of the book, the boy realizes that the family is all in his head, and very probably he is going crazy, having a break with reality, etc. I would LOVE to be able to find the book and reread it. Help? pleaseandthankyou 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![eclectic\_wench](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/ac91a4/32.png) [@eclectic\_wench](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/eclectic_wench)\ **Post date:** [November 12, 2011, 12:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/need-help-identifying-a-book/602628/2 "2011-11-12T00:15:37Z")
GAH. I’ve read this, or something very like it. If I remember right, the break with reality is because he’s having trouble adjusting to a new stepfamily, and the room is in a tower that, at the end of the book, turns out to be way too tiny for even one person to fit into it. I think the boy’s name is Neil. The author has three names, one of them has a Mc in it, and GAH. ETA: Got it!! ‘A Really Weird Summer’ by Eloise Jarvis McGraw. From Amazon: ‘While staying with relatives who live in an old inn, twelve-year-old Nels finds a secret passageway to a part of the building that no longer exists and meets a strange boy whose family is trapped in a leftover pocket of time.’ Is that the one? ---
**Author:** ![Storm\_Girl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/b3f665/32.png) [@Storm\_Girl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Storm_Girl)\ **Post date:** [November 12, 2011, 2:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/need-help-identifying-a-book/602628/3 "2011-11-12T02:23:33Z")
That’s it! I remember being both fascinated and terrified by the book. Off to Amazon! Many thanks! 🙂