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