House of Dolls

Block, Francesca Lia. (2010). House of Dolls. Harper Collins: New York, NY.

Genre: Soft Fantasy

Reading interest: Juvenile

Pages: 80

Topics: Dolls, Doll House, Loneliness
resentment, jealousy

Favorite quote from the book: "The combination of boredom and jealousy is a dangerous thing."

Summary: Madison Blackberry is bored in her fancy all-white-and gray penthouse, bored with her fancy toys, bored without any friends.She is jealous of her mother who attends gala parties and never has time to play with her. She is jealous of her father who is always traveling. She is jealous of her little brother who gets all the attention. But most of all, she is jealous of her dolls, Wildflower, Rockstar, and Miss Selene, and their boyfriends Guy and B. Friend. She envies the fancy dresses her grandmother makes for the dolls, but she has not made one dress for Madison. Out of anger Madison takes away all of the dolls' fancy dresses. She sends Guy to war and B. Friend goes MIA. Madison's jealousy melts away when finally her family realizes that all she needs and wants is their time and attention.

Reader's response: House of Dolls is a contemporary fairy tale where the lives of the dolls are affected by the complex relationships of their owners. Madison's family seems to be lost in pride and avarice that they forget about Madison. This book can be use in the classroom to have a discussion about the importance of family relationships. It can also be use to introduce students to writing their own fairy tale stories. Students can also write a different ending to the story. 

Other books from Francesca Lia Block:

Other books about dolls:

The Doll People by Ann Mathews Martin

Doll Bones by Holly Black