Good Reads: The House on the Gulf

     -          Author:  Margaret Peterson Haddix

-          Publisher:  Simon & Schuster Inc.

-          Copyright:  2004

-          ISBN#:  0-689-85422-6

-          Genre:  Mystery

-          Current Library Location:  Southwest Amarillo Public Library

Summary:

            Britt Lassiter, her older brother Bran, and her mother, have always struggled to get by.  They just moved to Florida so their mother could get a special scholarship for single mothers to go to college.  However, she needed more hours to get into the program.  Bran finds a deal that seems too good to be true—house-sitting for an elderly couple, the Marquis’s, for the summer.  The couple will let Bran and his family live in the house for free over the summer, and will pay Bran for his efforts.
            As soon as they move into the house, Britt notices Bran acting very strangely.  He packs away all of the Marquis’s things and hides them in his locked closet.  He won’t let her get to the mail and is nervous about Britt meeting with the neighbors.  Britt eventually finds out that the Marquis’s are actually the Marcus’s, her mother’s parents who disowned her years ago when she eloped to marry their father.  Bran devised the scheme because he believed the Marcus’s owed their mother after all they had done.  But, when Mrs. Marcus returns unexpectedly, Britt’s mother learns of Bran’s deceit and Bran discovers he has tricked the wrong Marcus couple.  Skeptical, Mrs. Marcus reluctantly agrees to let the family go without pressing charges.  Mrs. Stuldy, and elderly neighbor Britt has made friends with, generously offers to let the family live with her the rest of the summer.

Personal Response:

            While the mystery and turns in the story were interesting, the main thing that stood out to me was the description of the Lassiter family.  Britt’s father left when she was just a baby, and it had always been their small trio.  Mrs. Lassiter had always worked two jobs, tried to go to school, and after 16 years was still just barely getting by.  Britt and Bran relied on each other, protected their mother, and Bran in particular had to grow up quickly.  The kinds of feelings and situations described are all too familiar to not only myself, but many of the people I know.  The author does an excellent job of bringing out the complicated relationships and emotions that arise from broken families, such as Britt’s confusion about what to do when she finds out about Bran’s secret.  Bran is her brother but has often taken on the role of her father, and she is lost trying to decide whether to trust him or tell her mother.

Suggested Use in Classroom:

            I chose this book again trying to pique the interest of different students.  The mystery element will appeal to some, and I think the description of the broken family will relate to many.  The book can be analyzed as a mystery, with activities such as discovering the author’s organization and style.  The complex relationships and situation would make a character study interesting.  Also, the broken home element with some of the complicated situations and relationships described could also be used to begin a discussion on family dynamics.