Patricia Mather Parker

The abode from which this book takes its title seems at first glance to be some kind of orphanage or workhouse under the control of a Dickensian couple, the Smilts. They are grim and strict. Any infraction of the house rules brings severe punishment, the highest being confinement in darkness in “the place.”
When the book opens, one child, Fel, has already escaped into the mists that surround the abode. She, like all the children, has been told by the Smilts that any child foolish enough to try it would certainly die. But time in “the place” makes her desperate; death would be preferable, she feels. To her own amazement, Fel hasn’t died. She has been found and taken by the Vargases, a family of counter-pirates.
And then there is the mysterious orb in a treasure chest the Vargases liberate from other pirates. Its discovery provokes Fel to know that it is time to fulfill a promise and rescue her friend Molly from the abode, although she doesn’t know why this would be.
This is enough material for a challenging quest, but the story includes whispering mists, a talking parrot, and dragons. In addition, some of the children have telepathic power, the summoning.
I found this book delightful from beginning to end. I can imagine children from the fifth grade up would enjoy reading it, perhaps even third or fourth graders.
Full disclosure compels me to reveal that I knew the author from K through 12. We didn’t run in the same crowd, though. For that reason, I’m confident that, while I might never have been aware of the book if we hadn’t recently gotten back in touch, my enjoyment came from the book itself.… (meer)