When the unconventional Graves family - complete with mad-scientist father and Venus flytrap-loving mother - move into the creaky old house on Park Street, painting it blood-red, their new neighbors in Union City want nothing to do with them. All except for Seth and Sara Miller, that is, who live across the street, and befriend the eldest Graves child, Hieronymus (whom they nickname Ronnie). The children's well-meaning ideas to help the Graves fit in - finagling an invitation to the Ladies Garden Club Tea for Mrs. Graves, convincing Dr. Graves to share his remarkable hair-growing formula with the many bald men in town - all backfire, much to the young Millers' dismay. Then a home-decorating guru, with a popular television show, visits Union City, and something most unexpected occurs...

I've been meaning to read more of the prolific Patricia Polacco, and standing in front of "her" shelf at the public library this past weekend, struggling to decide which one to choose next, I happened to recall The Graves Family, which, whilst not explicitly Halloween themed, does contain some elements - the spooky house, the bats and spiders - that make it a good selection for this time of year. An engaging story, paired with Polacco's appealingly expressive illustrations - I particularly liked the scenes in which Seth and Sara stare around them, aghast! - made this an enjoyable read, although I can't say it touched my heart-strings as so many of the other author's books have done. Still, I liked it enough that I will be seeking out the sequel, The Graves Family Goes Camping! ( )

Is it possible to make friends with the queer family that lives in a haunted house? Sara and Seth do their best, but everytime they do something with the Graves family, it turns out to be a disaster! Will they have enough good ideas to help the Graves family fit in with all their bizarre ways? The pictures are delightful, and the story amusing. ( )

Seth and Sara befriend Ronnie whose family just moved into the nighborhood. The Graves' house looks like a haunted house and they do things differently that the other neighbors. They just want to fit in and not have to move everytime something goes wrong.

This book is geared toward the older audience but it still teaches a great lesson. It is about a family that moves in to a house that is very spooky. They move from town to town because they are never accepted by anyone. They are unique individuals but everyone sees them as weird. However, one day the family across the street comes over to meet them and they make friends. In an effort to try to prove to the town they can fit in, things go wrong, but eventually everyone learns to accept them for who they are. Because this is written on a fifth grade level, I feel like this is a great book to read to the children who are about to enter middle school-a difficult time for learning to fit in. http://www.patriciapolacco.com/ is the author's website that is absolutely a great resource for teachers. It has a section for teachers, author information, fun activities for children, and a schedule of her appearances.

Art Media: Pencil, watercolor.
This book is a good example of a fantasy because although the scenario is realistic (having new neighbors that may be a little different or odd) all of the elements that were in the Graves house are highly unlikely such as the giant spiders who act as house pets and the venus flytrap that has baby plants which the family keeps as pets. The scenario is made believable but it would never really happen.
Plot: The plot of this story is really good because you start out with this conflict and the drama continues to add up about this new family in town and the more things we learn about this family it makes them seem spooky and then everything is worked out in the end. It has a great lead up to the climax and then everyone is happy at the end.