The Sixty-Eight Rooms by Marianne Malone

My name is Ruthie, and I've always been wishing that something remarkable would happen in my life. I enjoy visiting the art museum with my best friend Jack, and I especially like the Thorne Room. It has sixty-eight displays showing replicas of miniature rooms from throughout history. I would love to sleep in one of the canopy beds! Then, something exciting happened. Jack found a key in a back hallway that allows me to shrink down to five inches tall! We don't know why it won't work for Jack, but it makes me the perfect size for exploring the tiny rooms. I've learned that I can exit the rooms and enter their worlds from the past. Everything I've seen is from those time periods except for a wooden pencil and a plastic barrette. Did someone else visit these rooms before me?

This book is the first one in a series, and I suppose the others will have more depth to them. For me, this book meandered along without a clear conflict, so it never developed any tension or suspense. I was three-fourths of the way through the book before a clear problem emerged, so I couldn't foresee when the story might come to an end. It felt like this book was setting the stage for its sequels. That being said, a lot of events transpired during the last fourth of the book, so I had an idea of what's to come. Ruthie and Jack were tight friends with high morals and character. They were very reluctant to break the rules and dishonesty didn't come easy. I was surprised and pleased to see them make responsible decisions and not let the opportunities get out of hand. I wonder if that will continue in the sequel. Overall, I liked the book but didn't love it. The lack of a clear, main conflict made it hard to get emotionally involved and didn't create any suspense. I haven't decided if I'll read Book 2, but I can see some younger readers taking to the series.