The Greenhouse by Gráinne Quinlan – at a glance
The School Reading Lists’ five word review: family, agoraphobia, friendships, taking chances.
Children’s book title: The Greenhouse.
Children’s author: Gráinne Quinlan.
Genre: Children’s fiction.
Published by: Guppy Books.
ISBN: 9781916558977.
Recommended for children aged: 9-12.
First published: February 2027.
This children’s book is ideal for: examining the burdens that families can carry without anyone else realising and how one act of kindness can begin to change things for the better.
To see the latest price or order, click on the book cover image. As an Amazon Associate, schoolreadinglist.co.uk earns from qualifying purchases.
Our review:
Allie lives in Dublin, is eleven years old and has no friends. Home-schooled, she is only allowed to leave the house to go to the nearby playground each day after her lessons are complete. Bored in the small park, with no one her own age to play with, she moves on to the local graveyard where, one afternoon, she meets Joe. The same age as Allie, Joe doesn’t go to school either because, having been made homeless, his family don’t know where they’ll be from one day to the next and he has to look after his younger brothers while his mum works.
Allie’s mam is a botanical artist who has filled their home with plants of all types but loves orchids the most. One afternoon, while out with Joe, she discovers a glasshouse full of her mam’s favourite flowers, including a very rare specimen indeed. Making a pact with the owner, Allie and Joe clear and tidy his garden in return for ownership of the beautiful sky-blue plant and, although she doesn’t know it, that decision will change things not only for herself but also for Joe and his family.
Martin, the orchid’s original owner, is horrified by Joe and his family’s situation and is determined to change things for the better. Allie, however, hasn’t really opened up about her mother’s problems, which include agoraphobia, meaning she hasn’t left the house for over two years. Having experienced a different way of life with Joe and Martin, she is yearning for freedom from her oppressive existence even though she knows her mam can’t help it. Taking a day off from their studies, she and Joe head for the coast, but when they return, Allie discovers her mum in the midst of the worst panic she’s ever witnessed, until Martin, once again, comes to the rescue.
As things improve for everyone, Allie finds herself longing for one more thing, but she knows it might be a step too far for both herself and her mam unless they can work together to make it happen.
Our verdict:
Allie’s life is bound by routine and restriction and is beginning to show some of the scars left on her mother by the death of her parents and subsequent upbringing by a very strict great-aunt. The author shows through both Allie and Joe’s predicaments how the sins of the fathers are passed down, even when that is the last thing the original sufferer wanted to happen.
Allie’s grandparents drowned, leaving her mother traumatised by what she is sure could very well happen to her and her beloved daughter. Her suffering manifests as agoraphobia and an unrealistic desire to keep her daughter safe at all times, even if that means cutting them both off from the world outside their front door! Allie is shown as caring, competent and calm but also wanting more from her lonely life. Joe’s dad, meanwhile, had no hesitation in reacting angrily to his children and his wife until she knew she had to leave to keep her family safe. Now they live in council-run hotels while his mum tries to save enough for their own place, but having to run so often means they have very few possessions or friends who could help out. Joe’s loyalty is clear, but his scruffy appearance and careworn outlook make him easy prey for bullies and so, in a different but similar way, he too is desperately lonely with no idea how to change things.
The author introduces Martin as a curmudgeonly widower intent on contacting both children’s parents when he catches them trespassing and worse! Persuading him to hold off isn’t easy, but already the reader can tell he is one of the good guys and eventually, moving through his own loneliness, he is able to help himself as well as Allie and Joe’s families, who now have a chance of a far more hopeful and positive future.
Teaching points and book club discussion ideas:
- Allie, Joe and Martin are all lonely but for different reasons and deal with it in different ways. Having read the book, how do you think their lives will change for the better now they have been able to address their problems?
- Allie’s mam seems, on first perusal, to have suffered the most, but both Joe and Martin have suffered too. How much do you think their being together helped them individually to see a way ahead?
- Every surface in Allie’s home has plants on it. Do you know anyone who has a lot of flowers and greenery around their home? Would you like to be in charge of that much care and watering every day?
- Allie’s mum draws plants for a living, and it seems like Allie would follow in her footsteps, while Joe expresses himself through his poetry. Both these skills helped them cope. What other hobbies could they have had to help them?
Many thanks to Guppy Books for the review copy.
To order a class set of this book, please click below to order via uk.bookshop.org, an organisation that supports local bookshops, or Amazon.co.uk.
Buy from UK.Bookshop.Org Buy from Amazon.co.uk
Disclosure: If you buy books using the buttons above, we may earn a commission from Bookshop.org, whose fees support independent bookshops; as an Amazon Associate, schoolreadinglist.co.uk earns from qualifying purchases.
Browse our Books for Year 5 list.
