Nathan D. Wilson

After his parents are kidnapped, timid twelve-year-old Henry York leaves his sheltered Boston life and moves to small-town Kansas, where he and his cousin Henrietta discover and explore hidden doors in his attic room that seem to open onto other worlds.

100 Cupboards

N. D. Wilson

Sarah Sammis

100 Cupboards by ND Wilson was recommended to me by the Greaet Books for Kids and Teens blog. It was a short mention of the book after they had just started it but it was enough to get my interest.

The book begins with a lovely homage to The Wonderful Wizard of Oz by L. Frank Baum with a description of Henry Kansas. While it's not described as being gray, it is called small and slow. The excitement for the town is the rare arrival of a bus and on that bus is the main character, Henry York.

Henry's not sure what to think of his Aunty Dotty or Uncle Frank who are so different than his own parents. Throughout the book he comments on all the things they are letting him do that they his parents never did (like ride in the back of a truck, drink soda, play baseball).

What he's not expecting though, is to have a mystery surface in the wall of his attic room. Ninety-nine cupboards are behind the plaster wall and he and cousin Henrietta sort out the basics of how the cabinets work. They also uncover the truth behind them and unleash a long forgotten danger.

For Doctor Who fans, this book is a lot like "The Girl in the Fireplace" episode. The world building is lovely but there are times when the book uses an awkward turn of phrase. Sometimes the plot jumps scenes without much of a segue. I had to go back and re-read a dozen or so passages.

Christine

10/24/22: bros what am i doing reading this Again. it's the FIFTH TIME! i literally have been reading this instead of doing the million and two homework assignments i have to do. i am literally exhausted don't run barn chores in 70 degree weather :D . anyway like - cupboards. Henry. Henrietta and Penny and Anastasia. Frank and Dotty. Raggants. Zeke. everyone likes Zeke!!! Nimiane and Bast. mildly excited for everything go insane in dandelion fire now if i ever get time to read it I love mondays which is not something I thought I'd ever say. but mondays are OFF and FREE and of course i spent it rereading a random middle grade book i've read four times already. cupboards are cool I'm going to go stare at the list of cupboards again. I want to have cupboards. Henrietta is SUPER annoying and stupid in this one but so was I at 11 probably x100 so whatever. understandable. i love rereading books and realizing what Certain Things mean because i know the full story. this book is literally so tame compared to the next ones that's funny for some reason. I am so tired I am just rambling in here WAIT WHAT IS MONMOUTH DOING IN THE EPILOGUE ??? ok so this book was written in 2007 and i would've been 3-4 then which is legitimately INSANE but it is funny reading about Frank and his old computer and Internet store. TWO THOUSAND SEVEN? that was literally 15 years ago. WHAT. i just realized that ??? it's not even 10pm and i am like going to black out at this point this is such a revelation to me (that is 5/6ths of my life). cupboards are cool i am mildly fascinated by the workings of them even though they're just like vaguely unexplained by the clever plot device of Henry simply choosing not to read that part of the letter but i feel 12 again reading this book for the first time suddenly. this had made me realize that Door Before would've been set in like the 70s-80s at latest if my approximate timeline works out WHAT THE LITERAL HECK ! !!!! shoutout to Ashtown tbh. uuhhhhhh also shoutout to the faeren lmao . MORDECAI! RIP to frank tbh I have never considered exactly how !RJIo2375135u his story is. his home world be BRUTAL lmao i have been thinking about it quite a bit and i have come to the simple conclusion that it is absolutely harsh on everyone but that is how medieval ish fantasy is like. 2007 was 15 years ago??! im still not really over that mfw. shoutout to Blake the cat i want a Blake except i wouldn't shove him in the toilet as a four year old RIP to henry but I'm different. goodnight I forgot everything else I was thinking during this book 

edit, 25 minutes later: i opened my laptop for the sole reason of editing this to say that i find it hysterical that Wilson only deals with 12-13 year old MCs. 7th grade boys are another breed of Girl What Is Going On!!!!! they are somewhat fascinating creatures that i do not envision as book protagonists thumbsup ok to be fair it's been 6 years since i was 12 but still. yeeowhchh. Henry and Cyrus and Sam and Alex and what's his face from Boys of Blur and Leepike Ridge you know et cetera. I am still incredibly tired but I don't want to sleep because now I've pulled out Dandelion Fire!!! life choices. have to be up at 6 tomorrow bro

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i have no idea when i wrote this down:
everytime i reread this book i suddenly gain a new appreciation for the cupboards
and zeke

A old comfort re-read. I've read it many more times than Goodreads knows about. Doesn't feel like a children's book - beautiful writing, slow to start, doesn't talk down to the reader. You either understand what ND Wilson is talking about or you don't, and it reminded me of my own childhood, enjoying the books where I didn't understand references/ones that sent me back to the dictionary again and again the best. Not that the language is especially complicated, but still. 

There's such a lazy, laid back feel to the beginning of the book which I love so much. The internet exists, but everything seems so old-fashioned and quaint. Television and computer use is rationed it seems, and the kids make up games. Baseball is the most exciting thing to happen most days.

The cupboards are wonderful. If you liked the idea of the woods between the worlds, it's a similar premise. I especially loved the letters that came out of said cupboards - they were amazing. 

The only thing I didn't really vibe with was Penelope and Anastasia, they were dull. I didn't get the point of Richard, either? I've nearly finished Dandelion Fire and I still don't get the point of him. If he doesn't do something in The Chestnut King I'm going to be very put out.

Taryn Quigg

I thought that this book was really creative and imaginative and it was something that I had never seen before. I thought that it was really enjoyable and I found myself getting more and more immersed with every passing page. I will definitely be keeping an eye out for this books two sequels as I am intrigued by Wilson's writing and want to have more of his work. I would recommend if you're into mystery/inception type books.