Enter the paintings from the beginning
Start with The Shadows before Olive learns the house's secrets and the later mysteries begin.
Book Series · 5 Books
The Books of Elsewhere Books
In order from The Shadows to Still Life.
Five illustrated fantasies follow Olive as she enters enchanted paintings, befriends talking cats, and uncovers the dangerous history of her family's old house.
Reviewed by the Bookroo Editors Updated
Reading order
How to Read The Books of Elsewhere
Read The Shadows, Spellbound, The Second Spy, The Strangers, and Still Life in numbered order. Each mystery builds on Olive's discoveries about the paintings, the house, and the people trapped inside them.
Penguin Random House lists these five novels as the complete series. There are no publisher-listed novellas or companion books to fit between them.
For parents
What Parents Should Know
The talking cats and humor share the page with genuinely creepy fantasy: children can be trapped in paintings, ghosts and sinister adults threaten Olive, and characters face falls, attacks, imprisonment, death, and grief. The suspense is aimed at middle-grade readers, but sensitive children may find the haunted-house atmosphere and endangered children unsettling.
Where to start
Where Should a New Reader Start?
Where the story begins
First Book in the Series
Sale price
$858
Book #1 · Chapter Book · Ages 10–12 · 2010
The Shadows
By Jacqueline West, Poly Bernatene (Illustrator)
A girl discovers a sinister world within paintings, facing a dark power that threatens her new home.
272 pages· 45,710 words· Est. 5 hour read
$8.99Save 5%
Paperback
Summary: Eleven-year-old Olive moves into a mysterious mansion filled with eerie paintings and talking cats. When she finds antique spectacles, she can enter the paintings, uncovering a sinister world. With only the cats and a peculiar boy as allies, Olive must unravel the dark mystery threatening to consume her home. Can she save the house from the shadows before it's too late?
In reading order
The Books of Elsewhere Series
5 books · Published 2010–2014
#1
Sale price
$858
The Shadows
Chapter Book · Ages 10–12 · 2010
A girl discovers a sinister world within paintings, facing a dark power that threatens her new home.
#2
Sale price
$858
Spellbound
Chapter Book · Ages 10–12 · 2011
A spellbook may free Morton from Elsewhere, but it might find Olive first.
#3
Sale price
$858
The Second Spy
Chapter Book · Ages 9–12 · 2012
A hidden secret threatens to trap Olive in a mysterious world forever.
#4
Sale price
$858
The Strangers
Chapter Book · Ages 10–12 · 2013
On Halloween, Olive faces strangers and lost secrets. Can she trust new magic or old foes?
#5
Sale price
$858
Still Life
Chapter Book · Ages 10–12 · 2014
A hidden threat emerges, forcing Olive to confront dark secrets and save her world from destruction.
Good to know
Common Questions
How many books are in the Books of Elsewhere series?
There are 5 books in the Books of Elsewhere series. It began with The Shadows in 2010, and the newest book, Still Life, was published in 2014.
What order should you read the Books of Elsewhere books in?
Start with The Shadows and follow the series order — the books above are numbered #1 through #5.
What ages are the Books of Elsewhere books best for?
The series is best for ages 9–12, based on the age ranges of the individual books.
Which Books of Elsewhere book is the longest?
Still Life (Book #5) is the longest book in the series at 62,005 words (352 pages).
Which Books of Elsewhere book is the shortest?
The Shadows (Book #1) is the shortest at 45,710 words (272 pages).
The people
The Creatives Behind the Books
The people who bring The Books of Elsewhere to life.
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