An Empty House Doesn’t Sneeze by David Scott Richardson
Publisher: Self-Published
Genre: Middle Grade (8 – 12 y.o.), Historical
Rating: 4 Stars
Review by: Astilbe

An Empty House Doesn’t Sneeze, recipient of the Literary Titan Gold Book Award and runner-up winner of the PenCraft Book Award, renders life on the home front through the watchful eyes of 15-year-old Scotty Johannsen as WWII rages across the globe. Against the backdrop of blackouts, bomb shelters, rationing, and victory gardens, Scotty and his friends follow the rhythms of yesteryear, weaving their wartime worries through the “wilds” of Seattle’s Ravenna Park, where their imaginations run free.

Into this fragile balance a neighborhood threat emerges: Someone is lighting fires during the mandatory blackouts. Scotty, whose father is an air raid warden, is soon caught up in the firebug mystery and tries to smoke the arsonist out. When the local bully throws suspicion on Scotty’s draft-age brother, and when even his best friend’s actions don’t seem to add up, Scotty must navigate a moral and ethical thicket while treading a path toward maturity. Even as scarcity slips into every nook and cranny, An Empty House Doesn’t Sneeze celebrates a youthful spirit and hearkens to simple pleasures, where free time and family abound.

Even hard times can have some good in them.

I was impressed by the character development. Mr. Richardson had well over 300 pages to explore the personalities and growth of both major and minor characters, and he used them to dig deeply into their lives and showcase both their flaws and their strengths. Sometimes I had to remind myself that this wasn’t actually a memoir because of how well-rounded and realistic nearly everyone was. Even the characters I would not necessarily want to live with due to certain habits they’d developed over time that I find irritating were still interesting to read about because their best moments were also given a chance to shine.

The pacing was a little slow at times, especially in the beginning as the characters were being introduced and the mystery was being set up. This is something that paid off beautifully later on as character development deepened and more clues about who was starting the fire began to emerge, but it does ask the reader for some patience upfront as certain aspects of the plot are being assembled behind the scenes. I tend to prefer a faster pacing in most cases, but that is a subjective topic and I was glad I hung out to see where this tale was going.

The world building couldn’t have been better. I appreciated how much effort the author put into describing what daily life was like during World War II for children and teens in the Pacific Northwest. Everything important was included, from the homemade meals they enjoyed – or in some cases complained about – to homework to the games they improvised when the radio didn’t have anything interesting playing on it. It truly felt as though I’d slipped back 80 years into the past as I read this which is exactly what I was hoping to find.

An Empty House Doesn’t Sneeze was well worth the effort I put into reading it.