Nine Doors

Emery doesn’t know how he feels about Richard. On the one hand the other boy is charming and witty, but he is also very skilled at twisting words and manipulating people to get his way. Consequently, Emery is never sure where he stands with his supposed friend. 

When Richard convinces him to play ‘Nicky Nicky Nine Doors’, Emery reluctantly goes along with it. Unfortunately, what starts out as a silly pranking game soon becomes more serious, resulting in anger, frustration, embarrassment, and sadness for Emery’s neighbours. Along the way Emery meets Bebi, an attractive girl down the road, and decides that he’d prefer to hang out with her than play Richard’s silly games.

Things escalate when the teens are kidnapped, until they discover their kidnapper is actually Marjorie, Emery’s kindly neighbour. Marjorie has a terrible fear of going outside, and when she saw what the boys were doing to her neighbours,  she became so afraid that she panicked and grabbed them before they could come to her door. Thankfully, all works out in the end, and Emery learns a valuable lesson about taking silly pranks too far.

Nine Doors is an interesting story about the unintended consequences of one’s actions. Over the course of the story Emery becomes more and more disillusioned about the silly game Richard is playing, but he continues to participate, drawn in by the other boy’s teasing. These themes are important for younger readers, and this story approaches the topic in a humorous and easy-to-understand way.

Pranks, teenagers, consequences, police, arson, phobia of going outside, panic attacks

1. Emery mentions wanting to punch Richard early in the story, although he doesn’t actually do anything about it (p. 5). 2. Emery develops a crush on Bebi after meeting her which is maintained throughout the rest of the story, although nothing more happens with this scenario.