THE ELEVATOR FAMILY

An endearingly eccentric family settles into the elevator and hearts of the patrons and employees at the San Francisco Hotel in this over-the-top tale from Evans. No room at the inn is no problem for the intrepid Wilsons; Mr. and Mrs. and their twin ten-year-olds, Winslow and Whitney, simply set up camp in the hotel’s elevator. From their mobile abode, they cheerfully offer advice and hospitality to everyone who “visits” their room. The gregarious Wilsons are true humanitarians, helping out their fellow travelers; providing insights into the opposite sex for a lovelorn teenager; and offering companionship for a lonely salesman. They are delightfully insouciant about their unusual accommodations, and Evans’s campy humor will have readers groaning with glee. When questioned about life in an elevator, the twins reply, “It had its ups. . . . And downs.” Evans works out the intricacies of life on board an elevator with aplomb, neatly making the implausible seem possible. Throughout their adventures, the Wilsons maintain their affability. Even the ungrateful attitude of the kidnapped heiress they rescue fails to quell the good nature or good will of the irrepressible Wilsons. Brief chapters loaded with wry humor keep readers’ interest high and are a great draw for reluctant ones. A wacky, warm-hearted tale. (Fiction. 8-12)