like a timid sparrow

p. 14—“You perch up there in that prickly nest like a timid sparrow just watching the world go by.  Fly down here and help me catch a worm.”

pale as a

ghost

p. 15—He was pale as a ghost, his skin a translucent gray.

like a frail child

p. 15—He looked like a frail child lying in that enormous, antique four-poster bed.

Room stood silent 

p. 17—The whole room stood silent.

That night the house was restless.

p. 21—That night the house was restless.  It seemed to mourn the passing of its long-time companion and caretaker.

The paneled walls groaned.  

p. 21—The hardwood floors creaked and the paneled walls groaned with the heavy burden of its loss.

As blue-black as midnight

p. 19—Michael . . . had wavy hair as blue-black as midnight.

Like a horse’s tail

p. 19—His sister’s hair was carelessly pulled to one side in a ponytail, and it kept swishing in Michael’s face as she talked—rather like a horse’s tail.

like a proud mother hen

 p. 21—“He’s growing up too quickly,” she clucked like a proud mother hen.

like the inside of a snail’s shell

p. 21—The stairs below wound around like the inside of a snail’s shell.

like a swashbuckler

p. 27—It made him sound like a swashbuckler.

like various animals howling and screeching

p. 32-- . . . the doorbell rang.  It was impossible to miss because Uncle Jack had designed it to sound like various animals howling and screeching in the wild.

bald as a cue ball

 p. 33—He had a nice smile set in a round, black face with no hair at all—bald as a cue ball!

He was an odd sort of Santa Claus.

p. 33—Mr. Fields was a very jolly man . . . a little pudgy, too, which added to her opinion that he was an odd sort of Santa Claus.

like a stone

like a flag with a few notches out of it

p. 51—Her bedroom key looked like a flag with a few notches out of it hanging on the end of a thin pole.

like looking down a huge hole

p. 54-- . . . the middle of the staircase . . . was like looking down a huge hole in the middle of a stretched-out slinky.

like a cat paralleling the movements of its prey

p. 62—She peered over the railing to make sure Maddie didn’t get off on the second floor and slinked down the rest of the staircase like a cat paralleling the movements of its prey.

like a hawk

p. 56—“I’m going to watch you like a hawk.”

like confetti

p. 108—The fallen pink blossoms of the cherry trees looked like confetti on the emerald green grass.

like the colors of glistening raindrops

p. 108--. . . the assorted hues of the gardens sparkled in the sun like the colors of glistening raindrops after a summer shower.

Every bloom held its head high.

like giant eyes keeping watch

p. 109—. . . Two gables adorned the face of it like giant eyes keeping watch over the grounds.

like looking for a needle

 p. 117—“This is like looking for a needle in a haystack.”