The Apartment House on Poppy Hill

The Apartment House on Poppy Hill

Nina LaCour

Sonia Albert, Illustrator

Chronicle, 2023

128 pages

Grades 2-5

Realistic Fiction

Three separate, yet connected, stories describe life in an apartment house on a hilly street in San Francisco. Ella has lived at 1106 Wildflower Place her whole life, so when new tenants move into one of the five apartments, she is ready to help. Who better to tell them the rules of the garden, show them around, describe the glitches in their oven and lights, and warn them of the strange noise coming from the apartment across the hall every evening at sunset. Eventually the reader gets to know the other neighbors: the eccentric tea drinking Matilda, the busy dog-loving newly married couple Jacques and Merland, and Ella's moms Abby and Livy. The neighbors the reader does not get to know are the Robinsons, the mysterious recluses who live on the top floor. In fact Ella has never seen them, though not from lack of trying, and evidence of their presence can be found from their marvelous roses in the garden to their mail disappearing. Finally, one fateful day, Ella gets an invitation to the top floor. She will finally get to meet the mysterious neighbors. What will they be like?

Printz winning teen author, LaCour tries her hand at a chapter book in this departure from her usual style. Ella is a likable and jaunty protagonist, who is sure to resonate with readers. She is blessed with a need to be helpful and a can-do attitude. The book never strays from the apartment house setting and the reader gets the impression that it is Ella's whole world. I like that LaCour has included queer characters naturally as part of Ella's world and not as a big issue of the story. The simple conflicts arise from interactions with Ella and her family, both her actual family and her larger apartment family. The identity of the mystery neighbors was a fun plotline and added a bit of drama. It is nice to see a book that includes friendships across generations, though I would have liked to see Ella interact of talk of at least one other child. The design of the story will serve new chapter book readers well with large font size and margins and plenty of cheerful illustrations. There is nothing too overwhelming about this book and children will enjoy the cozy easy read. I can see more adventures for Ella and her gang ahead. Maybe then she will make a friend her own age.