The apartment house on Poppy Hill

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Title :

The apartment house on Poppy Hill / by Nina LaCour ; illustrated by Sònia Albert.

Title:

The apartment house on Poppy Hill

Author:

LaCour, Nina

Format:

Books

Series:

The apartment house on Poppy Hill ; book 1

Physical Description:

125 pages : illustrations ; 21 cm.

ISBN:

9781797213736

Production / Publication Information:

San Francisco : Chronicle Books, [2023]

Summary:

Nine-year-old Ella considers herself the official greeter, tour guide, and is generally in charge of 1106 Wildflower Place, but the elusive Robinsons who live on the top floor are a mystery--one which Ella is determined to solve, and bring the elderly couple into the community of the apartment building on Poppy Hill.

Target audience note:

Ages 7-10.

Language:

English

Added Author:

Albert, Sònia

Genre:

Detective and mystery fiction.

Humorous fiction.

Subject Term:

Apartment houses -- Juvenile fiction.

Apartment dwellers -- Juvenile fiction.

Neighbors -- Juvenile fiction.

Interpersonal relations -- Juvenile fiction.

Apartment houses -- Fiction.

Neighbors -- Fiction.

Interpersonal relations -- Fiction.

Mystery and detective stories.

Holds: Copies:

Available:*

Material Type	Library	Call Number	Item Barcode	Location
Book	Searching... Andover - Memorial Hall Library Children's Room	YOUNGER LACOUR	31330009404710	Searching... Unknown
Book	Searching... Billerica Public Library	J/LACOUR	33934004690195	Searching... Unknown
Book	Searching... Carlisle - Gleason Public Library	J LACOUR	32117002201865	Searching... Unknown
Book	Searching... Chelmsford Public Library	J/CHAPTER/LACOUR	31480011743249	Searching... Unknown
Book	Searching... Dracut - Moses Greeley Parker Memorial Library	J/FIC/LACOUR	31482003104547	Searching... Unknown
Book	Searching... Groton Public Library	JE-3 LAC	37003702013179	Searching... Unknown
Book	Searching... Groveland - Langley-Adams Library	J FIC LACOUR	32121000981155	Searching... Unknown
Book	Searching... Haverhill Public Library	FIRST FICTION/J/FIC/LACOUR	31479007668097	Searching... Unknown
Book	Searching... Lowell - Pollard Memorial Library	J FIC LACOUR	31481005755066	Searching... Unknown
Book	Searching... Newbury Town Library	J CHAPTER LACOUR	32127001378523	Searching... Unknown
Book	Searching... Newburyport Public Library	J LACOUR / EASY READER	32128004232196	Searching... Unknown
Book	Searching... North Andover - Stevens Memorial Library	J LAC	31478003826956	Searching... Unknown
Book	Searching... North Reading - Flint Memorial Library	J MR APT	31550002596051	Searching... Unknown
Book	Searching... Rowley Public Library	J FIC LAC	32130001088720	Searching... Unknown
New books	Searching... Salisbury Public Library	J FIC LAC	32131001004931	Searching... Unknown
Book	Searching... Tewksbury Public Library	J EARLY CHAPTER LACOUR	32132003428995	Searching... Unknown
Book	Searching... Tyngsborough Public Library	ABCJ/LACOU	32137002222133	Searching... Unknown
Book	Searching... Westford - J.V. Fletcher Library	J F LACOUR	31990005182485	Searching... Unknown
Book	Searching... Wilmington Memorial Library	KIDS YOUNGER LACOUR	32136003608563	Searching... Unknown

Bound With These Titles

On Order

Summary

A charming new chapter book by bestselling author Nina LaCour.

Welcome to 1106 Wildflower Place: It is no ordinary apartment house, but you, reader, are no ordinary visitor. So, please, come in!

Two new tenants have just arrived, and nine-year-old Ella is determined to help them settle in. Who better to teach them about the glitchy lights and the nighttime noises? After all, Ella knows all the neighbors. Well, almost all. No one has met the mysterious Robinsons who live on the top floor. Will a special neighborly celebration change all that? This bighearted chapter book by bestselling author Nina LaCour, highlighted by lively illustrations throughout, celebrates community, friendship, family, and home. It is a place of walking dogs that aren't yours, keeping surprises secret, and making everyone feel welcome.

Here, the eccentric joy of Armistead Maupin's Tales of The City merges seamlessly with the antic fun of Ivy + Bean , the family tenderness of The Penderwicks , and the madcap adventure of Eloise in an irresistible story that will leave you eager for the next one!

BESTSELLING, AWARD-WINNING AUTHOR: Nina LaCour is a highly acclaimed author of both YA and adult novels. This is her first novel for younger readers and a terrific introduction of a talented writer to the next generation.

HILARIOUSLY UNIVERSAL: Ella is a strong protagonist that readers of all ages and genders will love. She is bighearted, curious, and just a tad mischievous.

DIVERSE CAST OF CHARACTERS: Featuring many different family structures, this story is wonderfully diverse and inclusive. Any reader can imagine themselves living at 1106 Wildflower Place.

DRAWN FROM AUTHOR'S PERSONAL EXPERIENCE: The charming characters and their stories were conjured by LaCour and her young daughter during the long walks they took through San Francisco during the early days of Covid-19 and inspired by the people they encountered along the way.

Perfect for: Parents, teachers, and librarians Gift-givers looking for entertaining chapter books for kids who enjoy stories full of humor and heart Readers who love such bestselling book series as Ivy + Bean , Clementine , Judy Moody , and Junie B. Jones

Reviews (4)

School Library Journal Review

Gr 1--3--Printz Award--winning author LaCour is best known for her young adult novels that handle sensitive themes, such as teenage suicide, grief, queer love, hope, mental health, and loss. The author's foray into chapter books takes on lighter themes of time and its passing, family, community, inclusion, and the mindfulness of noticing things. Smart, curious, nine-year-old Ella is deeply involved in everyday happenings in the charming old pink Victorian house at 1106 Wildflower Place, San Francisco. Living there are the mysterious and rarely seen older couple, the Robinsons, long-time residents of the top floor. Ella and her two mothers share the middle floor with interracial gay couple Jacques and Merlan, and in the two ground floor apartments are Matilda, an artist, and the new neighbors, Leo and Cleo. Ella is determined to help the new neighbors settle into their unconventional household, and maybe meet the Robinsons along the way. Albert's drawings of people and things alluded to in the plot function as accents and aren't designed to move the story along. Readers will appreciate the simple, chapter-driven format of third-person narration with its appropriate vocabulary. Each speaker is clearly identified, and children should have no problem jumping back into the story if their reading is interrupted. VERDICT A worthwhile purchase that tells a pleasant, inclusive story populated by characters who represent a variety of backgrounds and identities and who come from diverse walks of life.--Cheryl Blevens

Publisher's Weekly Review

In this warm chapter book series opener, three brief, homey stories depict an irrepressible nine-year-old welcoming new residents to her beloved San Francisco apartment house, pondering the mutability of time, and finally meeting her reclusive neighbors. All her life, de facto concierge Ella has lived in the pink and green building at 1106 Wildflower Place. She knows its quirks--such as how to get the oven working in the ground floor apartment, and when to expect the raucous sounds of an instrument so rare it doesn't have a name--and cheerfully shares her knowledge with residents. The only child of moms Abby and Livy, Ella cultivates affectionate bonds with each of the inhabitants, including theatrical Matilda and dog owners Jacques and Merland, as well as the shy Robinsons on the top floor, despite never having met in person. Through Ella's infectious narration and the stories' loosely defined plots, LaCour (My Friend, Loonie) sketches distinctive, endearing characters and offers a gentle celebration of intergenerational friendship and community. Cozy grayscale illustrations by Albert (Santa's Secret Holiday) imply racial diversity among the supporting cast; Ella appears white. Ages 7--10. Agent: Sara Crowe, Sara Crowe Literary. (Nov.)

Kirkus Review

It's wonderful having great neighbors. Ella Josephine Norwood, 9, lives with her two moms in a pink, green-trimmed apartment building on San Francisco's Poppy Hill. Ella's close with everybody there, except the elderly Robinsons, who cultivate magnificent rose bushes and have occupied the top floor for years but are never seen in public. Ella befriends a newly arrived engaged couple and teaches them how to deal with a few household "glitches." She keeps regular tea dates with a free-spirited neighbor and walks the dogs of a gay married couple whose wedding she attended as a flower girl. After Ella writes a "top-secret letter" to the Robinsons, they invite her to visit and ask for a favor. The shy Robinsons, living in a rose-bedecked apartment, need Ella's help tying bows for gifts they plan to give the neighbors. Their gift for Ella? A rose-shaped gold pin, like the one they wear, because she has "blossomed." Ella is sweet and self-assured, with a good sense of humor; like her building, this chapter book is cozy and comforting. Aside from a lone reference to teachers and friends, readers learn nothing about Ella's schooling or interactions with people her own age. Still, those who enjoy stories about warm, quirky interpersonal relationships will appreciate this one. Ella and most of the other characters appear light-skinned in the attractive, atmospheric black-and-white illustrations, though Mr. Robinson and several other neighbors are people of color. Readers will want to move in here and meet these folks. (Chapter book. 7-10) Copyright (c) Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.

Booklist Review

Though only nine, Ella is an expert on everything related to her Poppy Hill home. Located in a whimsical Victorian with a view of the San Francisco--Oakland Bay Bridge, Ella's apartment is on the middle floor, where she lives with her moms, and it provides her with an excellent view of the young couple (Leo and Cleo) moving into the unit below. She can barely contain her excitement to meet them and give them a tour of the building and shared garden. LaCour's new transitional chapter-book series is cozy and classic-feeling as it reveals the lives of 1106 Wildflower Place's inhabitants--some eccentric, some secretive, but all kind. Precocious Ella's curiosity and gregariousness are infectious, and she'll easily sweep readers into her charming world. The book contains three stories divided into short chapters adorned with grayscale illustrations. Ella's intergenerational friendships with all of her neighbors (she's the only kid) and the understated inclusion of LGBTQIA+ couples only add to the book's bigheartedness. An ideal pick for graduates of Kate DiCamillo's Tales from Deckawoo Drive.