The House That Wasn't There

January 1, 2021
The arrival of new neighbors kicks off strange events and life-changing experiences for two families. With an inward focus reminiscent of the novels of Kevin Henkes, Arnold sets shy, 11-year-old Alder Madigan, living with his mom at 15 Rollingwood Dr., against outgoing Oak Carson, who has moved next door to No. 11 with her mom while her dad stays behind in San Francisco to tie up loose ends. Relations get off to a rocky start after Oak's mother arbitrarily has the huge old tree between the houses cut down. Distress at the tree's loss is compounded by Alder's erstwhile best friend's hanging out with a popular kid, leading to hostile initial encounters with Oak. Still, Alder and his new neighbor are drawn together by a series of mystifying experiences--including finding out that it's not always true that there's no No. 13 on their block and discovering that they've independently adopted sibling kittens. Saving one last, wonderful coincidence for the climactic arrival of Oak's father, the author enriches her sparely told story with other hints of magic, song lyrics, good choices that key sudden sea changes in several relationships, and the small background details that make settings and backstories seem real. Readers will find Alder's conclusion that everything is connected, and also complicated, well taken. The cast presents as White. A low-key marvel rich in surprises, small fuzzy creatures, and friendships old and new. (Fiction. 10-13)

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February 15, 2021
Grades 4-6 Alder and his widowed mother live in a home shaded by a large walnut tree. When someone buys the house next door and has the tree removed, they feel resentful about its loss. Soon Oak and her mother move into the house, and the girl becomes Alder's sixth-grade classmate. Their initially prickly relationship becomes less awkward after each separately adopts a kitten from the same litter, and they enjoy watching them play together. Alder has had only one real friend, who seems to be drifting away, but Oak makes him feel comfortable, while sometimes challenging his thinking. Together they share experiences involving feline-related teleportation to other dimensions and a formerly taxidermied but now-living opossum named Mort. Coincidences abound, including Oak and Alder's tree names, their choice of sibling kittens, and a foreshadowed revelation concerning their mysterious sense of kinship. Still, Arnold depicts the kids' emotions, relationships, and thought processes with unusual clarity and nuance. Middle-grade readers, particularly those with a taste for light fantasy, will find plenty to enjoy in this quirky, original novel.HIGH-DEMAND BACKSTORY: The popularity of A Boy Called Bat (2017) and Arnold's many accolades will drum up a crowd for this.

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March 1, 2021

Gr 3-7-Adler and his new neighbor, Oak, are pretty certain they are not going to be friends. Sure, they live next door to each other, are both named after trees, and are in the same sixth grade class, but Adler isn't sure he can forgive Oak after her family cuts down the big walnut tree that sat between their houses. Neither is he sure he can forgive how easily she makes friends at a new school in a new city, when his own best friend since kindergarten is acting distant and weird. But the universe seems determined to throw Adler and Oak together-well, the universe, a portal to another dimension, a couple of kittens, a school project, and a taxidermy opossum named Mort. Arnold takes on themes of friendship, family, loss, and growth in this novel. Adler and Oak, both white, are well-rounded characters with flaws, interests, and a realistic range of emotions. Oak, for example, hates that she was not consulted about her family's move but also understands what a great opportunity it presented her mom. She misses San Francisco and her friends but starts to make new friends and feel more at home in L.A. Adler slowly begins to let his interests be known to someone other than his closest friend and finds new friends along the way. There are a lot of coincidences that may not hold up if looked at too closely, but readers won't want to pick them apart. VERDICT Arnold creates a world that is both completely normal and wonderfully magical, and readers will want to be a part of it. Recommended.-Heather Webb, Worthington Libs., OH

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