Starred review from May 22, 2017
Eccentricities run rampant in two-time Caldecott Medalist Raschka’s poignant, charming, and very funny fiction debut, which introduces the residents (both human and mouse) of 777 Garden Avenue, a “neo-proto-Aztec-Egyptian-Gothic” apartment building on New York City’s Upper East Side. The 10 stories, written in first-person plural and introduced by Raschka’s customary fauvist artwork, stand alone yet, together, create a vibrant patchwork portrait of an interconnected community. Mr. Bunchley would be the perfect doorman, if only he could talk baseball with the residents (“I like to see a screwball, Bunchley,” says one resident. “I like comedies, too,” he replies). The building’s opera singer loses her voicejust before a legally mandated city inspection (“As everyone in New York City knows, each building must have at least one working opera singer”). And two mice, inspired by human residents, pursue careers in psychiatry and jazz. With echoes of The Westing Game (minus the mystery) and the Wayside School books (minus the focus on children), Raschka’s novel walks a fine line between contemporary and classic while conjuring a vision of New York that’s both familiar and fantastical. Ideal for adventurous readers and family readalouds. Ages 10–up.
Starred review from March 1, 2017
A grand old apartment building at 777 Garden Ave. on Manhattan's Upper East Side is the setting for a series of tales filled with humor, imagination, and sweetness.Raschka creates a plethora of wonderfully eccentric characters, human and otherwise. There is nothing linear about the book's format; stories roam all over the building and back and forth through many years with quirky, interconnected characters in starring roles. Mr. Bunchley, the doorman, knows everyone's name and beautifies the lobby with amazing plants. Mrs. MacDougal files complaints about anyone who fails to adhere to her sense of decorum. Fred attempts to keep gravity at the proper level, controlling it with bread mash, pigeons, and, perhaps, a small earthquake. Theo's kindness and curiosity lead to the discovery of a long-lost, secret room. Victoria follows Oskar on his plumbing rounds. Rodents Pee Wee and Anna are, respectively, a jazz musician and a psychoanalyst. Mr. Norton and Mr. Jones are longtime companions with a unique method of addressing insomnia. Otis the elevator and Liesl the boiler play purposeful roles in the lives of the building's inhabitants. Raschka mixes truth with plausible but deliberately misleading information, keeping readers on their toes. Ethnicity and race are never mentioned, but Raschka's bold-lined, off-kilter, detailed illustrations depict Victoria with dark skin and others with light tones. A warm, wonderful delight for readers young and old. (Fiction. 9-12)
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April 1, 2017
Gr 4-7-A celebrated picture book author/illustrator turns his considerable creativity to a longer form. Eleven related stories all take place in a New York City apartment building. Leisurely, playful narration from an unnamed resident of the building immerses readers in a world that's imaginative, quirky, and often surprising. The narrator clearly loves the building and most of its inhabitants, which comes through in the telling. Human characters include the doorman and several interesting residents, young and old. A girl helps the super repair a depressed boiler in one story; another involves the inspection of the building's designated opera singer. Two stories feature mice, whose occupations include a boxer, a psychiatrist, and a jazz musician. There's even a sentient elevator named Otis; he is also a matchmaker. Readers gradually learn a bit more about the building and its history with each story. Themes of kindness and human (and animal) connectedness run through most of the tales, and these are summarized triumphantly by the doorman himself in the final chapter. Full-page black-and-white drawings provide pleasing introductions to each chapter, with more illustrations appearing throughout the book. VERDICT Plots about pigeon tenders, insomniac men, and old-fashioned elevators are not likely to grab the attention of young kids on their own, but this will make a good match for the right readers and also serve as an excellent recommendation for adults reading aloud to children.-Steven Engelfried, Wilsonville Public Library, OR
Copyright 2017 School Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.
March 15, 2017
Grades 4-7 Caldecott winner Raschka moves from picture book to illustrated chapter book in this humorous, thought-provoking collection of stories about the peopleand micewho live at 777 Garden Avenue, a New York City apartment building. Beginning with the building's new doorman, Raschka introduces an odd assortment of tenants who frequently pop in and out of one another's stories, lending coherence to the 10 individual tales. The eccentric cast of characters includes Fred, a war vet obsessed with pigeons and gravity; Mrs. MacDougal, the resident busybody; Victoria, a young girl fascinated by plumbing; and Jack Whitefoot, a mouse boxing champ training to take on a cat. Imagination is built into every detail, centering two of the most interesting stories around a forgotten music room and an old elevator, which become characters in their own right. The sophisticated writing style makes this book most appropriate for a middle-grade audience, though older readers will also appreciate 777 Garden Avenue's intricacies. Ultimately, this curious character study reveals how everyone is connected, whether by fleeting interaction or grand gesture.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2017, American Library Association.)
July 1, 2017
A grand old Manhattan apartment building takes center stage in this humorous collection of ten stories. From the doorman who can't talk baseball but can decorate with plants to the matchmaking elevator, readers young and old will warm to the variety of characters--human, animal, and inanimate--that populate these lighthearted tales. Raschka's lively watercolor illustrations in black-and-white begin and end each story.
(Copyright 2017 by The Horn Book, Incorporated, Boston. All rights reserved.)