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16 of 16 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Wonderful "realistic fantasy" a la Harry Potter, June 6, 2003
I bought this book and read it one sitting, then read it again twice within the first week. It's a magical, completely enchanting story with just the right amount of scariness. Olivia is a quirky preteen who has moved for the umpteenth time with her father, who's inept at his job as a building superintendent but lovable and loving as a parent. He and Olivia are both kind of lonely (they've lost some dear people in their lives and can't bring themselves to share their grief with one another). They've moved into a rather unusual Manhattan apartment building. Well, the building isn't that unusual, but its tenants sure are. Olivia, who has been ridiculed by some of her classmates and is feeling pretty vulnerable and alone, gets locked out of their apartment one day and ends up making friends with some of her fellow tenants, people she would never in her wildest dreams have expected to met, let alone grow fond of. The writer is deft and creative, with a vivid imagination and literary style that really draws you in. I am a big "Harry Potter" fan and think "Olivia Kidney" is just as compelling and just as good a read. I can't wait for the next installment. (I sure hope Ellen Potter is already at work on the second one.) The age guidelines say 9 to 12, but I know an 8-year-old and more than a few teens and 20-, 30-, 40-, and 70-year-olds who love it, too. I've bought copies for seven friends and family members and can't rave about it enough. Enjoy!
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11 of 11 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
A Wonderful Story!, January 4, 2005
I loved this story! I listened to it to preview it before handing it down to my 8-year-old daughter, and I can't wait to share it with her. So much of children's stories are "fluff"-- endless volumes in series about flat characters that have adventures but never have any personal growth or deep thoughts. They get kids to read I guess but not to think or feel. THIS, on the other hand, is a quality story. It provokes emotions, and leaves you feeling moved. The characters are full and unique. Olivia, the heroine, is a likeable but lonely and grieving misfit who comes to terms with her feelings and experiences. She does this over the course of a single day full of improbable but wildly entertaining encounters with the very strange inhabitants of her apartment building.
Parents selecting this book for young children might want to know a few things more about the story. First of all, supernatural and magical things happen. These fantastical elements are not as obvious as in most "fantasy" novels. The story takes place in the everyday world, but there are séances, ghosts, people turned into lizards, and magical siren-call singing. Because these things are slipped into what is otherwise the "real world", younger kids might need some guidance about what is possible in the real world and what isn't. Similarly, in this story people talk to the spirits of the recently departed and are comforted by that contact. This also might need some "spin"-- I wouldn't want a real child who had lost someone to feel even more abandoned because THEIR lost loved one doesn't find a way to talk to THEM. It also might conflict with your family's religious and/or philosophical views about what happens after death.
With that in mind, I HIGHLY recommend this wonderful story for children and adults alike.
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10 of 10 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Unique bitter sweet story for all ages, September 6, 2003
This is a truly surprising story, full of unexpected turns in the plot and holding several layers of understanding. It seems that as the story unfolds the writer strips yet another layer and plunges deeper.... Unexpected things happen all the time and every chapter brings us new information about Olivia, our heroine. For me the story was painful and sad to read and I thought it had a very grown up message about death and life beyond. The story is about loneliness and overcoming great pain -how you have to cling to your loved ones...This is how I personally experienced this book and it is this feeling, the wonderful imagination, the captivating stories and the unexpected way the plot proceeds that make me declare this book as "surprising". However, this is first of all a great book full of imagination where the story line shifts between pieces of reality and imagination and the reader has to guess what is really happening in real life. Olivia is only a child but has already the need to deal with lots of hard questions. On one level this is an exciting adventure children story with a brave and clever heroine, pirates, sailors, ghosts and magic. On the other hand this is an adult story full of great truth about life. The adventure story can be seen as a long painful search in Olivia's soul until she finds an answer... At first the story is read as a regular adventure story -Olivia's father is the superintendent in a rather regular and gray apartment building. As the father is the worst superintendent ever, he usually gets fired after a short while and Olivia thinks that maybe this time this is not so bad. She hates the neighbors. One afternoon when Olivia looses the keys and has to wait outside her door a series of coincidences happens and Olivia moves from one apartment to the other, meeting her weird, special neighbours, each with his own story that somehow falls, by the end of the story to the right place.... The most extraordinary things happen to Olivia but she does not question their reality for one minute; how can she? These things are happening to her! And the reader moves along with Olivia. Ellen Potter succeeded in creating a delightful imaginative world. As the story unfolds the reader understands that some of the things might have happened and could be accepted on certain conditions; in any case there is an inner logic in the world Ellen Potter creates. A very unique story which can appeal to many ages. I am sure this book will get the attention it deserves.
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