Olivia Kidney

Publishers Weekly

Locked out of her new apartment, a 12-year-old makes astonishing discoveries about her neighbors. "Achieving a delicate balance between fantasy and stark reality, the author leaves it to readers to form their own interpretations of Olivia's experiences," said PW in a starred review. Ages 8-up. (Oct.) Copyright 2004 Reed Business Information.

Children's Literature

Join a lonely young girl, Olivia, on her journey as she ventures through her new apartment building where she lives with her dad who is the new superintendent. She has experienced living at many different complexes due to her father's inadequacies with his job, along with recently losing her brother to cancer, and her mother ran away, too. Olivia has lost her keys or someone took them, and she is unable to get into her apartment. She waits outside her door where she meets a new friend Branwell, who quickly leaves to take care of his family. She senses that he seems different to her, but she doesn't focus on that thought. While she looks for her father on her travels on some of the floors, she meets various tenants who have their own story to tell—a princess living in an all-glass apartment, two mean girls who are her age, a woman who wears talking lizards around her neck who lives in a tropical setting, a mother who wants to become a medium, and Branwell who is a ghost. Her father finally comes and finds her in the sub-basement level and takes her home. Back in their apartment, he talks about how things used to be and how he wants to try and get back to normal with one another since her brother's death. This is one of the first times that Olivia doesn't feel so alone in a long time. When she goes to bed she starts to hear static from her radio and soon hears her brother talking to her from his grave to let her know he is okay and to be sure to take care of their dad, and that he is always looking out for her. The text is strongly connected throughout the book all the way to the final page, and may leave the reader empathizing with Olivia along and shedding a couple of tears. Theblack-and-white, cartoon-like illustrations accompany the story well. This is a fun and enchanting read that keeps the reader on the edge of her/his seat until the very end along with helping to expand imaginations. Great for both boys and girls, especially those who are reluctant to read. 2003, Philomel Books,
— Christy Oestreich

School Library Journal

Gr 3-6-Olivia Kidney's building superintendent father has just moved them to yet another new apartment building in New York City. One day, 12-year-old Olivia loses her key, and in her efforts to gain entrance to the building she meets a number of the strange residents. During the course of the day, Olivia meets a ghost who is a friendly boy her own age, a woman whose floors are made entirely of glass so that she can spy unnoticed on neighbors below, two intense and unpleasant girls, a sinister ex-pirate and an elderly siren to whom he is in servitude who live in an apartment resembling a tropical rainforest. Olivia is invited into their homes, and they tell her their stories. Olivia reveals the fact that she is lonely and unhappy since her brother died of cancer and her mother left the family. A visiting psychic named Madame Brenda tells Olivia that if she listens carefully enough, she will hear her brother speaking to her. Are these all just the fantastic imaginings of a sad girl? Listeners will immediately be drawn into this novel by Ellen Potter (Philomel, 2003). Narrator Tara Sands's voice is child-like and effectively conveys Olivia's changing perceptions. The quirky tale is wonderfully served by Sands' ability to portray a variety of characters and deliver humor in appropriately dry tones. This inventive, unusual, and poignant audiobook will spark lots of interesting discussions.-B. Allison Gray, John Jermain Memorial Library, Sag Harbor, NY Copyright 2003 Reed Business Information.

Kirkus Reviews

Olivia's father has just become the superintendent of a New York City apartment building filled with particularly strange people. One woman has a glass floor that provides a perfect view of the apartment below. There is also an inept fortune-teller, a ghostly boy, and a particular nasty pair living in a recreated rainforest. Has Olivia really stumbled on an alternate world or is it all the invention of a desperately lonely child? Potter does not establish that sense of peculiar logic that is necessary to a successful fantasy. Here the events and characters are dependent on coincidence and manipulation. It succeeds somewhat better as Olivia's story, but any true understanding of her pain is lost in the too-facile dénouement. Reynolds's computer-generated comic-book-style drawings are intrusive and add nothing to the plot or mood. Disappointing. (Fiction. 10-12)