Once for Yes

Gr 3-7–The Odenburgh, a crumbling apartment building on a block facing gentrification, has been watching its tenants for years, trying not to get attached since it knows, “pigeons or people. There’s no point in getting attached. They all leave anyway.” But still, the building can’t help but feel for certain occupants, particularly 11-year-old Prue from apartment 4C. Every night Prue puts on a talk show in the bathroom, interviewing her sister Lina in what Prue thinks of as the “Tub-night Show” by talking for hours into a landline with an endless dialtone. Told in very short chapters that alternate between the building, Prue, a mysterious neighbor, and various tenants, this quirky story chronicles a a family’s grief at Lina’s absence (the reason for it is slowly revealed), through unusual means: bringing the Odenburgh’s tenants together in order to try and save their beloved home. The unique premise highlights how grief can fracture a family, the value of community, and the impact of gentrification. Wholly original and brimming with empathy, the short chapters and alternating points of view can be disorienting and hard to follow at times; until the mystery of Lina’s absence is revealed, then the various strands begin to come together. Readers who enjoyed Millington’s heartfelt debut, Olivetti, will be thrilled with this moving follow-up, also told from the perspective of an inanimate object.