Starred Review for Kirkus Reviews (Tue Dec 01 00:00:00 CST 2020)

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)

ALA Booklist (Mon Feb 01 00:00:00 CST 2021)

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.

Horn Book (Mon Feb 06 00:00:00 CST 2023)

Eleven-year-old Alder and his mother have lived on Rollingwood Drive in Los Angeles "since before he could remember." Their relationship with new neighbors, a girl named Oak and her family, starts badly when Oak's mother cuts down an old walnut tree. Alder resists Oak's subsequent attempts at friendship, while Oak deals with the challenge of being a new kid. When the two independently adopt kittens, who turn out to be siblings, the kids' new pets draw them into an unexplained situation involving a house that suddenly appears between their two houses -- and then disappears. Thanks to a book Oak finds called Feline Teleportation, they begin to suspect that their kittens have supernatural powers, and a friendship slowly grows as the two investigate. They also take a DNA test as part of a class project, which ends up revealing an even closer connection. While the fantasy elements add mystery (and set up readers' suspension of disbelief, required for the ending), the book also effectively explores the realities of friendship and family, creating a world where Alder and Oak find navigating cafeteria seating arrangements and investigating their kittens' teleportation skills equally real and challenging. Sarah Rettger

Kirkus Reviews (Fri Oct 04 00:00:00 CDT 2024)

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)

Publishers Weekly (Fri Oct 06 00:00:00 CDT 2023)

In an enticing story about -opossums and teacups and kittens and doors. Fathers and sweaters and yarn balls and more,- Arnold (Starla Jean) centers a series of coincidences that lead to magic and change. Eleven-year-old Alder resents the new next-door neighbors, who have cut down the giant, beloved walnut tree that shaded his and his widowed mother-s -small but neat- home. As a result, Alder, a knitter who recently lost his best friend to cross-country club, wants nothing to do with new neighbor, Oak, who-s herself angry about moving from San Francisco to L.A. Nevertheless, they-re drawn together time and again-the classmates even inadvertently adopt sibling kittens, who lead them to a mysterious house on the site of the downed tree, one that is occupied by a living version of Arnold-s most beloved companion, a taxidermied possum named Mort. Told through alternating perspectives that offer clearly rendered details, this compassionate novel gives a unique twist to familiar situations-feeling lonely, adjusting to new environments, forging new bonds-while inviting readers to open their imaginations to all sorts of wonderful possibilities. Ages 8-12. Agent: Rubin Pfeffer, Rubin Pfeffer Content. (Mar.)

School Library Journal

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 togetherwell, 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