THE APARTMENT HOUSE ON POPPY HILL

It’s wonderful having great neighbors.

Ella Josephine Norwood, 9, lives with her two moms in a pink, green-trimmed apartment building on San Francisco’s Poppy Hill. Ella’s close with everybody there, except the elderly Robinsons, who cultivate magnificent rose bushes and have occupied the top floor for years but are never seen in public. Ella befriends a newly arrived engaged couple and teaches them how to deal with a few household “glitches.” She keeps regular tea dates with a free-spirited neighbor and walks the dogs of a gay married couple whose wedding she attended as a flower girl. After Ella writes a “top-secret letter” to the Robinsons, they invite her to visit and ask for a favor. The shy Robinsons, living in a rose-bedecked apartment, need Ella’s help tying bows for gifts they plan to give the neighbors. Their gift for Ella? A rose-shaped gold pin, like the one they wear, because she has “blossomed.” Ella is sweet and self-assured, with a good sense of humor; like her building, this chapter book is cozy and comforting. Aside from a lone reference to teachers and friends, readers learn nothing about Ella’s schooling or interactions with people her own age. Still, those who enjoy stories about warm, quirky interpersonal relationships will appreciate this one. Ella and most of the other characters appear light-skinned in the attractive, atmospheric black-and-white illustrations, though Mr. Robinson and several other neighbors are people of color.

Readers will want to move in here and meet these folks.