Hans Christian Andersen Lives Next Door

October 1, 2023
Andie explores a newfound love of poetry as she contends with teasing and speculates about her mysterious new neighbor. Andie's lived in her small Ontario town since she was little, transplanted by entrepreneurial parents seeking a simpler life. When a tall man moves in next door, Andie notices the letters HCA on his mailbox and, consulting a portrait of Hans Christian Andersen in a picture book, concludes the fairy-tale master is her new neighbor. Inspired, she writes her own version of "The Emperor's New Clothes" in verse, with a slightly revised ending. Andie forms a friendship with new student Newton: He's a sympathetic ear when she confides her secret about her neighbor, and she listens to his future plans of wrangling roos in Australia. When classmate Myrtle, who's long bullied Andie, points out that the real Andersen is dead, Andie lashes out. Andie's misunderstanding about her neighbor's identity feels a bit dragged out; it's unclear why she fails to figure things out sooner or why the neighbor indulges her assumptions for so long. Overall, though, this is a lighthearted look at friendship and change--Andie uses her poetry to process her emotions, while Myrtle digs deep to admit that her insults often don't leave her feeling very good. Amusing black-and-white line drawings and examples of Andie's poetry are interspersed throughout. Main characters are cued white. An enjoyable story of understanding (and misunderstandings), sprinkled with fairy tale-inspired poems. (Fiction. 9-12)

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