Book Review - On The Block: Stories of Home, edited by Ellen Oh

On the Block: Stories of Home by Ellen Oh
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Welcome to The Entrada! You’ve come home.

On The Block: Stories of Home is an anthology of twelve connected vignettes, edited by author Ellen Oh, that portray the diverse families in residence at the New York apartment building known as The Entrada. Each chapter, appropriately titled by the apartment number of each new middle-grade-aged narrator, is a lovely gem and tells of the young resident’s life in the days leading up to the building’s first community potluck.

The stories explore the cultures and concerns of the new young immigrant, and while their origins are global, their hopes and fears are universal and relatable to all readers. I loved that the connections among the families while beginning with a common address, became personal through the friendships of the building’s child population. I enjoyed the concurrent points of view of events or encounters among the children, two or more people observing the same event but “seeing” or interpreting something from it that was entirely different. And I’m not talking about the paranormal activity threaded through some of the tales, though there is that!

Food is a common thread running through the collected tales. There are numerous scenes of family meals, and some of their favorite dishes may be unfamiliar to many readers. However, they are tempting just the same because of the authors’ tantalizing descriptions. The story culminates in the building’s big community potluck on a wonderful summer Saturday evening.

At the end of the book are the contributing authors’ biographies, including the titles of their previous works. That information alone is gold and could provide additional stories for the targeted age group to enjoy.

I recommend ONE THE BLOCK to readers of middle-grade fiction, especially those interested in getting a peek into a different culture.

I voluntarily reviewed this after receiving an Advanced Review Copy through TBR and Beyond Book Tours.


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