Once for Yes

A nondescript, nearly 50-year-old apartment building named the Odenburgh helps narrate this gentle novel about grief by Millington (Olivetti). The Odenburgh knows better than to become attached to its tenants. Yet it can’t help but listen when 11-year-old Prue Laroe performs what she calls the Tub-Night Show into her apartment’s landline. Prue used to host the imaginary comedy routine with her older sisters Fifi and Lina—and then Lina was killed in a traffic accident in front of the building. Now Prue uses the disconnected telephone to chat with her deceased sister and avoid her family’s mourning. When Prue learns that the apartment building has been sold and is set for demolition, she’s heartbroken and furious. Her anguish prompts the Odenburgh to flick its lights on and off in solidarity, a phenomenon that Prue believes is Lina communicating with her through the structure. She joins forces with Lewis, an anxious boy from across the street, and resolves to unite the other tenants to save their home. Chapters swiftly alternate between the perspectives of the Odenburgh, Prue, Lewis, and other apartment dwellers, imparting a bustling tone. Flowery language occasionally detracts from the story’s emotional core. Main characters read as white. Ages 8–12. Agent: Kristen Terrette, Martin Literary. (Mar.)