Strawberry Hill
Little, Brown Books for Young Readers • 2009 • 240 pages • ISBN: 978-0-3160-4136-2
When ten-year-old Allie learns that her family will be moving from a two-family home in one city to their very own house in another, she’s hesitant until she finds out she will be living on a street with the magical name of Strawberry Hill. That changes everything! But strawberries aren’t the only things Allie will search for in her new neighborhood. Finding a new best friend and fitting in at a new school will present other challenges. This debut novel is sure to win over new readers as well as those already familiar with Hoberman’s poetry.
Reviews
Booklist
“With story lines that are simple but never simplistic and perfectly crafted chapters in which the ordinary has the opportunity to become special, this is reminiscent of books by Elizabeth Enright and Sydney Taylor.”
starred review
The Bulletin of the Center for Children’s Books
“Poet Hoberman’s debut novel, inspired ... by her own youthful experience, is a pleasantly nostalgic read, but it also manages to be surprisingly contemporary and very effective in its handling of middle-grade relationships. Allie’s struggles with the bestowing of the ‘best friend’ title will ring true with kids ...The adults, too, are engaging and complex ...”
Recommended
New York Times Book Review
“Here is someone who knows how to bring detail and language into just the right balance to catch you up and pull you into the story... Hoberman maintains an exquisite balance between Allie’s perspective and that of the adults around her, allowing for both a child’s way of thinking and a polished narration.”
Publishers Weekly
“Hoberman draws a full portrait of life on Strawberry Hill ... Allie’s plight will be utterly relatable to contemporary readers and the resolution is both satisfying and realistic.”
Buffalo News
“Hoberman ... makes a stunning debut with this charming book for middle-grade readers partly inspired by her own experience growing up during the Great Depression. With a poet’s economy of words, she brings to vivid life a childhood from 70 years ago.”
Children’s Book-of-the-Month Club
“A charming coming-of-age story that introduces a feisty new heroine for girls to embrace.”
BookPage
“A delightful and endearing autobiographical coming-of-age narrative.”
Sylvia Vardell
“A family story in the best sense of the word, with incidents and anecdotes about life in a well-adjusted family ... a clear, fresh first-person point of view that knows and sees just what a ten-year would experience.”