The Apartment House on Poppy Hill

Author: Nina LaCour

Illustrator: Sònia Albert

Grades: 2 - 5

Nine-year-old Ella lives with her two moms, artistic Livy and more structured Abby, at 1106 Wildflower Place, a small, old apartment house in San Francisco. New neighbors have just moved in and she’s determined to welcome the young couple and tell them about the rules and quirks of the building. Ella is a chatty, cheerful guide, and friends with almost everyone there, including Matilda, the artsy, flamboyant woman who lives downstairs and is Ella’s companion for tea; and Jacques and Merland, the two-man couple across the hall. The only people she doesn’t really know are the Robinsons, the secretive couple on the top floor. Each illustrated chapter offers a connected vignette in Ella’s life and reveals a little more about this close-knit community.