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Two more Starred Reviews for
The Boy on Cinnamon Street
A NEW Novel by Phoebe Stone — Now Available
 Starred Review Publisher’s Weekly
January 16, 2012:
There’s a dark mystery propelling this extremely well-done novel about Louise, a tiny seventh-grader nursing a deep wound. Something so terrible happened a year earlier that she has “blocked a whole week out of [her] conscious mind.” However, she’s still miserable, having moved from Cinnamon Street to a condo she shares with her (quirkily adorable) grandparents. Louise has changed schools, renamed herself (Thumbelina, to reflect her pint-size proportions), and given up gymnastics; her only friends are Reni and Reni’s brother, Henderson, a “volcano-loving, poetry-crazed flannel teddy bear in wire-rimmed glasses.” After Louise receives a note that reads “I am your biggest fan,” she and Reni decide it came from a hunky, high school-age, pizza delivery boy. Predictably disastrous actions ensue, but the resulting trauma is enough to shake Louise out of her torpor. Executed with wit and delicacy, Stone’s novel is made more poignant by her admission that she experienced a tragedy similar to Louise’s and reacted by blocking it out. “In fact,” she writes in her author’s note, “the healing process can only truly begin when we are willing to remember.” (Ages 8-12, Feb.)
Starred Review Booklist
March 1, 2012:
At 4-feet 7-inches, seventh-grader Louise Terrace looks more like a fourth-grader, and she prefers to be called “Thumbelina.” She lives with her hilariously dorky, yet loving, grandparents, who give her socks made out of recycled milk cartons. Louise’s life begins to change one day when a pizza is delivered, as well as a mysterious note—“I am your biggest fan.” With help from best-friend Reni and Reni’s brother, Henderson, Louise allows herself to get swept up in the mystery of her secret admirer. In spite of the funny details and Louise’s self-deprecating humor, the novel has a tone of pervasive sadness and emptiness, stemming from something terrible that happened to Louise’s mother. Louise has blocked out her former family life on Cinnamon Street, remembering “not one thing.” Instead, she’s retreated inward, building an impenetrable, protective fortress around herself. Lovely, nerdy Henderson gradually pulls Louise closer and closer to the heartbreaking truth about her family, though, and how he does it is achingly sweet. Readers will figure out Louise’s secret admirer early on—and likely guess what happened to her mother—but that’s part of the beauty of Stone’s (The Romeo and Juliet Code, 2011) deeply affecting novel about Louise’s personal journey. Readers will feel for her and cheer for her in equal measure. — Ann Kelley
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