Olivia Kidney

Olivia Kidney #1

by Ellen Potter

Olivia Kidney's new apartment building in New York City is her craziest home yet. Part of Olivia hopes her dad will get fired as the building superintendent, but another part is tired of moving from place to place, and school to school.

Genres: Fantasy, Middle Grade, Childrens, Fiction, Humor, Paranormal, Juvenile

176 pages, Library Binding

First published January 1, 2003

About the author

Ellen Potter is the author of many children's books, including the Olivia Kidney series, Pish Posh, SLOB, and The Kneebone Boy. Her non-fiction book, Spilling Ink; a Young Writer’s Handbook, was co-authored by Anne Mazer

Olivia Kidney was awarded Child magazine’s “Best Children’s Book Award” and was selected as one of the “Books of the Year” by Parenting magazine.

SLOB is on more than 10 state book award lists and was selected for the Junior Library Guild.

Spilling Ink; A Young Writer’s Handbook was a New York Public Library Top 100 Children’s Book for 2010 and a Children’s Literature Assembly 2011 Notable Book.

Her newest series is Piper Green and the Fairy Tree.

Reviews

[max theodore · Rating 5 out of 5]

(7/28 off the 2022-specific TBR)

I LOOKED. FOR THIS BOOK. FOR TEN YEARS. imagine being thirteen and you’re like “yeah i read this book when i was nine and there was, like, a pirate who strangled people and a toppled princess and they all lived in this girl’s apartment building” and getting a complete blank stare AND THEN FINALLY FINDING IT . AT THE AGE OF NINETEEN AMERICAN YEARS. anyway it is EXCELLENT. the apartment building as the perfect structure to explore stories within the main story! the wildness of it all! and i forgot how honestly and poignantly this book handles grief. hoogh.

my one (1) singular complaint is that this employs the Feminine Mean Girl trope, and the two feminine mean girls are drawn in the illustrations as black even though nothing in the text suggests as such (i feel like even suggests opposite?) and the main character and all the sympathetic characters seem to be white. which feels. like a weird choice. making your only black girls bullies who steal stuff is a weird choice. but that’s, again, my only complaint; overall this is a really really good children’s book but also just a really really good book overall.

[Rhea · Rating 5 out of 5]

rereading this book after probably ~10 years I’m astounded by how well it holds up. this book is so well crafted, super original and fresh and creative, and does so much with few words.

side note, this is the superior middle grade that deals with ghosts - would totally recommend if you have read or considered reading city of ghosts by v e schwab (Imo this is WAY better)

[Melinda · Rating 5 out of 5]

I first read this book when I was 10, and at the time I didn’t realize what it meant. Now at 12 years later I can see how well written it is. How much meaning is packed into such a small book. I really enjoyed my second journey in reading this book. 5 stars.

[The Bookshop Umina · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was such a fun, quirky read. Olivia is navigating a new school and a new home yet again as she moves with her Dad who is a building maintenance man. This has an entertaining cast of characters who are all dealing with a range of issues and they all contrast with Olivia and her own grief.

[Mark Flowers · Rating 5 out of 5]

I think I may have found my new favorite children's author. In some ways, this reads as a warm up for Kneebone Boy (my favorite children's book of 2010), aimed at a slightly younger audience. Quirky characters, mysterious happenings, possibly supernatural occurences, heavy duty themes disguised in a humorous package. But in other ways--especially the 3rd person narration (vs. Kneebone's 1st)--it is utterly different, and yet just as good. I can't wait to read the others in this series.

[Jnase1 · Rating 2 out of 5]

Very Strange book. If you like the strange and unusual, then the storyline will grip you. Too much fantasy being touted as realism...like Olivia is on bad acid trip. Reminds me of the Sixth Sense..."I see dead people." I remember being into the "scary" books as a middle schooler, but this goes beyond scary into the realm of seances and conjourings. I'm sure there are young readers out there who are into that, but, yeah, not my cup of tea. Fans of Dahl will like Potter.

[Exina · Rating 1 out of 5]

Sick, morbid, repulsive, and oh, sick, sick, sick...
Murders (a detailed description of strangling, and self-decapitation), violence, savage and murderous adults, abandoned children, kids torturing each other for fun.
If it’s up to me, I’m never going to let my children read it.

[Ninat123 · Rating 3 out of 5]

I would've liked it more when I was younger.

[Lydia · Rating 2 out of 5]

Olivia and her father have just moved into a new apartment building where her dad works as the super. He has worked as a super in many buildings, but because he tends to make mistakes he doesn't stay in any job for long, which means they've moved a lot and Olivia is tired of it. One day she is locked out of her apartment and through a series of coincidences meets and hears the stories of several of the other residents and comes to terms with her own grief.

This is one of those conflicted books for me. There were several elements I liked (the crazy stories that intertwine, that Olivia finally sees her dad, and the characters in general); and there were several I was less impressed with (how few "likable" people there are, all the occult/medium content, and the lack of consequences for murderers), in the end, as much as I liked parts of this, the bad out weighed the good.

Content notes: No language issues. No sensuality issues, though one of the neighbors is mentioned having multiple men fall in love with her, nothing happens. Multiple murders/deaths talked about in neighbors' stories including: a revolution with firing squad, a murderous pirate crew (with a little too much detail on how wonderful it felt strangling people) and two boys drowning in a well. Also lots of occult material, Olivia is reading a book on contacting the dead/seances and eventually takes part in one and also discovers she is a psychic medium.

[Brian James · Rating 4 out of 5]

Olivia Kidney is NOT crazy! Of course, she has a hard time convincing others, especially the school psychiatrist. That's because she often talks to her older brother, who has recently died.


Olivia has taken an interest in seances in hopes of being about to actually speak to her brother, who she misses too much to let go. However, one strange afternoon in the strangest apartment building in New York City will change Olivia's life forever...and her perspective on life in general.


Much like the inhabitants Alice meets in Wonderland, the people living in Olivia's apartment building seem to be from another world, one that functions differently from the rules Olivia is accustomed to. And like Alice, Olivia is set adrift to navigate through the bizarre escapades of those around her, trying in vain to make sense of the nonsensical. Along the way, the reader is treated to stories filled with danger and flights of imagination. And while Olivia is often unnerved by what is happening, the reader remains confident, as we are with Alice, that she is clever and resourceful enough to find her way out any predicament.


This is a much darker story than I remembered, with a hint of brutality running under the surface for most of the story. It's also much more sophisticated in terms of story structure than I remember and by the end, all the threads come flawlessly together.

[Angela Tuson · Rating 4 out of 5]

A really cheery, quirky story about a community of eccentric neighbours who help a girl in really odd ways. Olivia and her dad move apartments often because he's a useless building 'super' (although he's a nice dad) who always finds the residents grumpy. One day Olivia closes her keys and while she waits in the hallway for her dad a neighbour invites her to wait in their apartment - and it's a completely transparent home of glass and plastic, including the floor, through which they can see the family in the apartment below! How bizarre! And the neighbour's story is even more peculiar. It's the beginning of one very strange day of meeting all her new neighbours, including a pirate, a hypnotist musician, a ghost, and a psychic - who are all connected in interesting ways, and help Olivia deal with the loss of her mother.

[Otto · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book completely captured my imagination as a 4th grader. Now, as a student teacher, I was able to read it to my own 4th grade classroom just as my teacher did to me. It still holds up in many ways. I had my kids chanting for the book they wanted me to read it so badly toward the end.

I will say, the book has some very 2000's energy to it. There is a good amount of mean spiritedness in the character descriptions and perhaps more violence than I'd like (I sort of self censored as needed 😉 😅). The twists and turns are part of what makes this book great, and it rewards the students who are strong listeners during read aloud times. Others may end up a bit lost and less interested in the book. I'd say know your audience before using this book as a read aloud or having it in the classroom.

[Jenna Michal · Rating 2 out of 5]

🏢🛳️🏝️🏴‍☠️🪄 It's a weird little book. I don't know exactly what to think about it. I tried to read it two times before I finally got all the way through it (the first time I tried was when I was in the book's target age range, which shows how long it took for me to finally read all the way through).

It's short. So I kept thinking it would be one I'd soar through. But, it starts so slow. Before the end of the book, a lot does happen. However, I never really cared about what was happening because I didn't like the main character nor feel connected to her. Some of the events gave me Lemony Snicket vibes but without the heart.

I do love the concept of not knowing what's going on in the lives of those living all around you. That was interesting. I just wish it was executed differently.

⭐⭐/5

🏢🚢🛳️🏝️🏴‍☠️🪄🏢🚢🛳️🏝️🏴‍☠️🪄🏢🚢🛳️🏝️🏴‍☠️🪄

[Clementine A. · Rating 5 out of 5]

“And as for you, you insolent, young savage,” she said to Olivia, “I shall expect you for Poor Richard’s tarts and Cambrian tea tomorrow at three-thirty sharp.”

I love this quote because it shows how wild and funny the book is.

I would recommend this book to anyone I want to have a good time. It is hilarious and crazy and a hint sad at times. Even though it all happens in a day, it is a day anyone would love to hear about.

[Bridget MacMillan · Rating 2 out of 5]

Wanted to like this more, but found the violence and casual references to murder off-putting. I kept thinking that those would be explained as a nightmare, but I think they were supposed to be accepted as real. I still rooted for Olive, and liked her as a character. And I hope her other adventures are fun ones, I just don't have to read them.

[Tori Coulson · Rating 5 out of 5]

I picked this up in a second-hand book shop, and it was in the adults section, so I assumed it was a romcom or something from the cover, but it turned out to be a children's book but it barely read as a kids book. It was interesting and witty and dealt with some big themes. I was very impressed, and I'll be giving it to my daughters when they are older

[Kaya Randazzo · Rating 5 out of 5]

I’ve had this book for YEARS and it’s more than a little beat up but I adore it. You meet so many intriguing and wonderful characters— it makes her little apartment building an entire universe of mystery and adventure.

It’s definitely a shorter read but it’s fun and definitely takes me back down memory lane. It’s a book that inspired me to read the way I do now when I was younger.

<33

[Rebecca · Rating 5 out of 5]

Gloriously weird with an amazingly kooky cast of characters. It reads somewhat like a book of short stories, with Olivia Kidney going to each person’s apartment and hearing about their life. Some of the events described can get kind of gruesome, but never in a way that is bad for a kid. And I did love it when I was a kid.

[Bridgette Keye · Rating 5 out of 5]

I read this book when I was in the third grade and it has stayed with me ever since. I remembered the glass floor and the various neighbors and, at one point, searched high and low for it when I couldn’t remember the name. I’m grateful to know it now and I hope many, many kids get the same chance!

[Χριστίνα Λεΐσου · Rating 5 out of 5]

Πραγματικά καταπληκτικό!!!!

[Ainara · Rating 5 out of 5]

Me gustó mucho los dibujos y la trama me parece muy Bonita, me engancho mucho

[Mark Sabol · Rating 5 out of 5]

Excellent. Gets even better in the middle. Hysterical and best put twists ever!

[Hannah · Rating 4 out of 5]

Roald Dahl, but give it a deeper message underneath.

[Chadded Mapipi · Rating 5 out of 5]

It's as good as I remembered it to be.

[Vihari Fernando · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book is amaxingggggg. I felt like i was olivia and i was experiencing everything. There's something so magical in this book that got me captivated.

[Tim Robinson · Rating 3 out of 5]

Too scary!

[Pop Bop · Rating 5 out of 5]

Postmodernism and Magical Realism for Middle Graders

I am a big fan of Ellen Potter's, and have been since I first encountered "The Kneebone Boy". This book, "Olivia Kidney", was her debut effort, and I regret having taken so long to get to it. It is, in the literal and full and literary sense of the word, fabulous. I've probably overwritten this review and made it sound a little pompous, but really what I want to do is just give this book its due.

Many have commented on the story of Olivia Kidney - her loneliness, her curiosity, her powerful imagination, her vulnerability. Certainly, Olivia's tale is an enchanting, even magical one, even though it is infused with melancholy and longing. I can see how a reader could embrace Olivia and be touched by her problems and concerns, not to mention her antic adventures. That said, I also sympathize with those readers who thought the book was too fantastic and unsettling to really work as a kids book.

I didn't read this as a kids book, at least not in the sense we use that phrase to describe Harry Potter books or Percy Jackson books or similar fantasy books. I read this as a remarkably ambitious and even daring effort to weave a postmodern sensibility and a flair for magical realism into a book for young readers. To be fair, lots of popular books for kids have a certain postmodern feeling that appeals to young readers, even if they might not know why. Such books include, to greater or lesser degree, the elements of playfulness, irony, dark humor, fantasy, artificiality, time distortion, and fragmentation that are hallmarks of the postmodern. That is what is on display to such great effect in this book.

It is playful. It is episodic, although there are a few overarching plotlines and themes. It moves back and forth between the realistic and the fantastic and dares the reader to distinguish between the two. It intentionally frustrates the reader's expectations, and often ups the ante on the fantastic just as the reader expects it to calm down. It moves from silly to serious to silly without apparent effort. It is dreamy, but can be sharp as a tack.

This is a bracing book that challenges a young reader to pay attention and to become engaged. It challenges the reader to exercise his or her imagination. It introduces a youngster to what it means to read fiction, and maybe leads that reader to begin to understand that books are written by someone and that authors can do what they want and make anything they want to happen, happen. That has to be a good thing.

Anyway, that's enough. This is a really good book.

Please note that I got this book from our local library. I have no connection at all to either the author or the publisher of this book.

[Jess · Rating 4 out of 5]

Lost keys are all it takes for an adventure. Olivia misplaces hers and soon finds herself journeying through her NYC apartment building that is filled with bizarre neighbors including a princess, a pirate, a siren, a terrible psychic dead set on a séance, and hundreds of lizards.

What an odd blend of a book. The Horn Book review used the word “unsettling” and I think that works. They’ve marketed it as a NYC book about an apartment with “whacky” neighbors. The reviews seem to have gone that way too.

But the book brings on the crazy: one apartment has a floor that allows the renter to watch everything her neighbor does as if it were glass. Another apartment houses a woman with a conch shell who plays music so beautiful it lulls listeners and makes them give her all of their things just to hear it even if they have (and they do have) to steal. Oh and this lady is covered in lizards from when she was stranded on a desert island and all who washed up on shore turned into lizards because they couldn’t handle the heat; they came with her when she escaped. Her manservant is a former pirate and murderer who tries to kill Olivia. Then there’s the boy who’s a ghost, and a séance and Olivia’s brother—big spoiler here, what a surprise!—he’s dead and comes back to reassure her.

Not exactly your regular kooky NYC apartment building, eh?

It’s crazy but well done crazy. The way Olivia helps Branwell move on to accept his death parallels wonderfully with the way Olivia must move on and accept her brother’s death. Olivia is strong and likable. But, I kind of wish I could have met her in a building down the block.

[Alyisha · Rating 3 out of 5]

Good, but weirdly dark - which, I'm gathering, is kind of Ellen Potter's thing. Here's hoping that none of the parents of my 3rd-5th graders in book club are upset about the themes of murder/suicide/insanity/cancer/divorce/drowning/child death. Ahem...
And also, here's hoping that the kids are able to handle all of those things. It certainly does provide excellent material for group discussion. In particular, I'm eager to ask them, "Did you find any parts of the book to be scary and/or upsetting? If so, did the upsetting parts stop you from liking the book as a whole?" If extended, what a great lesson to learn about life, huh? But I'm not sure I would've chosen this book for my club if I'd read it ahead of time and realized how heavy it is.

Update: There were kids in my group who gave this book 5/5 stars, and kids who gave it 1/5 stars (there were more of the latter). On average, book club kids gave it 2.6 stars. (Not so hot). Weirdly, only one of them found it upsetting to the point where it interfered with their enjoyment of it - and then, only because it dealt with ghosts! Murder? Fine. Suicide? Fine. Cancer? Not scary, apparently. Ghosts? I'M OUT. For the most part, they didn't LIKE the character who killed people/threatened to strangle Olivia to death...but they weren't deeply disturbed by him. Some kids even said they found the book BORING! Imagine! (Maybe they just didn't understand and weren't ready for some of it and thus found it boring. But still! Pirate decapitation!) No parents complained.

[Cayla Mcelwee · Rating 3 out of 5]

For one of my summer reading books, I chose to read Olivia Kidney. It was a good book, but it didn't grab my interest throughout the entire book. Even though you can't, if I could I would rate this book as 3.5 stars instead of 3. I think it had a very interesting plot, and a good choice of characters. Also I thought it was really cool how there was a story from a long time ago, and Olivia (the main character) was meeting people in her apartment building that were part of the story she kept hearing! The only reason why I put 3.5 or 3 stars instead of 4 is because at parts of the book it could be very confusing, and would lose my interest. I really enjoyed the characters in this book, Olivia was really funny, and creative, and her Dad was the same way, and a lot of times I like characters who have those types of personalities. Overall I think Olivia Kidney was a good book, and I recommend it to someone who likes short, fictional books. Olivia Kidney is a very interesting book, and it is a great choice for summer reading!