On Linden Square

By: Kate Sullivan
Publisher: Sleeping Bear Press
Publication Date: September 2013
ISBN: 978-1585368327
Reviewed by: Deb Fowler
Review Date: October 2013

It was boring, nothing but boring. Stella Mae Culpepper stood on her bed looking out the window on “the first day of winter vacation.” The most exciting thing were her red and white stripped pajamas. Stella Mae listened and watched her boring Linden Square neighbors as they did all the boring things they always did. None of them really ever spoke to her, but she knew all about them. Fernando lived upstairs and “liked to play video games and sing karoaoke.” Of course he couldn’t hold a tune. And then there was Miss Arpeggio, the Mouse Lady, and the old man who collected bottles. It was boring, nothing but boring. There wasn’t much going on in Linden Square.

Stella Mae looked around Linden Square with her binoculars. Next door, across the street, upstairs, and downstairs people went about their business. Downstairs “a guy with a pencil mustache practiced the slide trombone.” Fum, fum, fum! Across the street a couple of kids were having a pillow fight and that was a little tiny bit more interesting. That night the snow began to swish and swirl around the building. “It snowed all night, all the next day, and into the next night.” The next day Stella Mae ran out to greet the snow and began to make a snow sculpture. Linden Square, the boring, nothing but boring, neighborhood suddenly sprang to life. What could possibly happen to make that boring neighborhood seem exciting?

This is the tale of Stella Mae Culpepper who discovered that Linden Square really was a fun place to live. Naturally, Stella Mae, like many children, is very curious and knows everything there is to know about her neighborhood, but doesn't actually know some of the people. In this captivating story, Stella Mae gets to know and like them once she sees a side of them she’d never seen before in the aftermath of a blizzard. Once those boring, lifeless people get together to have a little fun they seem much different than they did before. The artwork is charming, whimsical and quite appealing. In the back of the book is a glossary of musical, literary, and cultural references found in the pages of this book.

Quill says: This charming story will captivate young readers as they learn about multi-cultural concepts that can be found in Linden Square!