Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for granting me free access to the advanced digital copy of this book.

I was sold on this book from the moment the setting was described. It also helped that I am a Hans Christian Andersen fan and have enjoyed many of his stories over the years. This book was really cute and had a great message. It covered tough topics such as bullying and moving to a new town. The main character made me laugh and her misunderstanding was very epic. The story was motivating and uplifting. I was confused about the age of the target audience for this novel as it was a very thin middle grade novel with large font, pictures but yet the characters seemed older than middle grade as they had cell phones and were discussing issues above what I would consider middle grade level. I also think this book did desire to push an agenda as they comment on how some of Hans Christian Andersen ideas are old fashioned and I did not think this necessary to be included in the book. I would recommend this book to a younger middle grade audience but I would want to have discussions surrounding age appropriate expectations. Overall I give this book four stars it was an enjoyable book and had me laughing.

Andie believes THE Hans Christian Andersen has moved next door - the initials on the mailbox are HCA and he kind of looks like Hans Christian Andersen in the book she has. She has been writing some poems that are versions of Andersen fairy tales which she shares with her neighbor. When she brings him to school and tells everyone he IS Hans Christian Andersen, she is very surprised to find out he is not.

THere's nothing objectionable here. It's just a little bit foolish. It's built on a somewhat problematic principle - a child misunderstanding reality. While this can be fun it can also feel like we're mocking children.

Schoolgirl Andie Gladman has unusual parents. Tired of working for other people, they left their jobs in Toronto for a fresh start and a simpler, more independent life in Meaford, Ontario near Georgian Bay. After unsuccessful attempts at soap-making and wedding-cake baking, they chanced upon a third idea that would prove to be the charm. Their daughter Andie’s pet gecko, Zilla, required a diet of crickets, but pet shops in the region had an ongoing problem sourcing the insects. The Gladmans decided to create a soundproof cricket hatchery in their basement and distribute their product to many regional pet shops, eventually sidelining into high-fibre, high-protein “choco-cricks.”

Andie doesn’t dare tell classmates what her mum and dad do for a living. If asked, she says that they “farm.” Andie, an imaginative and slightly eccentric girl, has an arch-nemesis: Myrtle Klinghoffer. Myrtle is big: she has a big head, big hands, big feet, and an exceptionally big mouth. Her very loud voice is used to belittle others, and Andie is the preferred target. Myrtle never harasses Andie directly; rather, she addresses the other students as though they are in on the joke with her. Intimidated, they comply with mean Myrtle’s unspoken rules and avoid Andie.

Life changes for the main character when a new neighbour moves into the house next door. He’s a very thin, very tall man who leans forward like a stork when he walks. He also looks remarkably familiar. When he puts the sticky letters <i>H, C, A</i> on his mailbox, Andie convinces herself that he is none other than Hans Christian Andersen. In the book’s opening pages, Andie assures the reader she’s not “a dimwit” most of the time. The question this novel answers is how she could have believed something that is patently untrue.

Author Cary Fagan charms his young readers by providing Andie with a wonderfully neurotic friend, the orange-haired, freckle-faced, and very allergic Newton Newsom, a new boy at school so preoccupied with recording his future life plans in a little notebook that the existence of Myrtle Klinghoffer barely registers. The reader also gets to enjoy Andie’s often hilarious poems, inspired by Andersen’s tales—among them: The Emperor’s New Clothes, The Princess and the Pea, The Ugly Duckling, The Nightingale, and The Steadfast Tin Soldier. Andie gets to know her new neighbour, HCA, by reading her verses to him. Interestingly, he plays along with her, accepting her “persistent” friendship, assuming the role of the famous Danish writer of fairytales, and absorbing Andie’s ire about his having written such a grim and heartbreaking tale as The Little Matchgirl.

Things come to a head, however, when Andie brings HCA—the famous writer!—to school as a career-day guest. As one might imagine, Myrtle Klinghoffer has a great deal to say about this. Andie retaliates in an uncharacteristically aggressive way, ends up suspended, and is forced to confront the reasons why she has been so willing to deceive herself by falling into fantasy.

With Chelsea O’Byrne’s attractive ink drawings (reminiscent of Edward Gorey’s) and an accessible text, this is a very nice little middle-grade novel. Needless to say, I think it would be most appreciated by kids already familiar with Andersen’s stories. It might, however, prompt a few to seek them out.

You really can’t go wrong with Cary Fagan.

Rating: 3.5 rounded down.

For the age group this is intended for it is cute. I do think the child would need to like and know something about Hans Christian Anderson to enjoy the story a little more.

The story has more to it than just the author living next door. The story also tells what the main character goes through at school, which can be relatable to other children of similar age. The main character writes poems and I liked that these were incorporated in this story. There are illustrations throughout.

This is an easy, short chapter book for early readers.

Thank you NetGalley for the ARC.

Thank you to NetGalley and Penguin Random House Canada for access to an eARC in exchange for my honest review!

The premise of this book was so cute that I knew I had to give it a shot, and while I'm not the usual target audience and was a little worried that would factor into how much I did or didn't enjoy the book, I ended up having a really great time and vibing with the writing style from the start of the story.

The way the book showcases the imaginations of children and how they can run wild off of something simple they see in passing was so fun to read about, especially because you get to see how much things can go off the rails from the point of view both of the children in the story and the adults. Andie's home life with her parents perfectly straddled the line between realism and going a little out of the norm to make it fun for the sake of the story, right down to the cricket hatchery in the basement and all of the ways that came back up throughout the story, and her relationships both with Myrtle Klinghoffer as the school bully and with Newton as her one real friend who is so unafraid of the judgment of others and so sure of who he is despite his anxiety manifesting in other ways were also very realistic even as they brought in more joking elements.

But I think my favorite part of the book had to be the way that Andie uses poetry to rewrite multiple of Hans Christian Andersen's stories with her own twist on them. The poems were well written and the exact kind of thing I would put up on my fridge or frame in a heartbeat if my niece or nephews wrote something like them.

All in all, it was a cute book that had a big lesson to teach but that also knew how to make that lesson fun and how not to take itself too seriously. It came across a little older than I expected for a middle grade novel, but I still think my oldest nephew (9) would have a lot of fun with it.

First off, I was given an early copy so I could give my own honest review of what I read. So here it goes. My first impression, I was intrigued by the title, Hans Christian Andersen Lives Next Door, definitely grabbed my attention right away and I felt I mustread it to know more. The story begins with a young girl, Andie who is interested in finding out more about the new man dressed all in all white who drives up in a small flashy white car. He has to unfold his tall person to extricate himself from the car. A truck pulls up simultaneously and begins to unload all white new furniture. It appears he has no family. So she makes it her purpose to befriend him so he isn’t lonely, it is helpful to her too as she doesn’t have many friends at school, her parents are a bit eccentric, the keep crickets in their bathtub to sell as their income. They live in a small community so school population is low and is overshadowed by her nemesis and bully, Myrtle Klinghuffer. Myrtle likes to shout out to the school yard anything that might already have been embarrassing about Andie. Like pointing out she was walking to school with the ugliest muddy boots. Myrtle made Andie’s life miserable every day all day long. Andie would go home pick up her room to retrieve a notebook and go to the park and just swing and think, she would write poems this way., She would go home and wait on her porch for her neighbor to come home then she would ask him if he would like to read her poems. He was always nice enough to read them. Then she got the idea to take his fairy tales and write her poem by changing the main character to a girl. Her still believing the neighbor to be HCA. One day she meets a new boy, Nelson, who will be going to her school. She asks if he will sit with her at lunch Monday, ends up he walks her to school Monday, and she has to explain about Myrtle, who sees fit to shout about Andie and Nelson. Andie reads HCA tale of the matchstick girl. Which Andie found to be overpoweringly sad.p. and became mad at HCA for writing anything do sad. Anyway, the title intrigued me and the story pulled me through I felt their were many valuable, subtle life lessons. Yes, I am recommending for middle school kids adults too a quick but fun read. Thanks to #NetGalley,#PenguinRandomHouse,TundraBooks, #CaryFagan, PublicationDate: 09/05/2023. Go out and grab yours today. Good weekend read.

As a parent of a middle grade reader, this feels a bit mature. I’m not sure my child would entirely enjoy this as it’s written. It felt a bit less “easy” and a bit more dreary than the books my children read. Perhaps that’s personal preference though. There’s certainly nothing inherently wrong in the message or the text.

This is a nice story about a young girl that feels a bit unusual and out of place. She makes an assumption, which she later learns is wrong. Yet she is so committed to this assumption that the adults around her humour her. She learns she was wrong and that leads to positive outcomes despite the embarrassment.

It wasn’t a long novel, but a good length for a younger reader. It’s also set in a small town in Ontario. It’s nice to read a novel set in a rural place in Canada, except the author uses miles to describe distance right at the beginning of the book and that was very confusing. It stood out but wasn’t actually important.

I would offer this to my young reader. I don’t think he’d enjoy it but I could be wrong. I didn’t love the story though and I feel that’s simply because I’m not the target audience.

3.5* rounded down.

Review: Hans Christian Anderson Lives Next Door by Cary Fagan

This middle grade novel is a sweet exploration of identity and finding one’s creativity set in Meaford, ON.

I enjoyed reading this. It was quick and focused with a bit of silliness. The poetry written by Andie and her misunderstanding about her neighbor are sweet and a great plot for discovering one’s creative outlet. During the story, she also learns how to speak up and be true to herself as well as the importance of getting to know the people around her.

My favourite character was definitely Newton. I love how he is unapologetically himself and the encouraging friend any middle grader needs. I also like how each character shows different ways of processing information and what they love.

The positive messaging in this middle grade novel makes it a great recommendation for any middle grade student.

Thank you to NetGalley and Penguin Random House for the opportunity to read this book. This review contains my honest opinion.

The title of this book was what intrigued me about it from the beginning. Then, the premise had me wanting to pick it up and learn more about Andie’s story. Andie’s voice feels authentic, and you believe that she is a middle school girl throughout. The first-person perspective fits so well with the story. It did drag for me throughout the narrative and pulled me away from the events a bit. 

Andie is an aspiring poet who is drawing inspiration from Hans Christian Anderson’s fairy tales. At the beginning of the book, she meets her new neighbor, whom she believes is Hans Christian Anderson. She spends most of the book believing this fact. The story focuses on her friendship with this neighbor, gaining new friendships along the way, and growing as a poet. I enjoyed seeing her growth as a poet throughout the story and how it felt like a middle school girl’s first attempt at poetry. They were not perfect, but they again felt authentic to her voice, which I loved. 

Overall, this was a book that I enjoyed, but not as much as I wanted to. I would recommend this to middle grade readers, especially the aspiring writers out there. Also, the illustrations were cute and fit well with Andie’s narration.

This was a cute children’s story that mentions some classic Hans Christian Andersen stories while spreading some general life lessons for younger kids. I enjoyed the illustrations and thought that they fit the poems and chapters well!

This was an easy read that middle-grades readers will have no problems following. I was intrigued by the premise, but the book fell flat for me. Things moved quickly and didn’t allow for much development - of the characters or the story.

This book has an interesting premise, but it’s a bit lackluster in delivery. I do like the neighbor. He’s cool. The book moves a bit too fast, but could be a sweet summer read for a kid. Probably makes a great read-aloud!

A cute spin on fairy tale stories but I did struggle to get invested in the story. It is well written and may very well be beloved by young readers.

I love a cute, quirky middle-grade book, and this one delivered!

Andie, a young girl from a small town thinks her neighbor looks familiar. Could it be? Is it really Hans Christian Andersen? This new neighbor inspires Andie to start creating her own, unique poetry. Especially to help her cope with Myrtle, the school bully who's making life pretty rough and lonely for Adie.

This was such a fun story that had me laughing out loud! It was so full of heart, and the ending had me smiling from ear to ear. In addition, the illustrations in this book are so imaginative and whimsical.

Thank you, NetGalley and Penguin Random House Canada for sending me this book to review. All opinions are my own.

Thank you to NetGalley for giving me an E-ARC of this book! Onto the review:

"And remember, 'The Little Match Girl' is only a story. We can feel bad for her even while knowing she isn't real. But she can remind us that real suffering does exist in the world and we shouldn't ignore it."

Hans Christian Andersen Lives Next Door is a middle-grade story that follows Andie Gladman and her mysterious new neighbor, H.C.A. Problems arise for Andie when she assumes that her new neighbor is really the famed author Hans Christian Andersen. Additionally, this wouldn't be a middle-grade coming-of-age novel without mentions of bullying, and Andie certainly faces a fair share of taunts from Myrtle Klinghoffer.

Let's start with what I liked about the book! First of all the premise is certainly interesting and I hadn't really read anything like it before! I thought it was a fun way to introduce young hesitant readers to older authors, such as HCA himself. Additionally, Andie's voice certainly shines through in the story. I typically don't love first-person POV books, but I think the style works well for Andie's character. Also, the illustrations by Chelsea O'Byrne are so adorable! I haven't read a story with simple black-and-white illustrations in a while, and they certainly added to the narrative.

Now to my critiques... While the story was certainly interesting (I read it all in just an hour in one sitting), I found it to be a bit lackluster. There just seemed to be too much going on for any deep characterization to take place. Andie's parents own a cricket business??? Her best friend, Newton, has a fully fleshed life-plan that involves kangaroo wrangling. It all felt extremely farfetched for my taste. Which leads me to my next point... How does everyone know so much about Hans Christian Andersen? It seemed like everyone in the story knew about both him and the stories he wrote, and quite frankly, I haven't even read many of them. Finally, while I am a big advocate for having middle-grade readers read stories in verse, I didn't particularly love any of the poems Andie writes in the story. Most of the language in the book felt very blunt and I would've loved to see the use of more figurative language as a strong example for aspiring writers. That being said, I did enjoy the scenes in which H.C.A. supported Andie's poetry ambitions! So wholesome!

At the end of the day, this was still a fun book to read! Middle-grade readers—and older if you're like me—will definitely find themselves chuckling as they watch this story unfold. Thanks again to NetGalley for the free ARC in exchange for my honest review!

Thank you to the publisher and NetGalley for the e-ARC of this middle grade title.

I enjoyed this story and think it will be one many students enjoy. It's a light, fast read for many in its target audience, and it's a sweet story to boot.

Andie thinks that Hans Christian Andersen has moved next door, she doesn't realize that he lived a long time ago. Along the way she is writing poetry and making a new friend. But she is also being bullied.
She learns from the things that happen throughout this story.
I liked this book a lot, I liked that Andie was open to new things and still figuring out who she wants to be.

Thanks NetGalley for this ARC.

I thoroughly enjoyed this middle grade novel about Andie, a girl with a wild imagination and a penchant for poetry. When she mistakes her new neighbour for Hans Christian Andersen, she becomes enamoured with her proximity to celebrity and spends much of her time at home waiting for him to return from work so she can share her new poems.
Andie is picked on by a classic, old-school bully, whose true motivations are revealed at the end of the book. While Myrtle the bully and many of the other characters felt very familiar, Andie was a breath of fresh air. I really loved the poems too. I'm looking forward to recommending this book.