Next Door to Happy - Allison Weiser Strout

Author: Allison Weiser Strout

Genre: Middle-grade fiction

Rating: 3.5 stars.

In a Nutshell: An interesting middle-grade fiction that touches several dark themes. Character development could have been better. Somehow, it fails to transition from “good” to “great”.

Story Synopsis:

Twelve year old Violet is the only child and a lonely child. Her mother is emotionally struggling and her father has recently moved out. This summer, there has been no child around to play with Violet during the school holidays. When the sociably boisterous Walker family moves in next door, Violet feels a deep desire to connect with a “real family.” The five Walker children easily accept Violet into their fold. However, a couple of weeks later, Violet discovers that Mrs. Walker isn’t happy about her presence in her children’s lives. Will Violet lose out on yet another opportunity to find friends?

The story comes to us in the first person perspective of Violet.

Given a choice between middle-grade fiction and YA fiction, I will always choose the former. Middle-grade fiction deals with so many topics, including dark ones, but without sounding narcissist. A well-written middle-grade book can bring joy even to adults and even stir up some thought-provoking questions. This book tries to do the same, but it falls a little short.

Though a quick read and a decent book, a few of the characters change stance too abruptly and the ending is a bit too rushed. The initial few chapters are excellent but then the story develops slightly too randomly. The ending was too neat. These minor flaws resulted in the book ending up much below its potential.

There are some really difficult themes covered in this story – mental health, parental separation, bullying, parental expectations, challenges of fitting in at school, gender-based expectations,… It gets pretty intense for a children’s book but I suppose the universality of such topics necessitates their existence in books meant for younger readers too. The story deals with some really tough parts of life, but it ends on a hopeful note, as children’s books should do.

I love the title as well – are the “happy” next door really happy or do they just appear to be so? However, I feel the cover is a little misleading as it doesn’t indicate the darkness inherent in the story.

The portrayal of the five Walker children and Violet was a treat. Their confusions, their playfulness, their bond – all come shining through the story. I especially love how the youngest of the lot, seven year old Chloe, was not shown in the typical cute little girl mode but as the spoilt brat with a motor-mouth. I loved her spunkiness. Violet’s first-person narrative will break your heart, at least in the first half. You can feel her loneliness ooze out of her every thought. Her friendship with Reggie Walker is nice to see, especially as there are no hackneyed remarks about boys and girls being friends and their bond comes from a shared interest and a comfortable silence in each other’s presence. It is an unusual friendship for fiction.

There are some things that are left open to interpretation. Why did Violet’s dad move out? Was it a separation or a divorce? Was her mother merely anxious or depressed? Why was Mrs. Walker helicopter-parenting only Reggie? Why was she against a few of his choices? There are many such angles the book simply skirts around without delving into. This makes the characters appear quite surface-level despite the difficulties they are going through.

Overall, it is a fair first attempt and a brave choice to attempt such a dark story for a debut children’s novel. Not sure if I can recommend it wholeheartedly, mainly because of its dark topics and ambiguous explanations.

My thanks to Holiday House and NetGalley for the DRC of “Next Door to Happy”. This review is voluntary and contains my honest opinion about the book.