The Last House in the Row - Lesley Parr - ★★★★

AUTHOR: Lesley Parr

ILLUSTRATOR: Richard Johnson

GENRE: Middle-Grade Historical Fiction

PUBLICATION DATE: April 10, 2025

RATING: 4 stars.

In a Nutshell: A nice middle-grade historical fiction about an unlikely pair of foes-turned-friends. Realistic characters who aren’t too goody-goody, some heartwarming moments, good life lessons, and to top it all, a cat with ‘cattitude’. Recommended!

Plot Preview:

1979. Wales. Eleven-year-old Hayley hates her neighbour Lillian because she is scary and because Hayley’s cat Judy Garland keeps sneaking into Lillian’s garden. Lillian, who Hayley secretly calls “Boo” never leaves her house, though the council wants to knock her house down for a new development. However, one day, Hayley is forced to interact with the old lady, and this creates a slow, somewhat unsure bond between them that strengthens as time passes. But a new incident leads to a misunderstanding. Will Hayley lose her new friend without a chance of explaining what had happened?

The story comes to us in Hayley first-person perspective.

Barrington Stoke is probably the only publisher whose name I always end up mentioning in my reviews. I have read seventeen books by this amazing publisher so far, and thus, I have a clear knowledge of what to expect from their books – a standard length of about 120 pages, interesting tween-aged characters who aren’t perfect, powerful themes that aren’t so common in middle-grade fiction, time settings that feel authentic irrespective of whether they are historical or contemporary, appealing B&W illustrations, and a dyslexia-friendly font. The individual plots cover various genres from realistic to fantastical, but their core focus is always on an important theme/topic that children can learn from, be it the dangers of the past or the concerns of the present. Also, their books are always in Hi-Lo format, meaning that the plot is aimed at tweens, but the writing level is slightly younger to make it accessible to a greater number of readers.

This latest novel contains most of these features. The only place where it goes slightly off-track is in the vocabulary level, which, at times, seems higher than the capacity of the target reading age. There are some Welsh words also, but the meanings of these is mentioned in the footnotes, so this isn't an issue.

As the lead character, Hayley has her heart in the right place, but she isn’t exactly likeable. She is impolite, she refers to her neighbour as a witch without any justification, and she doesn’t fulfil her responsibilities honestly. But she learns her lesson over the course of the story, which is most important in children’s fiction.

I appreciate how, whenever Hayley back-answers an adult, her mom sets her attitude straight. I find it annoying when fictional children are allowed to get away with rudeness. After all, kids who read the stories need to know that such behaviour isn't acceptable.

Hayley’s cat Judy Garland is, as her name suggests, a star. Black cats are always so cool!

Lillian is also a great character. I would have loved to know more about Lillian’s earlier life; there are many unanswered details in her backstory. This is partly because we see the proceedings only through Hayley’s first-person narration, so it would have been tough to fill in all of the gaps, but some of the major ones could definitely have been revealed better.

Of course, Hayley's attitude towards Lillian isn’t great initially. Her wild imagination often leads to unkind thoughts and rude remarks. But such behaviour is fairly representative of actual children's thoughts about those who seem aloof or scary. I hope little readers learn from Hayley not to judge based on appearance or rumours.

The age-gap friendship between Hayley and Lillian is written well, with Hayley’s changed attitude from uncertainty to comfort shown realistically. I love how their bond begins with something trivial and grows into so much more, thanks to an unexpected shared interest. I wish the end result of their efforts had also been showed in the plot.

The timeline of the story is too extended, sometimes jumping weeks or even months with nothing happening. For such a small story, it is too long a time period.

The B&W illustrations are lovely, suiting the plot in tone and expression.

All in all, I liked this book quite a lot. Through a simple story of friendship winning over misunderstandings and assumptions, children can learn some important life lessons. Though some of the writing choices could have been smoother, children might not notice any issue.

Recommended to middle-graders looking for a thought-provoking historical story with themes and lessons that are applicable even today.

My thanks to Barrington Stoke for providing the DRC of “The Last House in the Row” via NetGalley. This review is voluntary and contains my honest opinion about the book.