GENRE: Children's fiction
MY GRADE: C
SYNOPSIS: No fourth grader trusts Sara-Kate Connolly. Her boots are dirty, her clothes are weird, and she’s so maladjusted that the school had to hold her back a grade. But Hillary is her next-door neighbor, and can’t say no when the unusual loner invites her over to play. In Sara-Kate’s overgrown backyard, Hillary will find proof of a world of magic—the kind that can only blossom between true friends.
Among the rusted car parts and wild plants, a miniature village has sprung up. It has tiny houses made from string, sticks, and maple leaves; a well with a bottlecap for a bucket; and even a little playground with a Popsicle-stick Ferris wheel. But there’s absolutely no sign of who built this miniature world. To Sara-Kate, the answer is clear—only elves could be responsible for something so enchanted. As she and Hillary watch for their elusive new friends, they learn that friendship, like magic, springs up where you least expect it.
MY THOUGHTS/SPOILERS: This is actually a sad story, in fact it's quite depressing the more I think about it, and there's no moral to be learned. Sara-Kate Connolly is a very hostile eleven-year-old child. She's clearly poor and the kids at school don't like her. Hillary and her two friends, Jane and Alison, are nine years old and go to school with Sara-Kate, who was held back a year in school. There's a tiny village in Sara-Kate's back yard that she claims was built by elves. She and Hillary, being next door neighbors, become friends due to their common interest in the elf village. We never see any elves then common sense dawns on me. That's all the 122 page story consists of, two of Hillary's school friends yelling at her to not be friends with Sara-Kate and Hillary and Sara-Kate hanging out in the back yard. I don't understand the book's title because they spend many afternoons in the yard among the elves.
The synopsis makes this sound so much more interesting than it was. This story was short on elves (read between the lines) and I'm quite irritated by that and it's why it gets a C rating. When reading books in a contemporary setting that were published many years ago I like to look out for things that could make the book seem dated. There was one scene where three of the girls were wearing matching denim jackets and that screamed 1989, which was when this was published.
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