Owen and Eleanor Move in

Owen and Eleanor #1

by H.M. Bouwman, Charlie Alder (Illustrations)

Owen and Eleanor Move In is a story about what it means to have a home...and what it means to be a friendWhen eight-year-old Eleanor moves into the bottom half of a duplex with her family, she is not happy. Her old home was way better. In her old home, she even had her own bedroom. Not any more--now she has to share with her big sister. The situation needs to change, and she knows just how to fix it. When Owen, age seven, meets Eleanor, he's excited--finally, someone to play with who isn't his little brother! He teaches her how to fence and write in code, and she helps him build mechanical gadgets and thinks his homeschooling is cool. But when Eleanor asks Owen to help her escape back to her old house, he's not sure he should do it.... What should a friend do? Starring two quirky kids and a dead goldfish named Scrumpy, Owen and Eleanor Move In will delight readers both young and old.

Genres: Childrens

133 pages, Hardcover

Published April 3, 2018

About the author

H.M. Bouwman is the author of middle grade fantasy and historical fantasy, including Gossamer Summer, as well as the Owen and Eleanor chapter book series. She lives in St. Paul, MN with her family, where she teaches literature and creative writing at the University of St. Thomas. She is probably reading a book right now.

Reviews

[Melanie Dulaney · Rating 4 out of 5]

What a good book for 2nd-4th graders! The length and vocabulary might be a bit challenging for the low end of that range, but even strong fourth grade readers will enjoy this story of out-going and impulsive Eleanor as she and her family move out of their roomy house and go across town into a smaller duplex where Owen lives his his family. Themes in this one include friendship and handling life’s big changes. In book one of the Owen and Eleanor series, author Bouwman has created a cast of diverse characters in both race and personality. Costa Rican Eleanor is imaginative, friendly and doesn’t always think things through. New friend Owen is Caucasian, a little bit shy and really tries to think about everything. Together they will have readers laughing and appreciating all the regular things that are going on in both households. Good life lessons abound and a blurb about book 2 leads me to believe that this series is going to do more than simply entertain young readers.

[Debbi Florence · Rating 5 out of 5]

Eight-year-old Eleanor is unhappy about moving from the home she loves to a duplex. Now she has to share a room with her older sister while her brother gets his own room. When she meets 7-year-old Owen, who lives upstairs, she is at first unimpressed. But it turns out that he can be fun and interesting as they come up with a secret code and a message system. But it’s not enough to deter her from her plan to run away back to her house to live in the treehouse in the backyard. A heart-warming story about friendship and faith, with plenty of great humor, Eleanor and Owen are sure to win over readers.

[Emily B · Rating 2 out of 5]

I picked this up as a possible read aloud. It was an enjoyable story, with likeable characters but Eleanor plans to run away and asks Owen to keep that a secret. He does and they run away to her old house together. For the sake of a read aloud it could just be a point for discussion, but my personal preference (at least currently) is to stay away from books with as much emphasis on running away as there was in this story.

When I picked this up I had no idea there was a faith theme or that it was published by a faith-based company. I had simply seen it on Goodreads and appreciated the ethnic diversity represented. I personally do not agree with God as Mother and some other content, so this won't be a series we revisit.

[Beth · Rating 4 out of 5]

Two kids (one a bad speller) make friends when Eleanor's family moves in the bottom half of a duplex. (All the duplexes I've known were left/right ones, so it took me a while to figure out the architecture of this top/bottom one.)

I really liked the kids-eye view of the world, as well as the super nice families that listened to their kids and addressed the issues (while still grounding them for poor choices). And the homeschooling was a touch I always like. The religion was well integrated into their lives -- I loved how Eleanor thought Owen's dad's prayer was weird but not in a disrespectful way.

[Meghan · Rating 5 out of 5]

I received this book as an advanced reader's copy due to the popularity the series has in our JFiction collection and among our young reader's. The characters of Eleanor and Owen are intriguing to our readers because they are realistic characters that our readers can relate to. We also saw this in many publisher catalogs and we knew we had to add this to our list. I think our reader's will enjoy this novel just like they enjoyed the others. 5 stars!

[Sara-Zoe Patterson · Rating 3 out of 5]

Realistic fiction moving and making a new friend book. Pretty interesting characters, with good families and side characters. It didn't thrill me in any way but it was a solid second/third grade read. 26/30 #30booksummer

[Miss Sarah · Rating 4 out of 5]

An early chapter book about a young girl moving into a duplex house with two boys as neighbors. Will she stay? Will friendship abound? Easy to follow with great family and religious themes and relatable emotions.

[Simone · Rating 4 out of 5]

I love the ideas of friendship, faith, and feelings of sadness at leaving one's home.

[Andréa]

Note: I received an ARC of this book from the publisher at ALA Midwinter 2018.