Next Door Neighbours

by Sarah Ellis

Her family's move to a new town in Canada leaves shy twelve-year-old Peggy feeling lonely and uncomfortable, until she befriends the unconventional George and the Chinese servant of her imperious neighbor Mrs. Manning.

Paperback

First published April 30, 1990

About the author

Writer, columnist, and librarian Sarah Ellis has become one of the best-known authors for young adults in her native Canada with titles such as The Baby Project, Pick-Up Sticks, and Back of Beyond: Stories of the Supernatural. In addition to young adult novels, Ellis has also written for younger children and has authored several books about the craft of writing. Praised by Booklist contributor Hazel Rochman as "one of the best children's literature critics," Ellis "writes without condescension or pedantry. . . . Her prose is a delight: plain, witty, practical, wise."

Ellis was born in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada, in 1952, the youngest of three children in her family. As she once noted, "[My] joy in embroidering the truth probably comes from my own childhood. My father was a rich mine of anecdotes and jokes. He knew more variations on the 'once there were three men in a rowboat' joke than anyone I've encountered since.

Reviews

[Wayne Walker · Rating 4 out of 5]

Twelve year old Margaret (Peggy) Davies has just moved with her minister father, mother, seventeen year old sister Doreen (Dorrie), sixteen year old brother Colin, and cat Nebuchadnezzar, from their old home in the country to a new town where she goes to Lord Nelson School. Peggy is shy and feels lonely and uncomfortable, so she tells a lie about having a horse back at Cedargrove, but Linda, who seems to be a leader among the girls, finds out the truth and begins to snub Peggy. Then Peggy starts to meet other people.

There’s the unconventional George Slobodkin, son of the Russian immigrant church custodian who lives with his family in an apartment attached to the church on one side of the Davieses’ house, but Peggy thinks that he’s weird. And there’s Sing Lee, the Chinese servant of her neighbor Mrs. Manning on the other side, but his mistress treats him imperiously. Can Peggy learn to overcome her shyness? Will she ever make any friends? And how do her nerdy schoolmate, the Oriental houseman, and a puppet show figure in Peggy’s adjustment to her new neighborhood? There are a couple of common euphemisms (e.g., “heck” and “gosh”) and some references to drinking beer and circulating a bottle of rye.

Otherwise, this is an undramatic yet warmhearted and moving novel with a convincing portrayal of quiet maturation as Peggy learns a great deal about herself and defies the small-town social taboos. Shy Peggy’s adjustments are the focus of this story. Though set in 1957, plausible characterizations of people in true to life situations make the book realistic, capturing universal fears and feelings not unique to any specific period. Peggy’s small victories and adventures add up to enable her to overcome much of her shyness and make some new, unexpected friends. It’s nice to read a tale about a minister’s family that pictures the members as “normal.”

[Nightfalltwen · Rating 4 out of 5]

The house in Vancouver that the main character moves into is a real house. This house my grandmother grew up in. There's a part in this book where the main character sees names scratched into the wall at various heights. Christopher, Michael and Sally (I believe. it's been a while since I read this book). These are cousins of mine. I think what I loved the most about this book was the fact that it was connected to my family in such a very cool way. It makes me think of my Nana, who passed away a couple of years ago. It's also a very lovely story about a girl and her friendship with the Chinese gardener nextdoor.