The Alley

Utterly enchanting - for me, right now. ?áI was fortunate enough to read an original edition from my library system, but I don't think even the more modern cover, shown here, would market it well to children of today. ?áOr, for that matter, for children who loved the Moffats & the Pyes. ?á

For example, nothing at all happens in the first 22 pp, and almost nothing at all until p. 58 of this 283 p. book. ?áThere's no real challenge these children must face - if they didn't need to find more excitement in their lives they never would have gotten involved in the mystery of the burglars. ?áAnd the reader is given no real chance to solve the mystery with the children - the story is mostly about what the children *do* with what show more they've already figured out about the burglary.

But - for the right reader - living vicariously in this little community (a faculty row in Brooklyn in the early 60s), among these families, friends with these children - oh my. ?áI don't know if I would have loved this when I was a girl, but I wish I'd read it then anyway.

I love how Connie reads her storybooks aloud to Mama while Mama does housekeeping. ?áThey enjoy, for example, On the Banks of Plum Creek, which Mama didn't know because it wasn't yet written when she was a girl.

I love the friendship between Connie and Billy Maloon. ?áThey're only 10, in a more innocent time, so it's not yet romantic, but they're getting a sense of what it might be like to love. ?áBilly was looking at her with admiration. ?áThat was the way with Billy Maloon. ?áHe thought that everything Connie did was fine. ?áAnd she though that everything he did was fine. ?áThat was fair."" show less

I bought this book recently, having strong memories of reading it in elementary school decades ago. The other reviewers have captured it well: Estes does such a masterful job of bringing the alley itself into focus that I consider it one of the experiences that led me into an architecture/urban design career. Remarkable.

Can you love a book you haven't finished? I'm not sure, but I think I love this book, even though I haven't read it completely.

I love its portrayal of the Alley itself, and its detailed depictions of children’s' imaginative play. For these things I love this book, even though the plot could not keep me going through the last third or so.

A bunch of kids who live on an enclosed alleys have a piano recital and catch a burglar. The kids and their (late 40s?) New York City university surroundings are lovingly depicted. I didn't love it as much as other Eleanor Estes but, um, I read them 30+ years ago, so it might just be me. A sweet book with a brave heroine whose best friend is a boy.

Sequel: The Tunnel of Hugsy Goode. Related: Miranda the Great