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.
4 stars.
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.

In this visit to the 1970s and the Welsh Valleys, Hayley is very much miffed that her beloved Judy Garland – a black cat – spends all its time in the back garden of 'Boo', the allegedly crabby, supposed-to-be witch, who lives in an end of terrace stump, now all the other homes in her row have been knocked down. Boo – Hayley can't bring herself to calling her by the right name, Lillian – is definitely the loner, but lo and behold when the two females are drawn together, they manage to form a surprising bond, and not just over the same cat…

This lesson in acceptance, prejudice and suchlike is a small marvel, and ultimately quite the tearjerker. It does seem to have an awkward timeline – some things that are supposed to take weeks don't play out in the same length as other things taking similar – which means one obvious, big and easy crowd-pleasing scene never gets to happen. Instead it goes for a quieter, more poised look at friendship across the ages, that proves Hayley to be much more mature than the bickering, snappy young madam we see at first. Written for those with a reading age of 8, but for the nine-and-up age bracket interest-wise, it's not one of the more adapted Barrington Stoke reads (those where those age brackets have a greater distance between them) but it needn't be thought of as for a special audience anyway – this will please anybody. Four and a half stars.

Beautiful, classic Lesley Part. Superbly written and an engrossing yet easy to follow storyline. Perfect.

I am a fan of the author, and this book does not disappoint. It is a heartwarming story about an unlikely friendship between a young girl and an old lady. It reminds me somewhat of the movie, "A Man Called Otto". I do wish that the story were a bit longer though as some parts seem to be a bit underdeveloped.

A short and sweet Barrington Stoke title. I loved Lillian, I loved Hayley. Other adults annoyed me so much (don't tell kids something you'd obviously assume others will know then be mad they've told others when they didn't??)
I wish this was a longer novel!

I haven't read all of Lesley Parr's books - only Fallout (my choice on NG and absolutely loved) and The Valley Of Lost Secrets which was fabulous and was chosen as the class book by a child in our class. (also excellent). But I was very excited to see her name and Barrington Stoke together as I am a firm BS supporter and actively encourage the children to read their books at school.
I wasn't disappointed!

Hayley doesn't like that her beloved cat likes to stretch out and sunbathe in the garden of Lillian . Hayley calls her Boo because of a character called The Boo in a film who never left his house - Lillian also never leaves the house. The house is the last in a row of 15 three storey terraces - the other 14 have all been demolished, but Lillian refused to leave her home. The only person that goes inside her home is the Doctor.

Hayley is told off by her mum for trying to lure the cat called Judy Garland, from Lillian's garden with the good tinned salmon (it's set in 1979 and I definitely had tinned salmon for tea!). She goes to her room - she can see the garden and Judy Garland! She picks up a script - she wants to win the part of Jo March in her youth club production of Little Women.

On the day of the vet visit Judy Garland has disappeared again.... Hayley knows where to find her. She bangs on teh door and calls through the letterbox, no answer... Hayley goes round and peers over the wall. Boo is stroking Judy Garland and talking to her...but she has a nice almost posh voice; not what Hayley expected. When she is seen, she jumps down tearing her jumper. But when mum finds out how, she says Hayley has to apologise to Lillian. She puts an apology note through the door, and runs... but falls, Lillian comes out of the house after her.

This begins a discovery and an unusual friendship. But when Lillian gets very ill Hayley thinks she could do something nice....something that Lillian gets angry about. Can Hayley make her happy again? Will she understand?
A beautiful story of family grief, friendship and not judging a person on their looks. Absolutely loved it and will definitely be trying to get this for school when it comes out. The illustrations by Richard Johnson are as beautiful as the words, that picture at the end with the two together and a sapling.
Thanks to Barrington Stoke for allowing me to read this in advance.

Thank you so much to Barrington Stoke and Netgalley for the ebook to read and review.

Hayley thinks her housebound neighbour is a witch, her cat is always sneaking over there. Then one day she meets her and soon a friendship is formed and she learns the two of them have a lot in common. But a rift in their friendship occurs when Hayley says something she shouldn’t have.

What an absolutely beautiful story of friendship between two people of different ages. It was so stunningly written and the characters were wonderful, I honestly loved their deep connection and the strong bond they formed.

I really loved that Lillian was a former actress and had so much knowledge and wisdom to share with Hayley to help her get the part in the Little Women production. The two connected over so many things and I really loved that Lillian felt comfortable enough around Hayley to share with her about her life and her family.

It’s such a beautiful and full of heart story, I really enjoyed getting to know the characters, their lives and see their friendship blossoming, it may have faltered for a while but it rekindled and was so beautiful. The illustrations we got within it were also incredibly beautiful to look at, capturing Important parts of the story, I throughly enjoyed this book.

As opening sentences go, "It's not easy trying to persuade Judy Garland to come out of someone else's garden with a bit of tinned salmon," is a pretty good one. Hayley lives over the road from Boo, an elderly lady who never leaves her house. Hayley is a bit scared of her and isn't thrilled when she has to go over and knock on the door but it turns out Boo isn't at all what Hayley had assumed.

This is a lovely story about things not always being what they seem and how stepping out of your comfort zone and giving things a chance can be so rewarding.

Although not the target audience for these books I really enjoy both Barrington Stoke books and anything by Lesley Parr - they have a great sense of place and the sprinkling in of Welsh words and terms is brilliant.
As someone not from the target audience I did want to know a bit more around the main story but it was a very satisfying read.

We love book by Barrington Stokes as they are accessible to the entire family. This one was especially delightful. The illustrations made it easier for our reluctant challenged reader to enjoy. It is a great story of not assuming that things are the way they first appear and how much we often have in common. Definately one for our carefully curated bookshelf.

Eleven year-old Hayley is a head-strong aspiring actress who is determined to get the part of Jo March in a local production of Little Women. We meet Hayley as she is trying to coax her cat, Judy Garland, out of a neighbours garden. The neighbour in question is known to Hayley as 'Boo', a nod to the elusive character in To Kill A Mockingbird (Hayley is also reminiscent of Scout Finch). In this case 'Boo' is an older woman, Lillian, living alone in the last house on what used to be a row of terraces, recently demolished to make way for new social housing. Lillian refuses to give her house up and will not leave it for fear of losing it. This is how she has become known to Hayley as a recluse and possibly a witch. When Hayley discovers the truth about Lillian, she learns that sometimes we find kindred spirits in those we least expect.

This is a tender story about giving people a chance before making judgments about them. The relationship that blossoms between Hayley and Lillian is lovely and heart-warming. Parr explores the loneliness experienced by many older people living alone and this story may encourage young readers to check in on their elderly relatives or neighbours.

As a Barrington Stoke, this is an accessible book with short pacey chapters to keep readers engaged. It has a nice tidy conclusion and will appeal particularly to readers aged 9-12.

Thank you to Netgalley and Collins/Barrington Stoke for the digital proof.

Lesley Parr is my favourite contemporary children’s writer. I have loved all 4 of her previous novels; in particular the sensitivity and insight she brings to her characters and the history she embeds in her books. Barrington Stoke are a rather wonderful publisher and I was excited to see how Lesley would adapt her writing to these editions.

Hayley is not too happy when her cat, Judy Garland, begins to stray into her neighbour’s garden. She has nicknamed this neighbour, ‘Boo”, and attributed her with rather negative characteristics! Boo’s house is the last house in the row. All the other houses have been demolished by the council but Boo - Lillian - has refused to move out. Hayley has never seen her leave the house and only the Doctor ever visits. Thanks to Judy Garland Lilian and Hayley become friends and Hayley realises that Lillian is not the person she perceived her to be.

I read this in one sitting. A slim book with a story that pulls on all the heartstrings. I was reminded of my childhood when I too had a child’s tendency to see monsters amongst the neighbours and to let my imagination run ahead! The inter-generational friendship at the heart is beautifully observed and Lesley shows the incredible versatility of her writing, fitting perfectly into the Barrington Stoke style. Lesley’s stories are embedded in realism; she doesn’t look for easy answers and her characters are often experiencing problems that won’t be resolved easily. I loved how Lesley found an ending for this story which was grounded in possibility and not in fairy tale.

This is a gorgeous story which brought a few tears and a bit of a punch in the air. I think children will love this and parents will appreciate the gentle themes at the heart.

The illustrations are absolutely gorgeous!

Huge thanks to Netgalley and Barrington Stoke for my digital copy of this lovely book.

Lesley Parr has created a beautiful story that unites two different generations- the young and the elderly .

In a world where connections between age groups seems to be diminishing and the understanding between them is often founded upon a sense of fear and suspicion, this is a tale that unites and breaks down barriers

Hayley's cat Judy Garland keeps disappearing into the garden of an elderly neighbour nicknamed "Boo". Hayley becomes more frustrated and her attempts to lure the cat back result in an unlikely friendship. Hayley becomes friends with the lady- Lilian - who was once an aspiring actress. Lilian does not want to move from her house despite council requests and when Hayley learns an important piece of information about Lilian's past, she is compelled to step into action.

Told with warmth and humour, this is a pitch perfect story book for an individual reader - 7-9 year old or a lower key stage 2 class read. Barrington Stoke excel at pitch perfect texts for emerging independent readers

Richard Johnson's illustration further add to the sensitivity to the tale.

A truly lovely story that could open up discussions about connections between age groups- and dispel assumptions and stereotypes.