The Neighborhood
By
Erina Bridget Ring
What is a neighborhood? It's "often a social community with considerable face-to-face interaction among members". OH, does this book take that definition to a new level! The neighborhood in this book, Sherwood Forest, has more than it's share of endless interactions and not so fairy tale events.
Life is about to become one hot mess when Gretchen and Jarrod O'Malley move into their new home on Sir Richard Road. With the neighborhood called Sherwood Forest, they thought they were moving into the fairy tale neighborhood....but it is not anything like they expected. This is where the craziness of this story begins....and what a crazy tale that is told!
This story had my mind spinning at what these neighbors to Gretchen and Jarrod were capable of! Each one had their weirdnesses and quirks that were out of this world! From the very first neighbor to introduce herself, Maggie, who was a busybody and "town crier", to the new neighbors who move in and are so unsuspecting of what's about to overtake their lives, this book was a tale of unbelievable events! This story had so much of Ms. Ring's humor that made me laugh, but also there is a tragedy that made my heart hurt and so very sad. The characters are unique but also ones that could be in any neighborhood there is. This neighborhood is not normal by any means with its share of busybodies, spies, nuisances, gossips, and the "ones to avoid". Is there anything this neighborhood doesn't have?
Do I know my neighbors? Not like this, I don't! This story was one that I turned the pages and was surprised at what was coming next. I really enjoyed Gladys and her clipboard and binoculars dropped like breadcrumbs through the book. What was she writing down all the time?
Would I want to live in a neighborhood like this? Most definitely NO! BUT I sure did enjoy spending some time visiting it! It was an outrageous, very original and fun read.
Thank you, Ms. Ring for sharing your imagination and also the challenge of knowing who our neighbors really are. In the end, tho, "Home is Where We Are"....no matter what the neighborhood is like.