On the Block: A middle grade anthology set in one building

On the Block: Stories of Immigrant Families, edited by Ellen Oh, (Oct. 2025, Penguin Random House), $8.99, ISBN: 9780593648476

Ages 8-13

Published in partnership with We Need Diverse Books (WNDB) and edited by award-winning author Ellen Oh – a founding member of WNDB – this can’t-miss anthology’s stories bring together the lives of a group of families living in the Entrada apartment building in New York City (if my reading of a few landmarks serves me right). The author’s list is a who’s-who of kidlit, including Tracey Baptiste, Adam Gidwitz, Sayantani Dasgupta, and Debbi Michiko Florence. Chapters are named for apartments where each family lives, giving readers a glimpse into different cultures and lived experiences. Characters from one story will pop up in another, providing a fun sense of continuity.

Who lives in the Entrada? There’s Lila Sooklal in Apartment 5B. Newly arrived from Trinidad, Lila explores the building and meets her neighbors while her family wanders flea markets in search of furnishings for their new apartment. Tumpa Ray in Apartment 4C is almost 12 years old and hasn’t learned to ride a bike yet; when her grandmother arrives from Bengal, she’s determined to change that. Yaniel Fernandez in Apartment 6C is eating popsicles until he’s sick to his stomach in order to make a bridge for class… and learns that there is much more to his grandmother than he ever imagined.

Living and working in an urban area of Queens, these are my library kids’ stories. Readers will laugh and cheer with these characters; they’ll identify with them, and they’ll feel seen. If you didn’t catch the hardcover release of On the Block (then subtitled Stories of Home) last year, put it in your cart for this year.

On the Block has starred reviews from Publishers Weekly, Kirkus, School Library Journal, and Booklist.