The New York Times Book Review - Nalini Jones
…this novel is a richly textured delight: an art world mystery, a family drama, a sensitive depiction of depression, a crash course in colors and a portrait of a young artist. Ollie's first-person perspective is so persuasive, it seems she really can manage by herself, until a friend stands beside her and we suddenly see her world through different eyes…"Draw what you see," Ollie's father taught her, "not what you think you see." It's an idea that resonates because Tucker has written with such compassion and intelligence about what we see, what we overlook and what we try to hide.
From the Publisher
I absolutely loved All the Greys on Greene Street. It’s a dazzling debut novel about resilience, courage, home and family.”—Rebecca Stead, Newbery Award-winning author of When You Reach Me
“A truly wonderful book about art and mystery, friendships and family. You are bound to fall in love with Ollie and you’ll long remember her story.”—Patricia Reilly Giff, Newbery Honor author of Lily's Crossing and Pictures of Hollis Woods
"I’m not sure how its quiet power works, but it works; I stand in front of it, and I’m breathless. The last book that made me feel this way was Rebecca Stead's Goodbye Stranger." —Jack Cheng, award-winning author of See You In the Cosmos
“Skillfully grounded in time and place, full of colorful characters and pearls of wisdom, Ollie’s story shows how it’s possible to save ourselves when the people around us can’t.” —Wendy Mass, New York Times bestselling author of The Candymakers
“This is a beautiful book—a love letter to art, friendship, and family. I devoured it.” —Tae Keller, author of The Science of Breakable Things
★ "A brilliant mediation on the artistic life, the way shapes and color infuse perception, howconcentration can lead to illumination, and how creation is gift available to all in myriad forms . . . Tucker's writing is exquisite and as preciseas brush stroke. A remarkable debut." —Booklist, starred review
★ "Tucker skillfully balances themes of mental illness, friendship, and creativity under tough circumstances in her memorable debut." —Publishers Weekly, starred review
★ "A host of honest, flawed, deeply sympathetic characters that are poignant and funny are at once unique and familiar . . . Lovely, sad, hopeful, and memorable." —Kirkus Reviews, starred review
★ "A poignant and well-structured debut novel that’s sure to satisfy." —BookPage, starred review
"[A] brilliant debut novel . . . a richly texture delight: an art world mystery, a family drama, a sensitive depiction of depression, a crash course in colors and a portrait of a young artist . . . Tucker has written with such compassion and intelligence about what we see, what we overlook, and what we try to hide." —The New York Times
"The story of Olympia, her art, and her devoted friends that will absorb readers here." —BCCB Reviews
Kirkus Reviews
★ 2019-03-03
Sixth-grader Olympia—called Ollie by her best friends, Richard and Alex—is left fending for herself when her father disappears and her mother experiences a major depressive crisis.
A vividly depicted urban landscape firmly establishes this novel in the SoHo of 1981, where Ollie lives in a converted industrial loft and picks up packs of cigarettes and Tab at a store on Broadway for her mom. A talented artist, Ollie's mom has stopped getting out of bed since Ollie's father, an art restorer, embarked on a clandestine trip to France a week before. At first glance, this elegantly nostalgic and leisurely paced story, sparingly illustrated with delicate pencil drawings, is a mystery involving a valuable wood carving on which Ollie's dad and his business partner, Apollo, were working. However, there are so many other themes at play—including the intricacies of friendships, the pain of living with depression, and art's ability to create meaning out of life's ordinary and sometimes-difficult circumstances—that it defies simple genre categorization. A host of honest, flawed, deeply sympathetic characters that are poignant and funny are at once unique and familiar. Ollie, her parents, and Alex seem to be white by default, Apollo grew up in Poland, and Richard is a black boy of Haitian heritage. There is realistic ethnic diversity reflected in secondary and background characters.
Lovely, sad, hopeful, and memorable. (Historical fiction. 9-12)
