Once for Yes

by Allie Millington

Overview

From the author of the national bestseller, Olivetti, praised by Tom Hanks as "a great favor" for readers.

This heartfelt novel celebrates the healing power of community and the endurance of love, perfect for fans of Kate DiCamillo and Peter Brown.

The Odenburgh, an old apartment building made of brick and blunt opinions, is the last of its kind in a swiftly changing neighborhood. After years of putting up with people and their many problems, the Odenburgh knows there’s no point in getting attached. They all just leave eventually. A truth that comes all too soon when the building is sold and slated for demolition, giving tenants a month to move out.

No one is more troubled by the news than eleven-year-old Prue, who refuses to leave her family’s apartment. Not when it was the last place she lived with her sister Lina, before she lost Lina forever. When Prue launches a plan to save their home, the Odenburgh joins in—flickering lights, jamming elevators, triggering fire alarms—all to try and bring a building full of bickering residents together. In the process, Prue meets Lewis, an eccentric boy who lives across the street—and the only one who can help her discover the missing elements of her sister’s story.

Heartfelt and bursting with a community of unique characters, Once For Yes is a testament to the endurance of love and the people we carry with us, wherever we go.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781250326966
Publisher:	Square Fish
Publication date:	09/22/2026
Pages:	272
Product dimensions:	5.12(w) x 7.62(h) x 1.00(d)
Age Range:	8 - 12 Years

About the Author

Allie Millington’s debut middle-grade novel, Olivetti, was an Indies Introduce selection, and a USA Today and Indies bestseller. She lives near Atlanta, Georgia, with her husband and their fluffy dog, Crumpet. You can frequently find her doodling in her writing shed, or foraging in the woods. You can find her on Instagram: @alliemillington or online at www.alliemillington.com

Editorial Reviews

"Allie Millington knocks it out of the park yet again with her second novel. Every character, even the voice of an old apartment building, feels as real and warm as an old friend. I laughed and cried my way through this tender story of hope, community, loss, and healing." —Parnassus Books Blog

★ "Prue Laroe’s older sister Lina passed away at just twelve-years old, and a year later, Prue still mourns, holding fast to all the memories they made in their home in the Odenburgh, an old, four-story red brick apartment building with a memorial bench out front. Unfortunately, it has just been sold to a big city property developer, and eleven-year-old Prue seems to be the only one who cares about saving the building and the precious past it holds. Luckily, the Odenburgh itself does in fact care, and, with brick-and-mortar gusto, the omnipresent building co-narrates along with Prue and an assorted inhabitants of the other apartments on each floor, including Lewis, a boy with binoculars from across the street . . . Lewis is also harboring a secret that ties him to Lena, and untangling it will answer some of Prue’s questions about the night of her sister’s death . . . Gentle plotting and careful reveals of Lina’s last moments to make a refreshingly clever, emotionally rich exploration of loss in its varied forms. Offering no easy solutions, this is a well-crafted read with a tragedy at its heartbreaking center and a constellation of moving parts that draw readers into its uniquely human anti-gentrification story." —Bulletin of the Center for Children's Books, starred review

"This contemplative story explores themes of community, resilience, and healing through poetic prose that’s infused with heartache and wonder. A heartfelt story about loss and connection." —Kirkus Reviews

"Chapters swiftly alternate between the perspectives of the Odenburgh, Prue, Lewis, and other apartment dwellers, imparting a bustling tone. A gentle novel about grief by Millington (Olivetti)." —Publishers Weekly

"Millington’s wholesome sophomore tearjerker (following Olivetti) has readers again rooting for a lovingly dysfunctional family as an inanimate narrator intervenes to help a struggling tween set them straight. Prue and Lewis’ efforts to save the Odenburgh spur an artful act of tenant resistance that builds community. A poignant pick with a delightfully old-fashioned sensibility." —Booklist

"Wholly original and brimming with empathy . . . A rich cast of characters and a surprisingly lovable building will tug at readers’ heartstrings in the best possible way. Highly recommended." —School Library Journal

"Quirky and affecting." —The Horn Book

From the Publisher

2024-12-14
This contemporary novel is narrated by an unexpected storyteller: an old apartment building in a gentrifying neighborhood.

The run-down, red-brick Odenburgh building chronicles the intertwined stories of its residents as they work to try to save it from demolition. Among the building’s diverse group of tenants is 11-year-old Prue Laroe, a freckle-faced girl with “poufy” and “frizzy” black hair. Prue is mourning the death of Lina, one of her sisters, and carrying unanswered questions about the traumatic accident that took her life. She clings to the building, using one of its landline telephones as a confessional. When the Odenburgh flicks its lights on and off, Prue interprets it as communication from Lina: She believes that her sister wants her to try to save the building. Prue meets and works with Lewis, a lanky boy from across the street who has binoculars, too-short pants, and his own secret grief. The building continues to interact with Prue and Lewis, turning off the air conditioning and water and stopping elevators to manipulate people’s movements and bring the quirky (though sometimes caricatured) characters together so the kids can get to know them and persuade them to lend their support. This contemplative story explores themes of community, resilience, and healing through poetic prose that’s infused with heartache and wonder. Neither Prue’s nor Lewis’ racial identities are explicitly stated.

A heartfelt story about loss and connection.(Fiction. 8-12)

Kirkus Reviews