Written by Kevin Sylvester
HarperCollins
978-1-4434-6094-1
240 pp.
Ages 8-12
September 2022
That's what buildings do, Jake. They are like us, constrained by an arc. By time. They–and we–age and decay. They–and we–die. But how do we live while we live? That's the important question. (pg. 122)
When Jake Simmons and his mom move into the Regency, it's because they've hit rock bottom. Mom has split from her partner Janice and lost her job as a legal secretary. To get back on their feet, the two move into the Regency, which Jake sees as a dump with its peeling paint, curling wallpaper, dust, grimy windows and worse. But, when he becomes acquainted with the original Regency, he recognizes that it is a true home.
Exploring the shambles that is the Regency, Jake makes the acquaintance of Danny, the superintendent, who knows all the residents and what they need. He introduces Jake to the elderly Lily in Apartment 405 whose cats are fed by Danny. Then there's the brilliant Professor who is so focused on her work that Danny cleans up her garbage and the elusive, baseball-loving Gus who won't leave his home. Danny is good about delivering and picking up Gus's mail as well as that of others like the piano-playing Theo in 501 and the enigmatic Delaney who lives somewhere on the seventh floor. These are just some of the odd assortment of residents of the Regency and Jake is happy to agree to be Danny's assistant and help with all his clients' needs. But then Danny gets a letter from a lawyer indicating that the long-term lease between the Regency and the city is set to expire and the residents will need to find another place to live.
Soon after, the purportedly-broken call light for Apartment 713 goes off and Jake heads to the apartment he'd been told was off limits. Sure that someone inside is calling for help, Jake plunges into the apartment and into another world, one in which the Regency is in its infancy, hosting musicians, artists and other famous people while being a home to others. Believing that he was sent back to the 1920s to help save the Regency, Jake and his new-found friend, Beth, explore the mysteries that are hidden in the exclusive building, revealing more about its secrets, its history, and even its future.
Kevin Sylvester can illustrate (e.g., Super-Duper Monster Viewer), tell us sports stories (e.g., Hockey Super Six), entice us with food (e.g., Neil Flambé series) and inform with non-fiction (e.g., Gold Medal for Weird and Follow Your Money with Michael Hlinka) so it's no wonder that he can also write speculative fiction with a time-slip element. Still Kevin Sylvester includes all those elements in Apartment 713. His artwork peppers the story and there are elements of baseball, food, and history that build on the basic premise of a child dealing with upheaval and trying to find home where it would appear there is none. While there is a very cool time-slip element to Apartment 713, the story is really about looking a little deeper: into a new place, into new friends, and into one's self. It's finding the wonders within and recognizing them for what they are. It's being the solution rather than complaining about the problem. It's finding home by making a home.
While Kevin Sylvester will always give us a good story, well-written and illustrated, often with humour and a light touch, there will always be more. He gently manifests important issues like LGBTQ (e.g., The Fabulous Zed Watson co-authored with Basil Sylvester) and resource monopolization (e.g., Minrs) and, with Apartment 713, there's a message about superficiality. Hopefully young readers will see beyond the obvious, that old buildings may look like dumps and eccentric people appear to be odd but both are built on histories that make them unique and enrich lives with their presence.
