A review by finesilkflower
Abby and the Notorious Neighbor by Ann M. Martin

1.0

While sick, Abby becomes obsessed with spying on her neighbor, convinced that he is a criminal from an America's Most Wanted-type crime show. Meanwhile, the neighborhood kids spy and steal ideas from each other for a Go Kart race.

Look, I love Rear Window - it was my favorite movie when I was 9 which means it'll be my favorite movie forever and also that I was one weird little kid - and if I'd read this book back then, I probably would have been into the homage. The best scenes in this book are the ones that are stolen directly from the movie, like Abby growing increasingly anxious as she watches through the binoculars while her deputy Kristy breaks into the neighbor's mailbox.

But the rest of the filler is quite weak, including the vague reason our suspect is said to be a criminal (he 'abandoned his family'), and the handwavey description of looking people up on the Internet (did you know there's one definitive site, not a scam, where you can put in a name and get their current address and a photo; no mention of any of the problems with that).

Worst, probably, is

Spoiler

the fact that Abby turns out to be right. It felt to me like the whole book was setting her up to be wrong, and to be suspecting an innocent man, because literally the basis of her suspicion is superficial similarity in appearance noticed on grainy video while feverish, yet SHE TURNS OUT TO BE RIGHT. Every one of her hunches pans out. It's not only implausible, I feel like it teaches a really bad lesson about how you should definitely invade your neighbors' privacy.