By Lisa Graff
4RBooks: 4/6, grades 4-7
Amazon rating: 4.6/5, grade level 3-7
Good Reads: 3.98/5
Common Sense Media: 4/5, age 9+
284 pages
Synopsis:
Winnie’s parents are getting a divorce. If that isn’t bad enough, they devise a plan to share time equally. Three days with mom, three days with dad, and then one day on her own. They buy new houses for themselves with a tree standing in the middle of the yard between the homes. They have Winnie’s uncle build her a spectacular tree house where she will stay one night a week.
If that isn’t bad enough, they start to compete with each other, not for Winnie’s affection, but to make themselves out to be the better and more fun parent. Every day Winnie is with one of them they plan super spectacular events built around special holidays, national days of… , and unique events. This leaves Winnie very little time to do her homework or study for tests. Winnie is in danger of failing fifth grade.
Winnie finally has enough and vows to never come out of her treehouse until her parents agree to come, together, and talk and listen to her. Soon her 9 best friends, all with complaints of their own about parents and siblings, join her, also refusing to come down until their demands are met. They can do this because their tree was planted by a different country years ago and is still considered part of their embassy and not legally in the US.
The 10 enjoy their 24/7 slumber party for many days, but soon the stress of living together, away from their homes, begins to wear on them. They are also very tired. The police shine bright lights on their house and play loud music to keep them awake, hoping to drive them out. It seems an impossible situation until Winnie develops an idea that will give everyone an incentive to go home, and her parents a reason to come up and listen to her.
The book is written as a collective memoir by the 10 children and is creatively presented with post-it notes acting and footnotes and additional information on topics like creating friendship bracelets and lizard sock puppets.
Parental Guidance: medium-low
Children talk about their parents and siblings in unflattering terms.
Winnie’s parents are constantly competing with each other to prove they are the better person/parent and Winnie is caught in the middle. They go out of their way to better the other parent’s ideas and activities while never truly paying attention to Winnie. Her life and feelings are completely ignored. While the author’s point is well-intended, she makes it with a sledgehammer. There is no subtlety to the situation and the parents are more cartoonish than real.
The children basically go on strike from their families and stage a sit-in at the treehouse.
One of the children falls out of the treehouse and breaks an arm.
Recommendation:
I want to give this book more stars and a higher recommendation, but it’s hard with the awful depiction of Winnie’s parents. I understand the writer is making a point about divorced parents and how the children get stuck in the middle, but the depiction of the parents was over-the-top with no redeeming qualities until the end. In this day and age, when parents are often maligned and minimized, it’s hard to recommend a book that promotes that concept, even if mostly for comedic effect.
Still, I think this is a fun story written in a fun way and with parent and/or teacher guidance, can be a valuable book, accessible to a wide variety of readers. The friendship between the 10 children is admirable and realistic, with a lot of funny stuff added in. The post-it notes and additional tips and how-tos are educational and might inspire some extra enrichment activities. There would be many opportunities for discussion about family dynamics, listening to each other, and respecting everyone’s feelings and opinions.
This is the third Lis Graff book I have reviewed. She is definitely an author to check out.
Comments