Middle Grade Monday: Wishtree, by Katherine Applegate

Another beautiful blue cover!

Title: Wishtree

Author: Katherine Applegate

Publication Info: Feiwel And Friends, 2017. 254 pages (hardback)

Source: Library digital resources

Publisher’s Blurb:

Red is an oak tree who is many rings old. Red is the neighborhood "wishtree"—people write their wishes on pieces of cloth and tie them to Red's branches. Along with her crow friend Bongo and other animals who seek refuge in Red's hollows, this "wishtree" watches over the neighborhood.

You might say Red has seen it all. Until a new family moves in. Not everyone is welcoming, and Red's experiences as a wishtree are more important than ever. 

My Review: 

Wishtree was the selection for the March book of the month for the Great Middle Grade Reads group on Goodreads. I was a little hesitant as I started it, both because a few people who’d gotten an earlier start on it didn’t entirely like it, and because of the timing. It’s a book that deals, in part, with anti-Muslim hatred—and I started it just before the Friday attacks on the mosques in Christchurch (where we are spending February and March). I wasn’t sure I wanted to read about more hatred.

I should have known better. Katherine Applegate addresses some tough issues in her books (see, for example, The One and Only Ivan), but she does it in ways that lead the reader to hope and understanding, not sorrow and frustration. A rather whimsical tale of love and community, the book might be described as magical realism—the situation is all too real, but the sentient tree who narrates it provides a unique perspective.

While some readers disliked the use of a patently unrealistic element (talking tree) in an otherwise realistic story, I found that it was easy to engage Wordsworth’s “willing suspension of disbelief” and accept the insider-outsider perspective the tree provides, and I think children will generally be happy with it as well.

Applegate’s writing is smooth and easy to read, without talking down to the children. There are some good giggles provided by the critters that inhabit Red (the tree), which will appeal to readers of all ages.

My Recommendation:

I think this is a good book for a gentle introduction to the issues, as well as being an enjoyable story with a generally happy ending. It’s suitable for kids perhaps as young as 7, as the writing is simple and straight-forward without being simplistic (thus maintaining the appeal for older children).

Full Disclosure: I borrowed an electronic copy of Wishtree from my library, and received nothing from the author or the publisher in exchange for my honest review. The opinions expressed are my own and those of no one else. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission's 16 CFR, Part 255: "Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising."   

Monday YA: Bone Gap, by Laura Ruby

I'm late. I know I'm late. Sometimes, that's just the way I am. I had to finish the book this morning!



Title: Bone Gap
Author: Laura Ruby
Publisher: Balzer + Bray, 2015. 345 pages

Publisher's Summary:
Everyone knows Bone Gap is full of gaps—gaps to trip you up, gaps to slide through so you can disappear forever. So when young, beautiful Roza went missing, the people of Bone Gap weren’t surprised. After all, it wasn’t the first time that someone had slipped away and left Finn and Sean O’Sullivan on their own. Just a few years before, their mother had high-tailed it to Oregon for a brand new guy, a brand new life. That’s just how things go, the people said. Who are you going to blame?

Finn knows that’s not what happened with Roza. He knows she was kidnapped, ripped from the cornfields by a dangerous man whose face he cannot remember. But the searches turned up nothing, and no one believes him anymore. Not even Sean, who has more reason to find Roza than anyone, and every reason to blame Finn for letting her go.

As we follow the stories of Finn, Roza, and the people of Bone Gap—their melancholy pasts, their terrifying presents, their uncertain futures—acclaimed author Laura Ruby weaves a heartbreaking tale of love and loss, magic and mystery, regret and forgiveness—a story about how the face the world sees is never the sum of who we are.

My Review:
I picked up this book because a co-worker heard me talking about face-blindness and said I had to read it. I talk about face-blindness (prosopagnosia) in another review, if you want to see what I'm talking about. And indeed, that is a significant theme in the book. I will also say Bone Gap is a work of magical realism, which I didn't realize when I started (because instead of reading the blurbs on the back I just started in). This is significant mostly because I'm not a huge fan of magical realism, so the book had to overcome that resistance. I'd say it succeeded in doing so pretty well, though in many ways I'd like to see the story without the magic elements.

Bone Gap is well-written, and Ruby has a very nice voice and some great turns of phrase (also some fun moments, as Finn and Petey mock college application essays that ask you to write weird things). The plot is both totally predictable (boy meets girl, etc.) and completely not (no one is as they seem). Getting past my own prejudices, my biggest negative on the book is that I thought the ending was a bit pat--not the wrap-up of the big adventure, but the final wrap-up. I can't say a lot without offering spoilers, but people just get too blasted nice. I was pleased that the author left a few threads hanging.

Recommendation:
This is a YA novel that would be excellent reading for high school students. But to me it read like an adult novel. The teen romance elements were secondary to a story, and that story was complex as well as magical. I would recommend this for anyone from about age 14 up who doesn't mind magical realism.

Full Disclosure: I checked Bone Gap out of my library, and received nothing from the writer or publisher in exchange for my honest review.  The opinions expressed are my own and those of no one else.  I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission's 16 CFR, Part 255: "Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising."