About this item
Size matters, but Tree needs convincing. At six feet, three and a half inches, he's the tallest seventh grader in the history of his school, and people expect big things. But he's not good at basketball, he looks much older than he feels, and his parents' divorce is all too new. He copes by helping people like his grandpa, a Vietnam vet who's just had part of a leg amputated, and Sophie, a new girl who's being taunted at school. Taking things apart helps, too. He learned that from Grandpa. And in the process of seeing how lamps get rewired and laser pens work, in Grandpa's powerful memories of the Vietnam War, in helping an old soldier learn to walk again, in Sophie's insistence that Tree be himself, he begins to heal from the divorce and learns to stand tall. But when a flood threatens his home, Tree's new-found confidence is put to the test. Newbery Honor-winning author Joan Bauer's story, packed with memorable characters and her trademark humor, is about finding purpose in tough times. And it's about Tree's giant heart, not his giant size, making him a hero.
About the Author
Joan Bauer has won numerous awards for her twelve (soon to be thirteen) novels for young readers, among them, the Newbery Honor Medal, the American Library Association's Schneider Family Book Award, two Christopher Awards, the LA Times Book Prize, the Chicago Tribune Young adult Literary Prize, the Golden Kite Award of the Society of Children's Book Writers and Illustrators, and most recently, the St. Katherine Drexel Award of the Catholic Library Association. A NY Times Best-selling author, speaker, and songwriter, she has been a guest on local and national radio shows, and she has been sent to both Croatia and Kazakhstan by the State Department as part of its Professional Speakers Program to speak at schools, universities, libraries, and writers' groups. Joan has also been a recipient of the Judy Lopez Memorial Award; the ASTAL Award for Outstanding Contributions to Literature for Young People; the Michigan Thumbs-up! Award for Children's Literature; the Delacorte Prize for a First Young Adult Novel; the Pacific Northwest Library Association Award; the New Jersey Reading Association M. Jerry Weiss Award; the New England Booksellers Award; and the Boston Public Library's "Literary Light" Award. Her novels have been nominated extensively for state book awards, in addition to appearing on ALA Notable Books, ALA Best Books, ALA Quick Picks, American Bookseller Pick of the List, School Library Journal Best Books, Smithsonian Notable Children's Books, VOYA's Perfect 10s. Her novel Rules of the Road was chosen as one of the top young adult books of the quarter century by the American Library Association. Her thirteenth novel, Soar, will be published in January 2016.Joan is a member of the Writers Guild of America East, the Authors Guild, PEN, and the Society of Children's Book Writers and Illustrators. She lives in Brooklyn, New York with her husband Evan and their intrepid wheaten terrier Max. She enjoys cooking, playing the piano, hiking, songwriting, and ice skating (as long as she has enough time for a slow stop) .
