The Secret Tree
Scholastic Inc | ISBN 9780545334808 Paperback
256 Pages | 5.27" x 7.6" | Ages 8 to 12
Scholastic Inc | ISBN 9780545334792 Hardcover
256 Pages | 5.73" x 8.57" | Ages 8 to 12
Scholastic Inc | ISBN 9780545443104 Ebook
256 Pages | Ages 9 to 12
What is your secret?
Minty's neighbourhood is full of mysteries.
There's the Witch House, a spooky old farmhouse on the other side of woods from where Minty and her best friend, Paz, live. There's the Man Bat, a seven-foot-tall half man, half bat who is rumoured to fly through the woods. And there are the Mean Boys, David and Troy, who torment Minty for no reason, and her boy-crazy older sister, Thea, who acts weirder and weirder.
One day Minty spots a flash in the woods, and when she chases after it, she discovers a new mystery — a Secret Tree, with a hollow trunk that holds the secrets of everyone in the neighbourhood. Secrets like:
I put a curse on my enemy. And it's working.
I'm betraying my best friend in a terrible way.
No one loves me except my goldfish.
Raves & reviews:
Praise for The Secret Tree
*"Standiford's story [has] a richness that will stay with readers." —Publishers Weekly, starred review
"Middle-school dynamics, pesky sibling relations, a rumored haunted house, some truly heartwrenching situations and a mystery all combine to make this coming-of-age novel an engrossing read." —Kirkus
"Themes of friendship, loneliness, family dysfunction, and even mental illness are presented in Minty's naïve, engaging narration . . . With an almost nostalgic feel for summers and communities of times past." —School Library Journal