Ventrella, Kim Skeleton Tree, 240 pages. Scholastic Press, 2017. $17.
Language: G (2 swears); Mature Content: G (discusses death and grief);
Violence: G
Stanly knows that something is wrong with his little sister,
Miren, but his mother is sure that she will get better. When Stanly discovers a bone growing in his
backyard, especially when he sees it growing and growing, he thinks this may be
his ticket to winning the Young Discoverer’s Competition and getting his absent
father’s attention. But Miren is even
more fascinated with the skeleton than Stanly and Stanly becomes more and more
worried every day, especially each time Miren chooses Princy, as she calls the
skeleton, over him to console her.
I wanted to like this book, but I couldn’t embrace it. I kept wondering if it was based on some
mythology that I hadn’t read and that I would enjoy it more if I did, but I
can’t find anything evidence of that. This was supposed to be a tender story
about coming to terms with grief and death, but the picture of Miren dancing
with the Grim Reaper as she gets closer to her death just creeped me out. That being said, I do like that the main character is a boy confronting this tender issue. Also, his best friend is autistic and watching them interact in a friendly manner, with the occasional misunderstanding, was also very refreshing.
EL- OPTIONAL. Cindy,
Library Teacher
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