The Great Treehouse War

May 8, 2017
In this appealing faux-memoir, 11-year-old Winnie Malladi-Maraj is caught in a tug-of-war between her divorced parents. Unable to find perfect parity as they compete to spend holidays with their daughter, they embark on a ridiculous rash of one-upmanship, celebrating Flag Day, National Slinky Day, and World UFO Day in outlandish, time-consuming ways that leave Winnie more stressed than impressed. She is in danger of failing fifth grade until a project on local history gives her the idea to declare her epic tree house (which includes a loft, mini-fridge, and zip line) to be on sovereign soil so she won’t ever have to come down. When her friends join her, the so-called “Tulip Street Ten” makes national news. Graff (A Clatter of Jars) structures her story as a “collective memoir” that Winnie and her friends put together in hopes of winning a writing contest and avoiding flunking; editorial comments from her friends offering editorial commentary are scattered throughout on sticky notes, along with maps, memos, emails, cartoons, and how-to guides, creating a vibrant patchwork of personalities that gives voice to the power of friendship. Ages 8–12. Agent: Stephen Barbara, Inkwell Management.

As narrator Ariana Delawari portrays fifth-grader Winnie, other voices join in and express the playfulness of this story. Winnie's parents are divorcing. Delawari plays up the irony of their demands for equal time and their competition in celebrating every ridiculous holiday--like Peach Cobbler Day. When Winnie spends Wednesdays alone in the elaborate tree house between her parents' two homes, Delawari makes Winnie's mounting frustration clear. She just wants to finish her homework assignment so she doesn't fail fifth grade. Multiple voices chime in as Winnie's nine classmates deliver compassion, recipes, details of craft projects, and their own dissatisfactions. The additional voices are a great way to represent the children's diversity. Their contributions also suggest the story's many forms of communication--from sticky notes to newspaper articles. S.W. � AudioFile 2017, Portland, Maine