The Skeleton Tree

October 5, 2015
The only thing Chris and Frank have in common is that they both know Jack, Chris’s daredevil uncle, who wants to take the boys on an adventure a year after Chris’s father dies. But Uncle Jack’s plan to sail from Alaska to Canada turns treacherous during a storm. Jack is killed, and the boys are stranded on the untamed Alaska coast. From the outset, Frank doesn’t seem to like Chris, but they have to work together—combatting hunger, cold, bears, and wolves—to stay alive. During the weeks that follow, Frank’s fears, resentments, and traumas come to light, and Chris discovers a secret that will bond them forever. Fans of Hatchet and Lord of the Flies will be drawn to this harrowing survival story from Lawrence (The Winter Pony), which offers psychological suspense and action in equal measure. The boys’ exploration of rugged territory and the mysterious “skeleton tree”with coffins in its branches neatly parallels their individual quests to make sense of recent losses and the lives they have left behind. Ages 8–12. Agent: Danielle Egan-Miller and Joanna MacKenzie, Browne & Miller Literary Associates.

October 1, 2015
Chris, 12, is thrilled to sail from Kodiak, Alaska, down to Vancouver, British Columbia, with Uncle Jack but surprised (and not thrilled) to discover Frank, a sullen teen, is coming, too; the boys' mutual antipathy grows even after they're shipwrecked on the wild Alaskan coast, where cooperation is a precondition for survival. Chris, a gentle, imaginative kid, is easily bullied by boastful, angry Frank, who is burdened by a secret. He belittles Chris and takes for himself the one bed in the derelict cabin that becomes their home. Frank's savvier about wilderness survival in theory but lacks Chris' stolid patience to put it in practice. There's a radio but no batteries. Carefully hoarded matches keep the fire going, but as winter approaches, the last spawning salmon are almost gone. They find boxes containing human skeletons suspended from a tree and stumble across an enormous brown bear. Thursday, the raven Chris befriends and names, comforts him, but Frank becomes jealous of both boy and bird. Reading an adventure novel they find in the cabin, sharing fears, and plotting next steps lead the boys to form a wary, tentative bond that's severely damaged when Thursday injures Frank. Lawrence doesn't make it easy on either boy. The immense forest; its wolves, ravens, bears; the night's shimmering aurora and myriad stars]all of these are majestic but not friendly. Against this vividly realized backdrop, the boys' connection is tested. However fragile, fractious, flawed, it's their lifeline. Unsettling and compelling, a gripping, evocative read. (author's note) (Adventure. 8-12)

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November 1, 2015

Gr 4-7-After the death of his father, Christopher goes on an extended sailing trip with his beloved Uncle Jack and a mysterious older boy, Frank, who clearly does not like Chris, although the reason is unclear. Then, in a turbulent storm, the boat sinks. Uncle Jack, who had returned to the cabin for flares, goes down with it. The lifeboat with the two boys on board eventually washes ashore in a remote area of Alaska. Finding an abandoned cabin and catching spawning salmon seem to be their only means of survival. Frank is surly and injured, while Chris is naive-almost to the point of helplessness; he is afraid to be in the wilderness but also reluctant to stay with Frank. Although they are drawn together by their circumstances, the bond between the two boys is tenuous. Chris befriends a curious raven who helps him explore their surroundings and offers him true companionship. The skeleton tree and a bear that seems to stalk the characters give the story a dark and foreboding tone. This is not a typical survival tale, and fans of Hatchet may be disappointed, as the boys grow very little as survivalists and there is less adventure. Instead, the focus is on the rocky and evolving relationship between the two boys. Though Frank is cruel and Chris is innocent, readers come to understand that each boy is much more than he appears. VERDICT Fans of Touching Spirit Bear by Ben Mikaelsen (HarperCollins, 2001) will find this a similar read.-Patricia Feriano, Montgomery County Public Schools, MD

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