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.

March 15, 2017
Hyperbole reigns supreme!Indian-American Winnie's been suffering mightily since her parents' divorce. Neither one will give an inch, so Winnie's days are precisely divided between the warring, very peculiar adults, with the leftover day, Wednesday, spent in her magnificent treehouse. In trying to outdo each other by overcelebrating every conceivable holiday, Winnie's parents consume all of their daughter's time. She's now in grave danger of failing fifth grade. In desperation, she retreats to her treehouse, refusing to come down. Her nine school friends, depicted on the cover as being of varying races, unexpectedly join her there, each with a (trivial) gripe with parents, their strike resulting in instant fame. Due to a legal technicality, the kids can stay, but that doesn't keep the powerless adults from torturing them with loud music and bright spotlights. The third-person tale is presented from Winnie's perspective, interspersed with recipes, instructions for crafts, and, primarily, her friends' Post-it comments. By the 14th day, Winnie's sleep-deprived friends are splintering apart just like her parents did. With guidance from an insightful uncle she finds her voice and helps them all go home, fulfilling not their demands but what each one really needed. Her wayward parents remain unreachable though--until she realizes that she has to apply her determined persistence and dynamic, assertive voice with them too. Over-the-top but ultimately wise. (Fiction. 9-12)

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April 1, 2017
Gr 3-6-Winnie's mom and dad are getting divorced. They are extremely competitive, both in their careers and their parenting styles, and splitting time with Winnie is no exception. They insist that their custody agreement be divided right down the middle, with each parent getting the exact same amount of time. Winnie will spend three days at her dad's house and three days at her mom's. That leaves Wednesdays, and since Winnie's parents can't split their daughter in half, they decide to build an amazing tree house between their properties. On Wednesdays, Winnie will live there alone. As her parents' competitiveness ramps up, Winnie finds that her Wednesdays are sacred. They're her only break from the custody craziness. When her time there is threatened, Winnie goes on the offensive and stages a tree house standoff. She's not coming out until her parents see her way of thinking, and nine of her closest friends join her with demands of their own. It's kids vs. parents in epic fashion, and Graff's not-quite-fantasy world is every kid's dream. All of the frustrations young people feel with their parents during a divorce are hilariously hyperbolized in a way that will make children feel vindicated and less alone. The epistolary format allows readers to get to know all of the characters through creative footnotes, sticky notes, newspaper articles, emails, and tiny drawings. VERDICT Graff's whimsical, original work is a breath of fresh air. A strong addition to any middle grade collection.-Mandy Laferriere, Fowler Middle School, Frisco, TX

Copyright 2017 School Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

maddyp18 - I just finished reading this amazing book, and I loved it! This book is about a girl named Winnie, who's parents are a bit difficult. Winnie's parents are too alike for their own good, and they want everything to be equal. For instance, when Winnie came home from school and her parents told her that they were getting divorced, they had a duct-tape X on the couch for her to sit on, exactly between her parents. Since her parents are getting divorced, they inform Winnie that she's going to have an EXACTLY equal amount of days with each of her parents, by switching off between their new houses each day of the week. But, since there's seven days in a week, Winnie's going to spend that one extra day living in a treehouse, exactly between her parents' houses. At first Winnie thought the idea of living in a treehouse was ridiculous, but then she realized that it might be nice to have some peace and quiet. Then stuff got even crazier. Winnie usually spent Thanksgiving with her family, as the one holiday they celebrated, but since her parents weren't living together anymore, they had to celebrate a new holiday. First Winnie celebrated a new holiday with her Mom, then Winnie's dad got jealous of her mom celebrating the holiday with Winnie, so HE decided to celebrate a DIFFERENT holiday with Winnie. So that's how it happened that every day of the week Winnie celebrated a different holiday, so she had no time for her homework, or anything else. But there was one exception - on Wednesday's she lived in her treehouse, so she could relax, draw, cuddle with her cat, and do her homework, things normal kids did every day. But since there was only one Wednesday each week, Winnie was falling behind with her schoolwork, because every day (except Wednesday) was spent celebrating a holiday. Her teacher said that Winnie might even fail fifth grade! Her teacher gave her an important history report to do, and said if she didn't ace it she would have to redo fifth grade. So Winnie was under a lot of stress, until her final breaking point. Winnie's dad wanted Winnie to spend the summer with him, so to make up for those days with her dad, Winnie's Mom said that Winnie would spend every Wednesday with her, until the time from the summer was made up. This Winnie could not handle, because Wednesday's were her only time for normal things, and she would fail fifth grade if she didn't get a good grade on her history report. By chance Winnie learned that technically her treehouse wasn't a part of the US, so it didn't follow the rules of the US either. So, Winnie went up to her treehouse when her parents told her this, and it wasn't a Wednesday. She decided to stay up there until her parents came up and talked to her together about the whole holiday every day of the week thing, like levelheaded adults. Then Winnie's friends joined her, all because of something they wanted their parents to agree on, like more video game time, or more attention. And since her treehouse was technically its own country, no one could come into the treehouse unless the kids approved. After the kids had been in the treehouse for a couple days, "The Treehouse Ten" became famous. Will the kids come down from the treehouse, or will they stay up there until they get what they want? I really loved the format of this book, it was really cool. The book was told in Winnie's perspective, in the style of a journal, with fake sticky notes every few pages, written by various people in the Treehouse Ten. My favorite character was Winnie, because she seemed really smart and levelheaded in this book. I would recommend this book is to late elementary and...

April 1, 2017
Grades 3-6 Since Winnie's parents' divorce, they have organized her weeks in an unusual way. She lives with each one for three days, which they turn into competitively elaborate, frantically fun-filled celebrations of pseudo holidays, leaving little time for homework or meaningful conversation. But where does Winnie live on Wednesdays? In an elaborate tree house (Plumbing? Check. Electricity? Check) supported by a sturdy, historic tree between the parents' two backyards. She treasures those days alone, her only time for doodling, relaxing, and school assignments. When she learns that she's failing fifth grade, Winnie retreats to her leafy loft, and soon she and nine classmates, the Treehouse Ten, refuse to come down until their demands are met. Represented as Winnie's last chance to raise her grades, the main narrative is a history project articulately written from her point of view and interspersed with extras such as comments, comics, and craft ideas from the other kids. Their idiosyncrasies and relationships provide subplots as well as humor. Combining over-the-top storytelling with down-home wisdom, this appealing chapter book is easy to booktalk and fun to read.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2017, American Library Association.)