Sonderbooks Book Review of Stand Tall

Reviewed November 10, 2002.
G. P. Putnam’s Sons, New York, 2002. 182 pages.
Available at Sembach Library (JF BAU)

Stand Tall, tells the story of Tree, a twelve-year-old boy who is already six foot three inches tall. Everyone expects him to be good at sports, but, unfortunately, he’s not. In this book, Tree is dealing with his parents’ recent divorce and his new life of switching from house to house. Meanwhile, his Grandpa, a Vietnam vet, is recovering from the amputation of his leg. Grandpa is a wise and wonderful old man, and helping Grandpa helps Tree to deal with his life.

I’ve read Joan Bauer’s other books, and met her at a writer’s conference in Paris. She’s an inspiring speaker and a friendly and delightful person. So it was no surprise to me that I enjoyed this book.

I thought that she made the characters more realistic than ever in this book. In some of the others, the characters seemed defined by their traits. In this book, the characters do have quirks, but their personalities go deeper than that. She ends up with a warm and wonderful story that leaves you feeling good. Tree’s life isn’t perfect, but he’s going to get through it.

Reviews of other books by Joan Bauer:

Best Foot Forward
Sticks

Amazon links to other Joan Bauer books:

Hope Was Here
Rules of the Road
Squashed

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Book Reviews by Sondra Eklund

****Stand Tall*

by Joan Bauer