The Last Apple Tree by Claudia Mills

“Each person’s life is filled with both smiles and tears; there’s no getting around that. If you choose to take the extra credit option, which I hope you do, maybe you can find a way to share this that will let us appreciate not only the information you collected but the feelings, too. 

History is about feelings as much as it is about facts.”

It’s a gift to know what questions to ask, and a bigger gift to know how to listen to the answers.

Sonnet has moved with her little sister Villanelle and their mother back to the family home to support her grandfather now that his wife of over fifty years has died. Her grandfather's home used to be an apple tree orchard but years ago the land was sold for a modern housing estate. A boy named Zeke lives in one of these new houses. 

These two kids do catch the same bus but beyond that they have no interest in each other until the teacher sets a family history assignment. The task is to interview an older family or community member and ask them about their life in the past. Zeke met Mr Granger after his wife died because he and his mum took over a casserole. Zeke does not really know any other older people so when the teacher sends around a sign-up page Zeke writes his name. This utterly infuriates Sonnet - why should this strange kid want to interview HER grandfather. He has no right to visit her family. But that is exactly what happens. Zeke is an outsider at this school because until this year he has been homeschooled by is overzealous 'tree hugger' father. Zeke is not allowed a pet, a phone, any computer technology and his family grow their own food and follow a vegan lifestyle. All Zeke wants to do is fit in - to be a normal kid.

Sonnet is the protector her family. Her little sister Villie has a crazy imagination - she is a delight. Sonnet works hard to keep her happy. Villie invents a new 'land' for the family every day. It is also important to Sonnet to keep her grandfather away from sad thoughts. He is desperately missing his precious wife and the smallest things seem to make him cry. And he is forgetting small things and can seem mixed up. When Zeke goes off script and asks too many personal and probing questions Sonnet is furious. 

The third voice is this book is an old apple tree - the last apple tree. These parts of the story and very short but worth lingering over as the old tree shares his wisdom based on past events in the lives of this family. 

The Old Apple Tree 

The little girl skips around the old tree in dizzying circles. 

The bigger girl gazes at the old tree with eyes hungry to see. 

The old man visits the old tree in silent communion. 

But the woman... the woman never comes.

I also need to make a special mention of the school Teacher Librarian Mrs. Petrocelli - she has a stash of small chocolate bars in her desk for tricky situations. I love that idea.

Here are a few text quotes:

He barely knew the old man or the old woman, though when he used to see them walking around the small town of Wakefield, arm in arm, he secretly imagined what it would be like if they were his grandparents. His own grandparents on his mother’s side were both dead, and his father had, in his words, “become estranged” from Zeke’s grandparents on that side long before Zeke was born.

Sonnet and her little sister had each been named after a different kind of poem. A sonnet has fourteen lines that often rhyme in a special pattern. Shakespeare wrote lots of sonnets. A villanelle was more complicated, and Sonnet wasn’t sure she could explain it; she just knew it repeated a lot of the same lines over and over again.

“Our next project is going to be on oral history,” Ms. Hanh said, “gathering and recording stories that might otherwise disappear. The stories in greatest danger are the stories of our older friends and relatives, ... because their time is running out. They are closer to the end of their lives, and some of their memories may be already fading.”

The day the bulldozers came and the apple trees were ripped up by the roots like so many weeds, I’m not ashamed to say I cried like a baby. There was just one row of trees spared on what was left of our property, and all but one of those came down with some kind of blight. But if you ask me, they died of broken hearts, and I don’t blame them.”

“Villie,” Sonnet said, picking up a forlorn-looking rabbit with limp, droopy ears and tucking it into the crook of Villie’s arm. “You and I have to try to make Gramps happy. Or at least happier. That’s the most important thing, for both of us. Can you help me do that?”

“So what was your question again? What did I want that I didn’t get? Let me tell you, it’s worse when you get it and then lose it. Lost a child, lost an orchard, lost a wife, and now all that’s left is that one tree, older even than I am now, and it’s on its way to dying, too. The last place on this earth where my little girl was still alive.”

I read this book on my Kindle. The hardcover copy is sadly way too expensive here in Australia but I hope this 2024 book might be available in paperback soon. The publisher site says in the US the paperback will be released in October 2025. This book has such an appealing cover. This is a gentle story about finding yourself, revealing family secrets, and also about the healing of family relationships. A mature and sensitve reader aged 10+ will enjoy The Last Apple Tree. Here is the web page from the author. Listen to a five minute audio sample here (note it uses two voices which is terrific). The sample begins on the first page of this book with a poem by the tree. 

A touching homage to the healing of old wounds and family relationships. Kirkus Star review

Each complex and well-meaning character suffers personal challenges and tragedies on their own, which leads to confusion, dishonesty, and further isolation. As tensions build, the characters are cornered into finally being true to one another, and they discover understanding, compassion, and release. Horn Book

I am very keen to read this verse novel by Claudia Mills.

Claudia Mills is also the author of this series which might be in your school or local library.

The Only Branch on the Family Tree by Sherryl Clark illustrated by Astred Hicks

Gemma's teacher sets a school assignment - draw and present your family tree. Everyone seems to be able to this easily - all except Gemma. Her family is just two people. No grandparents, no dad, no siblings, no cousins. Luckily Gemma is a problem solver so she decides to make a collage of pictures of 'mum and me'.

I started with the old photos

she'd put away

in boxes

and saved on the computer.

...

I found pictures of Mum

with her mum and dad

it's awful that they're gone

'they died,' she said

but then I found one photo

on the computer

that said something different.

Gemma discovers she does have a grandmother, and that she is alive, and even more surprising she does not live very far away. 

So now as a reader you will have lots of questions:

• Why did mum tell Gemma her grandmother had died?
• Will Gemma be able to find her grandmother?
• What will her grandmother say when she meets Gemma?
• Can Gemma solve this mystery and can she be brave and confront her mum about this lie?
• And are we heading for a happy ending for this family?

As with all good verse novels there is a deep emotional layer to this story. Readers aged 9+ are sure to enjoy this book and because it is so very short it is also perfect for reluctant readers. I also think this book might hook a few kids onto reading. Congratulations to UQP on the fabulous cover design - very appealing. 

This lovely verse novel from UQP and Sherryl Clark looks at family dynamics from a different perspective – about estrangement and isolation within families, because not every family is the same. ... Whilst the book doesn’t touch on the specifics of the conflict and estrangement, I think this is what makes it so much more powerful and allows readers to see themselves in this novel, especially if they have been through similar experiences to Gemma. The Book Muse

A couple of weeks ago I read Just Like Jackie. It is such a similar story and would be a perfect companion book to read after The Only Branch of the Family Tree.

Just like Jackie

I was so excited when UQP offered to send me this new verse novel by Sherryl Clark - I am a huge fan of her work and we had a brilliant day many years ago when she visited my school. I read all of these to children in my school library over many years:

This is one of my favourite Verse Novels

I need to find a copy for my own shelves

Hope you can find this one - perfect for all girls in Grade Six

Motormouth

 Mina and the whole wide world

POST UPDATE: I just discovered another book that includes the plot point of drawing up a family tree as part of a class project. I have added this book to my own "to read" list.

Publisher blurb: It’s the first week of middle school, and Ash (don’t call her “Ashley”) already has a class assignment: Make a family tree. But how can Ash make a family tree if she doesn’t have a family? Ever since she was four years old, Ash has been in foster care, living with one so-called family after another. Now she’s stuck with Gladys. And the only place Ash feels safe is in the branches of her favorite tree, drawing in her sketchbook, hidden from the view of Gladys’ son Jordan. As Jordan becomes harder to hide from, and more dangerous to be around, Ash isn’t sure who she can trust. A new friend, an old friend, some teachers at school? Sometimes the hardest part of asking for help is knowing who to ask.

Here is the Kirkus Star review.

The Kindness Project by Deborah Abela

This is perhaps a minor aspect of The Kindness Project but the teacher has such a powerful role in the lives of the four children who you can see on the cover of this new verse novel. She sets an assignment.

"Each term
we do a class project.

This time Ms Skye says,

'We're doing a project

to change the world.

It's called

The Kindness Project.'

Ms Sky is the BEST teacher

and it think it's great that

she wants to change the world

but doing it with a school project

is a BIG ask. 

Ms Sky says

we need to aim HIGH

and that big changes

come from small beginnings

and that just because we're small

doesn't mean

we can't make a difference."

The school project is one thing but setting up the groups of students who will work together is an even bigger issue. Ms Sky uses a Harry Potter-style sorting hat. She picks Nicolette first, then the new boy named Leaf - Nicolette is not sure he will want to work with her - she has no friends in this class. 

"I feel like there's a manual

for making friends

and it was handed out to everyone

except me.

Maybe mine was lost in the post

or someone got two by mistake

and that's why 

they have so many friends

and get invited to parties

and seem to know

how to talk to each other

at lunchtime

or during sport

or when you're suddenly

put in a group

with kids who don't like you"

Then Ms Sky pulls out Layla. She is one of the cool kids. And finally, it is DJ. Oh no he is the class bully. He is so mean. He has called Nicolette Knickers since Kindergarten. Everyone is frightened of his anger and vicious taunts. 

What these four kids don't know is that each has a deeply personal back story. As they come to trust each other these four stories will form the basis of their class project. 

Nicolette is the narrator of this story so it is her story that we explore the most deeply. She visits her grandmother in the afternoons at an aged care home that Nanna calls Alcatraz. The way lines of this verse novel say so much about this dreadful place - "dry cake"; "a nurse with a bushranger beard and a grey uniform ... talks over her"; "He clangs the metal dinner tray on the bedside table"; "the food is brown and lumpy like carrots floating in mud"; "He pours her a tea that looks like grey dishwater and pats her on the arm like she's a puppy."

When the teachers sets the class assignment Nicolette thinks of all the people who have changed the world - Greta Thunberg and Malala Yousafzai. For some reason which I didn't quite grasp she also lists Roald Dahl. But for Nicolette, her Nanna is the real hero!

Huge congratulations to Deb Abela on writing a verse novel - the world needs more of these - especially by Australian authors. 

Here is an interview with Paperbark Words. She says:

I’ve written 30 books, all in prose, but this novel demanded to be written in verse, which I’ve never done before. I’ve always LOVED verse novels, but I kept thinking, ‘I can’t write in verse! I have no idea what I’m doing’. Having written for over 20 years, I know I have to trust the process. So, I tentatively began writing in verse and found it freeing and fun! Not only did it force me to get to the point more quickly, it was exciting to play with form, fonts, font size and verse length, which together, create the feel and meaning of the story. The Kindness Project is my first verse novel, but hopefully not my last. 

If you are thinking this book sounds incredibly serious…yes, the themes and situations are serious: dementia, grief, breakdown of family, mental illness, feelings of abandonment, trauma, loneliness, hyper-anxiety. But there are also moments of levity as Deborah skilfully lightens the tension ...  Just So Stories

Here is an link to an audio interview with Deborah Abela. 

This is a beautiful story told in verse. With wonderful characters, it is very relatable and has strong themes of friendship and family throughout, lots of fun and laughter, as well as a few tears. This is Deb Abela at her very best and will be a story you remember long after you finish reading. I loved it. Lamont Books (this book was a title in their Primary standing order). 

Here are some other favourite verse novels for readers aged 10+. You can search for the title in my side bar or just select the label verse novel. I think verse novels can be an ideal text to share in a school library with a group of senior students because they are short, and you can pop one or two powerful text samples on your screen for all the class to read.

One more comment about Verse Novels. I was chatting with a well known Sydney bookseller recently and she said a poet had visited her store (I have no idea if he or she was a children's poet or one for adults) and they complained that verse novels were not real poetry! Such a strange comment. What do you think - please add a comment to this post. 

The relationship between Nicolette and her precious grandmother also links with this book I read this week (for ages 11+) - I'll Keep you Close by Jeska Verstegen. This one is not a verse novel - it is a biography/autobiography centered on a child who is making discoveries about her family and the holocaust. 

Agatha May and the Angler Fish by Nora Morrison and Jessie Ann Foley illustrated by Mika Song

"Each of you scholars will research a creature that lives in the ocean. 

You'll learn all its features."

"Pick any sea-dweller from under the sun, but no two children 

may choose the same one!"

There is SO much to enjoy about this book. Agatha May is a clever child, but she is bouncing along to her own beat - I love her nonconformity. I also love her passion which in this case is for Anglerfish. Agatha waits in the line for her turn to select a fish to research:

"As Agatha listened, the tears gathered fast. She had no merit points! Her turn would be last! She was tardy and dreamy, her interests were odd, her fingers were charcoaled, her breath smelt like cod!"

I have listed this book as a picture book (fiction) but really it is both fiction and nonfiction. Agatha talks with so much authority about this fish and at the back of the book there are two pages of facts and further read. 

One of the brightest students I was ever lucky enough to work with in my Primary school was a little like young Agatha. Her schoolwork and desk were always completely messy (seemingly disorganised) but young Blair knew where everything was. I am sad to say her messy habits did infuriate her class teacher just as we see in this book with Mrs Marino. I wish I could wind back time and share this book with that teacher from my school. Blair was one of our school leaders and I know by the end of the year the teacher did come to appreciate her outstanding intelligence, but it did take a long while for him to understand this Grade Six girl. (She is now a senior associate in a legal firm).

Read more about the Anglerfish here. You might find a book in your school library about Anglerfish or a general fish book might have a chapter with details of this curious creature.

The satisfaction of seeing Agatha May rewarded for her fixation is rivaled only by Song’s marvelous watercolor embodiment of Agatha May’s untidy, obsessive self. Kirkus

How to be the New Person by Anna Branford

"I even have music for the beginning and the end of each video that I play in my head. And I always round it off with something like: If you would like to see more videos by Hazel Morrison, don't forget to subscribe to my channel!"

I really enjoyed reading a slim book for a change this week. I seem to have had so many 400+ page complex fantasies it was refreshing to read this book with 117 pages in about half an hour.  I am going to say, however, that being slim does not designate either a lesser story or a younger audience and once again I find myself disagreeing with the suggested age listed on the cover of my advance reader copy (8+).  I would say this book would be suit a mature reader aged 9 and even better, a reader aged 10+.  

Hazel likes to imagine she is making videos - those self help ones you have seen on YouTube.  I used to imagine, as a Primary aged kid, that someone was filming me in the school playground for a television show so this idea really appealed to me.

Here are some early example of Hazel's video ideas:

• Eight important tips for successfully buttering toast!
• Putting your hair in a ponytail: a step by step guide!
• The do's and don't's of cleaning up the sink after you've brushed your teeth - everything you need to know!

Hazel is navigating quite a lot in her life right now. Hazel's older sister Tess has been badly bullied at school. Mum and Dad have decided the best way to end this dreadful situation, which is affecting Tess's mental health, is to move to a new part of the city and of course to a new school. Tess will go to a new High School and Hazel will have to leave her best friend Gina and go to a new Primary School.

On her first day at the new school the scene nearly broke my heart. Hazel is assigned to sit with a group of three girls. It is clear they don't want her to join them. Then the teacher says Hazel will need to pair up with one of these girls on the class assignment which is a project about problems that affect young people. Olivia does not want to pair up with Hazel. 

Meanwhile, Mum and Dad have not really been focusing on Hazel because they are so worried about Tess:

"Hazel! Oh she's fine. We're so lucky with that kid. We never have to worry about her She's made of tough stuff.' It's funny to hear him say that about me. I think about the thick tough brown tape we used to seal up our packing boxes because ordinary clear sticky tape wasn't tough enough. .... I think about the enormous tyres on tractors and bulldozers that carry heavy giant rocks and get rained on and covered in mud and still keep going with no problem because they are so tough. Is that what dad thinks I am? Is that what he's telling Gran?"

Luckily there are two rays of sunshine in this story. One is the beautiful elderly lady next door who offers tea, biscuits and that all important listening ear to Hazel and the other is Laura - one of the three girls at her table. By the end of the book I wanted to hug Laura for her bravery and kindness.

Younger readers who enjoyed the Violet Mackerel books are sure to recognise Hazel because she has a very similar outlook on life and a lovely straightforward manner of sharing her problems. Perhaps you can join the dots and think about the title and the school project and Hazel's interest in making videos. Perhaps you can even think of the real life problem that is the focus of her film.

Huge thanks to Beachside Bookshop for my advance reader copy of How to be the New Person. 

I am sure this book will be a CBCA Notable title for 2023 at least I do hope it is. How to be a New Person will be published in October, 2022. Add it to your library shopping list today!

The Collected Works of Gretchen Oyster by Cary Fagan

Hartley Staples is not related to the famous Staples who own a chain of Office Supply stores. Hartely comes from a fairly regular family - mum, dad, older brother, older sister and little brother except right now his family is incomplete. His brother Jackson has left, disappeared, run away. No one thinks he is dead but the grief in the family is terrible and Hartley feels it quite acutely because he has a high level of emotional intelligence. His older sister Heather, twin to Jackson, has withdrawn into herself and seems constantly angry especially with Hartley and younger brother George seems too young to really understand. Mum and Dad are trying to be normal but there is a deep sadness hanging over everything they try to do.

While visiting the quirky town library, Hartley finds a strange homemade postcard. Over the coming days he finds more of them in strange places. They have the initials G.O. and he realises they are numbered. His collection contains 1, 2, 4, 5, 6, 7, and 8. But who is making these interesting and poetic cards and why.

"It was the size and shape of a postcard, or maybe one of those recipe cards that people used to use before it was possible just to google "tuna casserole'. On the card were pictures and words that made up a kind of collage. It wasn't the original, with the pieces stuck down, but a photocopy maybe."

"Another card. It was sticking out from between two cereal boxes. I could even see the g.o. in the corner. I mean, how likely was it that two people with the same initials were leaving cards around Whirton?"

"It felt good to have found another one, really good. But I still wanted to know something about g.o. I knew she was a teenage girl who lived around here. That meant she went to high school. The same high school as my sister Heather. Maybe Heather knew who g.o. was."

Adding to Hartley's problems, his teacher has set her famous end of middle school special interest project and Hartley has no idea what to talk about and since Jackson left his best friend Zack no longer talks to him. Hartley feels utterly rejected and confused. 

In alternate chapters we meet Gretchen Oyster. She also has a complex life split between her father who has been injured in a work accident and is now in a wheelchair and her mum who left the family many years ago. Gretchen is also plagued by three dreadful bullies at school who taunt her about her Asian heritage and adoption. 

Somehow these two wounded kids need to meet not to provide some sort of fairy tale ending but just because it is clear there are ways they can help each other.

Filled with beautiful art and poignant prose, Cary Fagan’s latest middle grade novel is funny and touching in equal measure. ... It will fill you up and make you believe in the healing power of art and human connection. Book Page

A charmingly eccentric tale of briefly intersecting lives making meaning from art. Kirkus

Cary Fagan’s short novel packs a lot into a middle-grade story. The art cards are beautifully reproduced in full colour, and their messages are philosophical and poetic but quirky, not academic. Fagan has also captured the voice of a 13-year-old boy accurately. Hartley, as narrator, speaks directly to the reader in a friendly, funny tone, and hides his pain behind immediate events. Canadian Review of Materials

Did you see my five stars? This means you need to rush out and buy this book, read it, add it to your own book collection and then pick up another copy for your school library and put this book into the hands of your readers aged 10+. This is my book of the year for upper Primary. Read a generous extract here. I love the cover by Felicita Sala. 

Cary Fagan has written award-winning books for both adults and children. Cary has won the City of Toronto Book Award, the Jewish Book Committee Prize for Fiction and the Mr. Christie Silver Medal. His numerous kids’ books include Mort Ziff Is Not Dead, the Kaspar Snit novels, the Wolfie & Fly chapter books and the picture books King Mouse, Bear Wants to Sing, What Are You Doing, Benny? and Little Blue Chair. Mr. Zinger’s Hat, another of his picture books, was awarded the Marilyn Baillie Picture Book Award and the IODE Jean Throop Award. He also won the Vicky Metcalf Award for Literature for Young People for his body of work. In addition to his books for children, Cary is the author of six novels and three story collections for adults. He was born and raised in Toronto, where he continues to live with his family. Penguin Random House

I would pair this book with Bird by Crystal Chan:

The Lion above the Door by Onjali Q Rauf

"It was exactly my name! Not just the Leo part but all of it - Leo Kai Lim! But what was it doing inside a cathedral? On part of an old wall that remembered soldiers? And why did it have a golden lion above it, when none of the other names did? And what did DFC mean?"

Leo and his class go on a school excursion to Rochester Cathedral as a part of their class study of World War II. 

"The school library books about the war hardly mentioned any countries outside Europe and America. Even the ones that did only ever said things like "parts of the Commonwealth' or 'the Far East' or 'Africa' - as if those words were just a single thing and weren't made up of lots of huge countries with millions of people who might have been heroes too."

Leo's family come from Singapore and Sangeeta's family come from India. They also have a new friend Olivia who shares her (surprising) heritage. These three form a team to tell the real history of their connection to World War II. 

The joy and importance of family history are also recognised- gathering memories from those around you and exploring the lives of those who have gone before and acknowledging the contributions they have made.  North Sommerset Teachers' Book Award

Publisher blurb: Leo and his best friend Sangeeta are the odd ones out in their school. But as Leo's dad is always telling him, it's because they're special. Only thing is, if they're so special, how come they never see anyone who looks like them in their school history books?  Then, on a class trip to a nearby cathedral, Leo's attention is drawn to a large marble slab high above the doors of the hall. Right there, bang in the middle of a list of war heroes, Leo finds himself staring at something incredible: his own name. Desperate to know who this other Leo was, the two friends embark on a search. And together, they begin to uncover missing stories from the past, ones which they are determined to put back into their rightful place in the pages of history.

This book is has a slower pace than the previous books I enjoyed by Onjali Q Rauf but on page 251 the action really heats up. Readers aged 10+ with reading stamina, an interest in World War II, and those who enjoy stories about true heroes are sure to enjoy The Lion above the Door. Here are three other books by Onjali:

The Star outside my Window

The Boy at the Back of the Class

The Night Bus Hero

All rise for the Honorable Perry T Cook by Leslie Connor

With complex, memorable characters, a situation that demands sympathy, and a story that’s shown, not just told, this is fresh and affecting.  Well-crafted, warm, and wonderful. Kirkus Star

Perry lives in a Nebraska prison. The Blue River Co-ed Correctional Facility in the town of Surprise. Perry did not commit a crime. He was born there. Warden Daughterty has allowed Perry to stay with his precious mum but things are about to change. This is the year Perry turns eleven and this is the year he moves over to the Middle School. He does have a very special friend named Zoey Samuels. The complication, which no one has anticipated, comes when Zoey's step father finds out that an eleven year old boy lives in a prison. Perhaps an ordinary citizen couldn't do anything about this but Thomas VanLeer is the Butler County District attorney and this gives him the power to move Perry out of the prision. To take Perry away from his mum and all of his friends. 

Text quotes:

"Lights from somewhere outside cast weird shadows on the walls, and I have a strange sense of how far down the hall the bathroom is. I didn't think to ask if I could just go ahead and use it in the night. The shower in there is all messed up. The water comes out of the little spout at the bottom - like for filling up the tub - but nothing comes out of the showerhead at the top."

"We all talk at once. We laugh, we cry a little. Mom and I share a chair. She holds me around the shoulders, squeezes me like she is making sure I am made out of the same things I was when I left six days ago."

"I know my mom's story now. It's about a young driver, a hailstorm, an infamously dangerous intersection, and a big mistake. ... That's a list of true things."

Publisher blurb: When Perry moves to the “outside” world, he feels trapped. Desperate to be reunited with his mom, Perry goes on a quest for answers about her past crime. As he gets closer to the truth, he will discover that love makes people resilient no matter where they come from . . . but can he find a way to tell everyone what home truly means

Image Source: Primary Source Pairings.

Awards and Accolades

• The Kirkus Prize 2016 Nominee, Young Readers
• ALA Notable Books for Children Nominee–Summer 2016, Fiction
• New York Public Library 2016 Best Books for Kids, Fiction
• Goodreads Choice Awards 2016, Middle Grade & Children’s
• Shelf Awareness 2016 Best Books of the Year, Middle Grade
• E. B. White Read-Aloud Award 2017 Finalist, Middle Reader
• Brightly, 16 of the Most Exciting Middle Grade Books to Read in 2016

You might like to also check out my recent review of The Warden's daughter by Jerry Spinelli.  These two books have so much in common and would make a good pair of companion reads.

Here are some other books I have enjoyed by Leslie Connor.

Waiting for Normal

The Truth as told to Mason Buttle

A home for Goddesses and Dogs

Florence and her fantastic family tree by Judy Gilliam illustrated by Laura Addari

Ms Collins tells her students to create a family tree. Florence is not happy with this task:

"Like that was easy. The problem is that my family tree doesn't just have a trunk, roots, leaves and branches. It has stickers, thorns and extra limbs. My family tree is prickly, scaly and partially overgrown."

Florence and her brother Fred have six parents. First there was mum and dad (Betty and Bruce) but then Betty and Bruce were divorced. Betty married James and Bruce married Lucy. So now we have four parents.  Then Bruce and Lucy divorced and Bruce married Kate and Lucy married Fabian. And this is just the six parents. There is also the complication of step siblings, adopted children, and a half brother - a total of seven kids. Luckily Florence is a problem solver and not a quitter. She manages to draw her huge family tree and she puts herself right in the middle. The final sentence is sure to make you smile:

"Next time, I'll include my grandparents - must be twenty of them."

This book will be a very welcome addition to your school library. Many children live in blended families and I am sure they will relate to Florence. Many teachers also ask their students to draw their family tree often in Grade 2 as a part of their history topic. You can see many of the pages from this book on the Publisher web site.

I read a Middle Grade novel recently with the most complex of family situations. A young girl lives with her mum. Her dad has died. Mum remarries. So now Winifred has a step dad. Then her mum dies. Now Winifred (known as Fred) lives with her step dad and his new partner and the partner's son. In the coming months her step dad and his partner will welcome a new baby into the family. Yes - as you have guessed, part of this story is about identity - just where does Fred fit in? The family tree for Winifred would certainly be a complex one. 

I would pair Florence and her fantastic family tree with Isla's Family tree; The Family Book by Todd Parr and Family Forest by Kim Kane.

I had not heard of this publisher Familius.  Here is their mission statement and Ten Habits of Happy Families:

We believe that the family is the fundamental unit of society and that happy families are the foundation of a happy life. The greatest work anyone will ever do will be within the walls of his or her own home. And we don’t mean vacuuming! We recognize that every family looks different and passionately believe in helping all families find greater joy, whatever their situation. To that end, we publish beautiful books that help families live our 10 Habits of Happy Family Life. Further, Familius does not discriminate on the basis of race, color, religion, gender, age, nationality, disability, or sexual orientation in any of its activities or operations.

Love together, Learn together, Read together, Give together, Play together, Talk together, Laugh Together, Eat together, Heal together, Work together.