Tree. Table. Book., by Lois Lowry

When an elderly neighbour suffering memory loss is to be put into care, her eleven-year-old neighbour stages an intervention.

Sophie Winslow is eleven-years-old, and her best friend Sophie Gershowitz is 88-years-old. They are neighbors and greatly enjoy each other’s company. If only life could go on as it always has, but changes are afoot. Sophie’s son, Aaron, is concerned about her failing memory and is planning to move her into assisted care. The younger Sophie is alarmed at this, and hatches a plan to prove Sophie Gershowitz’s memory is just fine. She starts to test Sophie’s memory, making her create memorable stories around particular words. And so the younger Sophie starts to learn about Sophie Gershowitz’s traumatic childhood in Poland during the Second World War. 

Lois Lowry is an award winning American children’s author. Tree. Table. Book. is a gentle story about painful change. It has a light tone with comic touches, coming in the form of Sophie’s friend Ralpie and seven-year-old mini-genius Oliver who they often look after. Realistic and full of heart, this is a story that celebrates life - the bitter and the sweet.

Tree. Table. Book., by Lois Lowry. Published by HarperCollins. $17.99

SEP 25