Powerful book. Told in a long reveal, it takes a while to know what’s truly going on, although as an adult I had a pretty good idea (would kids jump to the right conclusion? I don’t know).

A lot of nice metaphorical work throughout the story, mirroring the evolution of the main character (particularly in the conception of the tree, and in the naming/recognition of a certain character).

I’m interested to check out her other books, looks like she’s written a ton of stuff.

[Apparently there was a movie (Lifetime?) of this, but when I used this book for my media mini-study in my middle school curriculum class, the people in my small group who had seen it said it wasn’t anywhere near as good as the book. Why had they seen it? Oh that class is chockfull of undergrads. Bunch of 22 year olds who apparently watch Lifetime teen movies! Heh.]