Common Sense Media Review
By Mary Eisenhart
,
based on child development research. How do we rate?
Funny, poignant tale of friendship, dementia, storytelling.
Parents Need to Know
Why Age 8+?
Any Positive Content?
Where to Read
Parent and Kid Reviews
What's the Story?
TREE. TABLE. BOOK. opens in present-day New Hampshire, where neighbors Sophie Gershowitz, 88, and Sophie Winslow, 11, have been best friends for some years now. But lately the elder Sophie has been getting forgetful and her son is planning to move her to assisted living in another town. The younger Sophie is desperate to prevent it, but after her friend forgets a kettle on the stove and sets it on fire, she also realizes the situation is serious. Maybe out of her control. She's not giving up without a fight, though. Storytelling may offer an answer. The book's title comes from the Remember-Three-Words portion of cognition tests frequently administered to those whose minds we think might be failing, and each word yields a poignant story from the elder Sophie's childhood in Poland and her mom's desperate move to keep her safe from the Nazis.
Is It Any Good?
Two-time Newbery Medal recipient Lois Lowry takes on the theme of dementia in this poignant, wacky, hopeful tale of two BFFs with a 77-year-age difference now threatened with separation. Tree. Table. Book. often feels a bit overloaded and hyperactive, with too much going on for any of it to get its proper moment -- the Holocaust, real estate jargon, the Merck manual, long lists of big words, storytelling pro tips, neurodivergence, etc. But in this, it also resembles the mind of its brainy 11-year-old narrator, confronting a problem she can't control with any information and tools she can throw at it. All kinds of middle grade readers will appreciate this book, but especially those who've had the pleasure of intergenerational friendships.
Talk to Your Kids About ...
Families can talk about dementia, and stories like Tree. Table. Book. that involve it. Do you think stories like this help you have more empathy for people dealing with this issue -- both the patients and their caregivers?
Do you have friends who aren't your age? Who are they? Are they older or younger? What do you have in common with them?
Have you ever been so desperate to keep something from happening that you came up with some really wild schemes to prevent it? What was it, and what were they?
Book Details
- Author :
- Genre : Friendship
- Topics : Friendship
- Character Strengths : Empathy
- Book type : Fiction
- Publisher : Clarion Books
- Publication date : April 23, 2024
- Publisher's recommended age(s) : 8 - 12
- Number of pages : 208
- Available on : Audiobook (unabridged), Hardback, Apple Books, Kindle
- Last updated : September 18, 2025
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