Family Tree

by Katherine Ayres

Overview

Eleven-year-old Tyler Stoudt starts sixth grade off on the wrong foot. She has Ms. Custer, the toughest teacher in school, who has announced that the schoolwork for the year will revolve around one project: a family tree. Tyler doesn't have a family tree--she has only Papa. As Papa said, her family tree was "chop down and burnt up. " But Tyler decides to do her best on the family tree project. Does she have grandparents, cousins, aunts, and uncles? Tyler wants to know, but she is afraid of what she might find out.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781936495214
Publisher:	BookPartners, LLC
Publication date:	04/05/2012
Pages:	116
Product dimensions:	5.25(w) x 8.00(h) x 0.28(d)
Age Range:	8 - 12 Years

About the Author

Katherine Ayres is the author of Family Tree, which has been named to several state award lists, and North by Night: A Story of the Underground Railroad. She is a founding member of the Playwright’s Lab at the Pittsburgh Public Theater. She teaches writing at Chatham College, where she also coordinates the Master of Arts program in children’s and adolescent writing.

Editorial Reviews

When a sixth grader has to research her family history, she discovers her reticent widower father's Amish background and the sacrifices he made to marry her mother. PW said, "Ayres delivers an intriguing plot and deftly paints a self-reliant heroine on a mission to find the truth." Ages 8-12. (Dec.) r

Publishers Weekly - Publisher's Weekly

Gr 4-6-When sixth-grader Tyler learns that her family tree will be the basis for the entire school year's work, the closeness between her and her strict, taciturn father is tested. The girl's investigations take her back in time through her dead mother's books and journals. Her father reveals painful memories from the time that his wife was killed in a car accident and his daughter was saved as a premature baby. Tyler also learns that her father lied to her mother's family out of fear of losing his baby, and that he gave up his Amish faith and family in order to marry the woman he loved in the first place. This is a touching story of a child's discovery of the parent she never knew and her reestablishment of long-severed family ties. Unfortunately, the setup is pretty hard to buy-it's all a little too tender and implausible. However, much of interest about the Amish religion is incorporated into the story without glorifying or degrading the realistic characters portrayed. Similarly, Tyler's teacher, friends, and classmates interact convincingly. For Ayres, this is a promising debut in spite of the far-fetched bits. -Carol A. Edwards, Minneapolis Public Library

School Library Journal

Young Tyler Stoudt recalls the discovery of her family's roots in this delightful and engaging story. As an assignment in Ms. Custer's sixth-grade class, Tyler and her classmates are to trace their family trees back several generations. But Tyler knows nothing about her family. She lives with her widowed father and has no idea if she has any relatives. Her father isn't telling. Finally, through her persistance, Jakob begins to tell the stories of his Amish family and of Tyler’s mother. Montbertrand portrays Tyler with a deadpan, nasal voice that ably conveys the girl’s youth and initial lack of confidence. The other characters are just as well portrayed: Ms. Custer is a no-nonsense matron; Jakob Stoudt has a gentle German accent. All the characterizations are consistent and credible. Children will delight as Tyler discovers where she came from and who she is. M.T.F. © AudioFile 2001, Portland, Maine

OCT/NOV 01 - AudioFile