Stupid. No part of the situation was plausible, none of the characters felt real or were more than cardboard icons. Bonus star for diverse races and family situations, and for the concept, I guess. I might have liked it a little bit when I was a kid but I never would have felt any heart for it.

I hope Umbrella Summer isn't Graff's only good book... I do want to try others by her.

Btw, heavily illustrated in a style that reminds me a lot of [a:Lois Lenski|5310|Lois Lenski|https://images.gr-assets.com/authors/1210188458p2/5310.jpg]. ( )

Funny and cute! We loved all the characters. ( )

Cute book with lots of great press, but I couldn't get into it. The gimmicky graphics were distracting and I never got to the point where I was invested in the implausible plot or the outcome. Little inconsistencies bothered me (a 5-page report is a 12-page report a minute later), and repeatedly reading that Buttons was "the world's greatest cat" got irritating. It's a CT Nutmeg nominee, though, so I'll add it to our school library and see what the kids think. They may have a different view of it. ( )

Recommended Ages: Gr. 3-6

Plot Summary: When Winnie comes home from school one day and sees both of her parents sitting on the couch together, she knows something is strange. They never sit on the same couch! As they argue about who is going to do the talking, Winnie knows what's happening: they're getting a divorce. Thankfully, that have the perfect plan. They'll buy two houses where the backyards share a tree. To make it completely even custody, Winnie will get 3 days with each parent and one day on her own in a fantastic treehouse designed and built by her Uncle Huck. Wednesdays, her tree house days, quickly become her favorite days because SHE gets to decide how to spend them. When she's with her parents, they spend so much time celebrating ridiculous holidays in an effort to one-up each other that they literally ignore Winnie's pleas and concerns and give Winnie no time of her own to do what she needs or wants to do. Winnie finds out she's going to fail 5th grade which means she won't be able to move on to junior high with her 9 classmates and friends unless she finishes a big history report in just 2 weeks. Her parents won't give her time to work on it and when she's threatened with her mom taking away her Wednesdays, she decides she must lock herself into her tree house to get it done. Bu then her 9 friends join her. They are all making demands on their parents and refuse to come down until the demands are met. Who will win?

Setting: Glenbrook, PA

Characters:
Winifred Malladi-Maraj - AKA Winnie, Artist Vision
Sonia Squizzato - AKA Squizzy, reads a LOT
Joseph Ramundo - AKA Joey, loves to use his cell phone, likes comics
Brogan and Logan Litz - twins, like to throw water balloons and climb
Tabitha Borchers - loves animals, really wants a lizard
Aayush Asad - wants to do whatever science experiment he wants
Lyle Stenken - has a tooth collection
Greta - grossed out about lots of things, makes friendship bracelets
Jolee Watson - has annoying little sister
Hector Benetto - their 5th grade teacher
Dr. Alexis Maraj - Winnie's mom
Dr. Varun Malladi - Winnie's dad
Uncle Huck - Alexis's brother and Varun's best friend, super messy, much more like a parent to Winnie than her real parents

Recurring Themes: family, neglect, divorce, disagreement, observation, school work, independence, decision making

Controversial Issues: none

Personal Thoughts: It's necessary to suspend your disbelief a bit in this book, but besides that, it's a fun story that kids are sure to love and parents are sure to hate.

Genre: realistic fiction (but reads a little like a tall tale?)

Pacing: medium - I read it super fast but there isn't quite as enough action to classify it as fast, I was also slowed down by reading the post it notes
Characters: each character is mostly only known for just 1-2 things
Frame:
Storyline:

Activity: Design a tree house ( )

If Winnie’s parents weren't acting so obsessively strange, and so hung up on spending exactly the same amount of time with her, the great treehouse war, as it was being called by the media, probably would not have happened. When Winnie Malladi-Maradi’s parents divorce and decide to share time with her equally, they also decide that since there are uneven days in the week she will spend Wednesday’s by herself in the treehouse located between both their houses. With both parents trying to outdo each other by finding obscure holidays to celebrate with her, Winnie doesn't even have time to do her homework, and it looks like she might flunk fifth grade. She finally gives her parents an ultimatum: she will not come down from the treehouse until her parents talk to her together. When Winnie's friends find out about it, they want in on the action since they too have problems with their parents, and so the great treehouse war begins. I love Lisa Graff’s books and this one is no exception. This enjoyable tween novel is interspersed with instructions for making things like friendship bracelets and even how to make a stuffed lizard out of toe socks, as well as post-it-notes with comments on Winnie's narrations by her friends. This fun book was highly recommended to me by a young boy in the library and I highly recommend it to you as well.

Sharyn H. / Marathon County Public Library
Find this book in our library catalog.

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