#although i say that like. nj is the state that explicitly allowed it

[stevieharringtonwifeguy]

looking up if trans women could marry men in the 80s for. No Particular Reason. the answer is yes, in new jersey at least. look at us, jersey boys stay winning

[unt2017]

Wishtree by Katherine Applegate

Genre: Texas BlueBonnet Award

 Image: “Wishtree” (2019). Retrieved from https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/33158525-wishtree?from_search=true&qid=iTzglF6eBu&rank=1

 Introduction:

             I never thought I would read a book that had a tree as a character and like it.  Enter Wishtree by Katherine Applegate. Her character, whom everyone in the book calls “Red”, is an Oak tree.  He watches over a certain part of the neighborhood and is relatively old as far as trees go.  While reading I kept imagining a tree having a voice that sounded a bit like a teenage boy who is excited about something so he talks a bit fast, but you can’t help but smile because it is kind of adorable.  Part of me wonders why this book wasn’t written when I was a kid. I would have loved to read it before now. This was one of the few books that made me ponder the question: why adults don’t read more kids books?

 Evaluation:

             According to Tunnell et al., (2016): “point of view is the position taken by the narrator” (19) and I feel like Wishtree is more about the point of view than the actual character of the tree.  He is continually referred to as “The Wise Old Tree” and when you read lines such as “The truth is,” …”it doesn’t matter what size you are, Bongo. We grow as we must grow, as our seeds decided long ago” (39), it makes all the sense in the world, although I’m not sure if children are able to fully appreciate how awesome that is.  In a way, Red’s point of view is telling the reader to keep being optimistic and joyful in face of trials and tribulations which is a great sentiment for adults, not just kids, to follow.

           Another aspect of the book that jumped out at me was the mood of the book. According to Tunnell et al., (2016): “The mood is the atmosphere evoked in the writing” (19).  Due to Red’s character, there were several moods throughout the book, mostly cheery and upbeat.  Although Red never explicitly stated it, I felt like wishing day was the main reason (along with his friends/residents) Red continued to stay positive and upbeat. Wishing day is when people came around and put their wishes on Red. The way he talks about it in the book is as follows: “One more round of hopeful people wishing for better things” (50).  The first wish I believe set the mood after a certain point.  A character made the wish “I wish for someone to love with all my heart” (Applegate, 2017, p. 136), and I believe that wish set the tone for hope and every good feeling that comes with it.  That feeling of hope stayed throughout the whole book even during a part of tension that made me enjoy it more.

  Conclusion

           I cannot put my finger on just one thing that allowed me to enjoy the book overall. All I can think to say is that I would recommend it to both children and adults alike because of the story itself and the sense of magic the reader would hopefully take away from it. It ends with peace and friendship, and I don’t think many kid’s books can get better than that.

 Reference:

 Applegate, K. (2017). Wishtree.  NY: Feiwel and Friends.

Tunnell, Jacobs, Young, & Bryan (2016).  What is a Good Book? in Children’s Literature Briefly, (pp 17-23). Upper Saddle River, NJ: Pearson.