Tree. Table. Book.

Written by Lois Lowry
Review by Susan Lowell

This small masterpiece makes a moving, subtle statement.

In her latest middle-grade novel, Lois Lowry, a two-time Newbery Award winner (for Number the Stars and The Giver) and the author of over 50 much-lauded books, has done it again. Dealing effortlessly—and amusingly— with the tough topic of dementia, Tree. Table. Book. packs a big punch, even for readers well beyond her target audience.

Deceptively simple, it tells the story of two Sophies who are neighbors and best friends, although one is 11 and the other is 88. To young Sophie Winslow’s consternation, Sophie Gershowitz is becoming forgetful and is at risk of being moved to assisted living. So 11-year-old Sophie tries to help her. Sassy, smart, and sweet, young Sophie tells this story, which is both hilarious and sad.

Lowry is famous for dealing with difficult subjects in her work, which has occasionally been banned, and as young Sophie encourages older Sophie to delve into her long-term memories, it becomes clear that this is also a novel about surviving the Holocaust. Three brilliantly told stories from Sophie’s Polish childhood form the climax of the novel, contrasting very effectively with young Sophie’s charming, insouciant 21^st-century kid voice (captured to perfection by the 87-year-old Lowry).

And this is a novel about storytelling itself. Young Sophie sets out confidently to write it: “You need all the obvious stuff,” she says, “characters, setting, plot …” It’s “like making spaghetti sauce.” But by the end, she is wiser and more rueful. Besides the simple ingredients, “you have to put in the feelings. That’s the secret. That’s the hard part.”

In a final note, Lowry shows her hand (a little). Tree. Table. Book is “about memory,” she says, “and how it becomes story.”