The Secret Tree

The Secret Tree By: Natalie Standiford

Minty and her best friend Paz love roller derby! That is what they want to be when they grow up, so on Halloween they dress like their favorite stars.  They are dared to go up to the Witch House and are scared to go.  The Witch House is just one mysterious thing that their neighborhood has along with strange things like the Man Bat, and the crazy Mean Boys.  One day Minty chases something she sees in the woods only to find The Secret Tree where someone is leaving notes about themselves. Minty also finds Raymond, a new strange boy in the neighborhood. But as Minty is headed one direction her friend Paz seems to be leaving her behind. Can Minty solve the mysterious notes?

This was a great book about solving mysteries and how growing up can be sort of hard.  It shows that Minty is trying to figure out how to keep her friend when they seem to be going in opposite directions and how Minty is dealing with her sister Thea changing and getting older too.  Secrets do have a way of changing the way things happen.  I think that any fourth to sixth grade reader would really enjoy this book.

I bought this from the Scholastic Book Fair.
ISBN: 978-0-545-48976-8