This book pulled me in from the first page. I love how Sophie sees the world and writes about it. I love her friendship with Sophie G and how much they love each other.
This book touched me in many ways: one being that my grandmother had Alzheimer’s and I know how difficult that is on the people who love them and another being how Sophie G was able to open up to little Sophie about the harder parts of her life during WW2 through storytelling.
Overall, this book was super sweet and touching and I loved every minute of it.

Master storyteller Lois Lowry never babies her young readers. Topics in the spotlight in "Tree, Table, Book." include dementia and antisemitism.

Eleven year-old Sophie tells the story. Her best friend, also named Sophie, age 88, has become very forgetful. Refusing to believe it, the younger Sophie searches for a way to keep her friend out of a memory care unit.

While testing her old friend for signs of the condition, young Sophie stimulates sad memories of the Polish woman's history.

Young Sophie tells a good story, balancing the sad parts with funny stories about her friendship with Ralphie. Kind parents cushion the inevitable outcome of the story.

Lowry improves with age.

This is a very sweet book about the friendship between 11 year old Sophie and her 88 year old neighbor Sophie, a Polish World War II survivor. When elderly Sophie begins to lose her short term memory, young Sophie tries to figure out ways to improve her memory and keep her adult son from moving her to an assisted living home. Along the way, elderly Sophie tells her young friend three stories from her childhood Tree.Table.Book. which makes an impression on her.

Sophie age 11 has one best friend an 88 year old neighbor named Sophie. They have the same likes and dislikes. She truly values their friendship.
Young Sophie learns that her elderly friend is having memory problems and will probably need to leave her home.
With three words she unlocks her memories . This is a precious story which I truly enjoyed.

First, Lois Lowry. Now, then this book is precious in almost every single way.

The younger Sophie's best friend is a much older lady also named Sophie. Younger Sophie attempt to "test" the older woman's memory. In doing so, she gives her the three word test. This simple three word test of tree, table, book shows the younger girl exactly who the older woman really is. Those three simple words unlock memories that the older woman has long suppressed from her time as a child during WW2. As a teacher, here is what I love---it was about the war--but not the basic facts that kids have been taught over and over. It was three little stories involving the three words--everyday stories that would have occurred during such a horrific time.

I red this book in one sitting. Every character is precious.

Thank you to NetGalley for the ARC.

Sophie is eleven. Her neighbor and best friend, also Sophie, is eighty-eight. When the younger Sophie hears that the elderly woman’s son wants to move her away due to dementia, she borrows a Merck Manual and tries to administer the memory testing herself. After several failed attempts, young Sophie chooses the words tree, table, and book. She asks her friend to come up with a story about each word so that she will remember it. The old woman tells about living in Europe before and during World War II. Lowry has combined stories from the 1940s with present day thoughts on memory loss in seniors. There are also two young boys who provide both comic relief and a glance into life on the spectrum. This will be a great addition to school libraries. It would be a great summer reading choice for a middle schooler and a wonderful read aloud for an upper elementary library or classroom. I thank NetGalley and Harper Collins Children’s books for the opportunity to read this ARC. It was thoroughly enjoyable and I highly recommend it to children, parents, and grandparents alike.

Another heartwarming book by Lowry, we find Sophie, 11, trying to figure out how she can keep her best friend also named Sophie, 88, from leaving when she finds out Sophie’s son wants her to move to Akron to be near him. Sophie decides to ask Sophie questions she finds in a Merck Manual that one asks if they suspect dementia. As she asks Sophie questions, Sophie hears about the older woman’s past dealing with wartime and remembers “learning from each other is one of the most important parts of friendship.” Does Sophie end up staying?

Tree. Table. Book. Three simple words, or so they seem. In this lovely story, Ms Lowry brings to life both Sophie, the elementary school girl and Sophie her friend who is considerably older. I loved that young Sophie had older Sophie as her best friend. As a child, I had much older friends also. Now as an adult, I have friends of all ages, young and old. This book teaches the value of friends who are "different" in some way.

The characters came alive for me in the story to the point that I may have shed a few tears. But don't think that this means it has a sad ending. It doesn't have a sad ending. I just get emotional because I become one with the protagonist while I am reading. The ending is one that is inevitable, but it teaches us about life and acceptance of changes in our lives.

This is a book that I would have loved in middle school as much as I love it now. Ms. Lowry ranks with some of the finest writers of books for this age group. However, older readers will enjoy it also.

Thanks to NetGalley, Lois Lowry, and Harper Collins Children's Books for the opportunity to read and review this book.