This was darling. The first half of the book was typical middle-grade, quirky characters, a bit of humor, some great inner monalogue moments. The second half had my heart. Just like the characters understood, some things can’t be taught in the history books. 5⭐️

Lois Lowry is a wonderful writer. She is a great storyteller and I find her books pull you right in from the opening pages. But, equally true, she often pushes the envelope (IMO). As a middle school language arts teacher, I absolutely loved Number the Stars and taught that for many years. However,I steered away from teaching The Giver because it was so controversial, although I enjoyed reading the book myself. I feel Tree Table Book falls into the same category. The story is beautiful and shows a deep connection between the two Sophies. I felt that young Sophie was a conundrum in that she seemed to be older in some ways than her years. Thank you for the opportunity to read another Lois Lowry book, always a thought provoking writer.

Lois Lowry’s latest novel “Tree.Table.Book” is an exploration of story and memory. The Sophies are best of friends. One is eleven and the other is in her 80s. The elder Sophie sometimes struggles with day to day tasks of late, but has vivid memories of her childhood in Poland. The younger Sophie, armed with a Merck manual, checks the elder’s memory with a series of tests and learns about the past in a way she never thought possible.

“Tree.Table.Book.” is told through the younger Sophie’s point of view. She is spunky, sassy, and fiercely protective of her best friend. She learns important lessons about growing up and the importance of story in learning about history.

This book is great for Lois Lowry fans and those who enjoy exploring the deeper issues of life. “Tree.Table.Book” may be a good choice for adolescents who are learning to cope with a family member who has dementia.

This story is both uplifting and heartbreaking, but well worth the read.

I received an advance review copy for free from NetGalley and HarperCollins Children’s Books, and I am leaving this review voluntarily.

Beautifully written book. It touches on alzeimers and kindness that are both needed information in today's world.

Ever since I was a child and read Gathering Blue, I have been a huge fan of Lois Lowry. She has been for many years my favorite author. Leading me to have high hope for this book, as well as a new excitement to see that Lois Lowry was still writing.

However, wven though I still have very high thoughts about Lois Lowry as a writer, this was not what I was expecting from her. Honestly, the book did not seem as if she was the one who wrote it. The writing style was so different from her other books, and was very much unexpected to me. And I believe this book would be better categorized as a short story, rather than a book, as there is no true depth to the story.

Even though it is not what I expected, and I was disappointed that it did not meet my expectations, I felt that the story itself was good and interesting. It just was not what I had been excited for. As mentioned above, this would be a great shorty story, but I would not categorize it as anything else. It was a quick read, and overall a good story.

I voluntarily read and reviewed an advance copy of this book provided by the publisher via NetGalley. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

For more reviews and discussions, listen to my podcast The Honest Book Reviewers with Nate and Emma.

https://open.spotify.com/show/3H3ugH4xlzvjMXuUo1Lyvh?si=ewdzfkUnSVKyDmAvHMHIPQ

Tree. Table. Book. by Lois Lowry (Clarion, 2024) features the friendship between two Sophies: one who is eleven and the other is 88. With a unique and memorable narrator, Lowry’s deceptively short newest offering touches on deep issues such as aging, childhood experience, and the formation of memories. In fact, there was so much in it that I really wished Sophie-the-younger’s journey was stretched out a bit longer to let me see more of the friendship and Sophie’s understanding of memories that matter.

Our narrator, the younger Sophie, is a spunky girl with confidence, sure that she not only can tell this story but also that she can solve the issue. She’s smart. How can you not love a girl who begins like this?

“You know what? It’s not that hard to write a story. You need all the obvious stuff: characters, setting, plot details (what happened, why it happened, what’s going to happen next) and, of course, an ending. That’s it, pretty much. . . . “

In the subsequent story, she tells of her desperation to prove her older friend’s competence by helping her with a memory test. The result is not quite what she expected. I thought, as reader, that I knew what the result would be, that the old woman’s dementia will be made plain. I felt sad, even from the beginning, that Sophie will eventually realize her friend’s issue too. But the book instead plays with the entire concept of memory.

The title refers to the three items that Sophie is trying to help the elderly woman remember. In a dementia test, the subject is given three random items and must recall them five minutes later. To help her, Sophie asks her friend to think of a story to go around each item, so she can remember it later. The girl must only have been surprised to hear the old woman’s responses, which are fully fleshed out stories from her childhood in Poland. Each of the three stories the old woman shares (tree, table, and book) is remembered with setting, people, and emotion. Poland remains within the old woman’s mind as if it were just the other day.

These stories were the most touching part of the book, as I, along with young Sophie, learned about the old woman’s childhood as Shlomit. The action in the modern day (Sophie talking with her friend Ralphie, the phone calls she overhears, etc.) are just side notes to these three memories. As the adult reader surely realizes, these memories are related to events happening before World War II, and Shlomit was a Jewish girl in Poland, one who survived to be 88 in the modern day.

I wanted so much more from this book. I wanted to know more about their friendship. But I also wanted to know more about the elderly sophie’s life, and how she had survived to be where she was. That said, I was pleased to see that our young Sophie didn’t get everything she wanted. She was a quite outspoken person. Her character gave the book the sincerity that it so needed for such a story. Maybe the fact that she did not get what she wanted should be an example to me in my wanting of more from the book. The book makes the reader consider what memory is. What are the things to remember, and are the little things really worth remembering?

As a teacher (a writing teacher!) I was fascinated with the writer’s cues throughout the book. Ideas on finding ideas (think about the day that was different), ideas on what a story needs (see the quote above), and examples of an amazing narrator. Lowry’s newest novel is a fantastic sample of writing, in addition to being an emotional treat.

I voluntarily read and reviewed an advance review copy of this book provided by the publisher via NetGalley. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

No matter how long I go without reading a LL book, picking one up and reading feels like coming home. Whatever topic she takes on, she is unflinching and honest, yet no matter the topic she always ends with hope. What's not to love about this book? Old MC (a personal favorite), young MC (always fun), friendships, family, heartache - and as I said, hope. I love that when LL writes for middle graders, she doesn't "write down" to them. Both her writing and her middle grade characters are sharp, inquisitive and funny. This book seems it could be an excellent tool to introduce children to dementia - something you'd hope to never have to do, but oh so many will experience it in family members or friends.

Many thanks to NetGalley, Harper Collins and Clarion Books for the advanced copy in exchange for my honest review, and thanks always to Lois Lowry for presenting serious subject matter in a way that children can understand with honesty and empathy.

I read this book cover to cover in one sitting. Sophie’s voice drew me in immediately. She’s chatty and clever, and I loved the connection she shared with the other Sophie. Her neighborhood was also really neat, with families that had close connections and looked out for one another.

Sophie’s desire to prove that her friend is not unwell drives the story forward. She looks up information about cognitive testing and then proceeds to try to walk her friend through the questions in the test. As she does this, she begins to see her friend in a new way, and her friend shares stories with her about her childhood in Poland.

I was a little older than Sophie when my grandmother was diagnosed with an aggressive form of dementia. It happened so quickly that I missed those beginning days, and by the time I understood what was happening, it was too late for her to tell me the stories she still needed to share.

Reading about Sophie having those moments and sharing those memories brought me back to those early days of my grandmother’s illness and made me wonder what stories she would have told me about her childhood.

Sophie learns a lot about how to support a friend gracefully and what it means to work to stay connected. Her family also supports her connection with her friend, and I loved that, too.

This is a bittersweet story about the power of intergenerational friendships and the importance of passing stories from one generation to the next. I loved it.

Lois Lowry has done it again! The author of The Giver and Number the Stars has gifted us with another beautiful novel for the middle grades audience.

In Tree. Table. Book., we get to know the story about a unique friendship between a young girl and her elderly neighbor, the two Sophies. This is an emotional story told through the eyes of young Sophie who has just learned that her best friend may be placed in a specialized care facility soon.

While this book is written for younger readers, I truly enjoyed reading it as an adult.
4.5 stars, rounded up.

Thank you NetGalley and HarperCollins Children's Books for allowing me early access to the ARC ebook edition of this book in exchange for my honest opinion.

4.5 stars

This was a heartwarming book, and it's one that will stick with me. It's a story of an unlikely friendship, which isn't something I often see in books. The relationship shows that friendship goes beyond one's age. One of the Sophie's is an elderly lady who is showing signs of dementia, and the other is eleven. The characters are so well drawn and realistic that you can't help but root for things to work out for the best. I loved how Lowry took the opportunity to introduce children to characters with neurodiversities, the realities associated with dementia, and the truth about what Jewish people in Europe experienced during WWII. This book can definitely be used in a classroom or for further discussion with children. I hope this book find its place into public libraries and school libraries around the world.

Lois Lowry once again demonstrates her skill as a storyteller in "Tree. Table. Book." The protagonist, 11-year-old Sophie, finds an unlikely friend in her elderly neighbor, also named Sophie, who is 88 years old. Lowry's characters are richly developed, and while the narrative delves into poignant topics such as the Holocaust and dementia, it also carries themes of hope and resilience. This book would make a valuable addition to the shelves of upper elementary or middle school libraries, offering young readers a moving yet uplifting exploration of friendship and the human experience.

Tree. Table. Book. unfolds from young Sophie’s point of view. And it does so in a rambling, sort of stream-of-consciousness way that will speak to author Lois Lowry’s audience. In fact, Lowry clearly knows her audience and writes directly to them. And she tackles a hard topic in a way that doesn’t diminish its seriousness or ignore readers’ intelligence. It’s the mark of an excellent writer, and Lowry is one.

Young Sophie’s voice is clear from the start. She’s that quirky type of kid we all know that does things her own way, doesn’t quite fit in with the other kids and is OK with it. She’s a vibrant character who readers will immediately like.

The relationship between the two Sophies is tender. Many readers will equate the relationship to their own with a grandparent. And many will also recognize cognitive decline and the effect it has on everyone.

At its heart, Tree. Table. Book. is a book about friendship. It’s a wonderful read that would be an excellent choice for families to read together when facing similar circumstances.

I was 17 when my grandmother was diagnosed with Alzheimer's [and 18 when her sister was diagnosed with Dementia] and it completely changed all of our lives. I remember coming home from my seven months in Brazil and finding her so dramatically changed that it was frightening [and I was 20 years old]; she had forgotten how to play the piano, something she had done since she was a child and I remember going home and crying over this loss - both for her and for all of us that loved to hear her play. She knew none of us when she died and I will always remember just how difficult that was for my Mom and my Aunt as they navigated caring for her and then the grief of her passing.

My Dad died in 2016 and within a year of that, I noticed my Mom was struggling with remembering things and how it seemed to get worse, taper off, then get worse again. She had to take the tests that Sophie in the book has to take and she also did not do well. For about 4 years, we had my great-nieces with us almost every weekend and for several weeks in the summer and it was so good for her. They were 13, 10, and 7 the last time we saw them and they absolutely knew what was going on and dealing with her forgetfulness, helping her and being little bugs of encouragement was something they did every time they were here. To those who are saying this was not how middle-graders would act or that this was "too much" for most middle-graders, are not giving them enough credit. Even our precious seven year old knew what was happening and was old enough to understand; I think that this book is perfect for middle-graders and for kids below and above; especially if they have someone in their lives that is currently dealing with this horrible disease.

Today, as I was reading this, my Mom is having a very bad day. It ebbs and flows, but as of late, it is mostly bad days. I never thought I would have to deal with this twice in my lifetime and I will admit it is overwhelming at times. I understand how young Sophie struggles with the idea of her friend going away [to assisted living] because I often think about that myself. I am glad she was able to see just how important it was for older Sophie to be safe and that she needed more care, even if it was difficult to let this beloved friend go.

This book made me cry; actually I cried through most of it. I didn't really know what this book was about when I requested it [Lois Lowry is a HUGE favorite and I just requested without seeing what it was about] and so I was surprised when the book started to learn it was about what I deal with every single day. And so I cried. I cried for the characters in the book. I cried for my Mom. I cried for those who know and love my Mom. And I cried for myself. And then I dried my tears and went and did what needed to be done for the day.

I think this book will really help people who have loved ones who are struggling with Alzheimer's, Dementia or ANY kind of debilitating illness. It is a reminder to love, and love deeply. Listen to the stories because they are important and when the loved ones are gone, you will be the only one to continue the sharing of the stories [there are SO MANY THINGS I wish I had asked my grandmother]. And I think it will help people remember that patience is the best tool to have in these cases, along with love.

Thank you to NetGalley, Lois Lowry, and HarperCollins Children's Books/Clarion Books for providing this ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Sophie and Sophie are neighbors who do not let an age gap deter their friendship. Lowry weaves a tale of compassion and kindness tackling memory issues in a way that kids will understand.

Thank you to #NetGalley, Lois Lowry and the publisher of the book for the eARC copy in exchange for an honest review.

When I saw Lois Lowry had a new book out, I knew I had to read it! Tree. Table. Book. tells the tale of two Sophies, one young and one old. Soon though, the old Sophie is not as sharp as she should be and her son is ready to bring her home. Young Sophie works hard to bring her memories back so she can stay. What memories will Young Sophie bring up and will Old Sophie be able to remember them?

A sweet tale that shoes friendship has no age and the a wonderful story for kids to hopefully better understand what Alzheimer's is like.

This book was both heartwarming and heartbreaking at the same time. The two Sophias make a lasting connection as one tries desperately to help the other. Dealing with an issue that lots of young people have had to deal with this book will truly connect readers to the characters.

Lois Lowry's newest book takes us deep into the friendship between two Sophies... one an eleven year old little girl, and the other, her elderly neighbor who knows so much about the world. These two Sophies are best friends and the younger adores her mentor. Until one day, eleven year old Sophie overhears a conversation about her neighbor loosing some of her memory and needing to go live with her son. So she takes it upon herself to coach the elderly Sophie in order that she may pass the cognition test and stay in her home. Throughout the book, young Sophie comes to know more about her friend's past including stories of war, hunger, and family.

This middle grade book goes where most will not. Tree.Table.Book is a heart-felt story of love, loss, and aging. It takes a very difficult topic and presents it in such a way that it's real, but not overwhelming. It's also an incredible story of friendship across the generations, reminding all of us that there's much to be learned from the elderly. This book is sad, and hopeful... filled with compassion and caring... and ultimately acceptance by both parties.

And while I'd love to whole heartedly recommend it, there were two instances that parents should be aware of. One, eleven year old Sophie makes a reference to a game that she plays with elderly Sophie mentioning that "we even have a same-sex couple" and she goes on to describe them. Later, she uses the phrase "D*** it all!" Neither detail added anything to furthering the story and didn't feel like something that was necessary in middle grade fiction.

This is one of those books that I would hesitantly recommend. Ages 8-12 seems too young, but maybe a middle school audience would be more suitable for the topic. Or Tree.Table.Book could be used as a read aloud with discussion. The topic is sweet and relevant, but may be too much for younger audiences to fully comprehend.

*Disclaimer: I received a free copy of this book from the publisher. All opinions are my own.

Another wonderful book by Lowry! This book explores the friendship between Sophie and Sophie--one finding her way in school and the beginning of her life and one facing the challenges of leaving her life. The stories they share and the lessons they learn are powerful. This is a must-have for any classroom or child's library.

Many, many thanks to NetGalley and Harper Collins Clarion Books for gifting me a digital ARC of the new book by an icon, Lois Lowry, author of The Giver and many more. All opinions expressed in this review are my own - 5 shining stars!

Sophie doesn't quite fit in with the other girls in her elementary glass, but her one favorite place is spending time with her elderly neighbor, another Sophie. But lately, the elder Sophie is demonstrating some memory issues, and young Sophie overhears her parents talk about her son coming to take her for an evaluation with a possible move to an assisted living facility. Young Sophie is determined to not let that happen. She studies the cognitive tests that Sophie will likely be faced with, and starts practicing with her. The one she struggles most with is remembering three words for a given amount of time - young Sophie uses Tree, Table, Book. But those three simple words open up stories for both Sophies.

Oh my goodness, this book is beyond wonderful. So many of us can relate to young Sophie - just not quite fitting in with the others, preferring to read instead of play. And we can all relate to watching elderly people struggle with the effects of aging. This book, in Lowry's trademark beautiful writing, gently shows us the value of friendship, of pausing and listening to the stories others have to share. This is an absolute must read for all ages - highly recommended!

Lois Lowry is known for putting real life issues into a wonderful storyline. Her newest book, Tree. Table. Book., lives up to that reputation. In an interview about the upcoming book, she notes how often she writes about the relationship between the elderly and the young. This book explores that connection with the rapport between two Sophies, one who has just turned eleven and her best friend who is eighty-eight.
The first and primary life issue can be guessed early by any reader with experience in tests for dementia. The first chapter has four sentences and three words – House. Umbrella. Apple. – with the admonition to remember the words. The second life issue is the common one of not being accepted into the middle school “in” group that feeds her friendship with her neighbor Ralphie and their other friendship with seven-year-old Oliver whose description places him on the autism spectrum and adds the third issue of acceptance of people who may be different.
Lois nails the voice of an eleven-year-old nerd in great humor as young Sophie gives writing advice and vocabulary understanding. She also creates a sympathetic character as the young Sophie is in denial and seeking unrealistic fixes to the problems that the elder Sophie faces in the early stages of dementia.
This book will be an enjoyable read for anyone who is middle grade and up. It will be particularly appropriate for those dealing with a loved one who has dementia, perhaps as a family read-aloud with discussion to follow. I read it in an advance reading copy (twice!). It is out today, April 23, and is available in the usual places.