A Good Day for Climbing Trees

April 2, 2018
This humorous South African import offers a warm look at middle grade activism. Marnus, the 13-year-old narrator, is the forgotten, unremarkable brother sandwiched between two stars—the Adonis-like 15-year-old Donovan and the entrepreneurially gifted nine-year-old Adrian (who rents Donovan out to neighborhood girls for kissing lessons). “Marnus-in-the-middle,” Marnus laments. “Sometimes it felt like I was invisible.” However, when a “weird” girl named Leila comes to Marnus’s door with a petition to save a tree, he breaks character and follows her to the park to see it, then joins her up in the branches to protest and save the tree from municipal managers and bulldozers. A comic cast champions their cause, including a pink-haired town eccentric named Mrs. Merriman who brings food and drink; a gruff caretaker who allows Marnus and Leila to use the club’s restrooms; and Leila’s quiet mother. While it stretches belief that Marnus’s litigator mother allows him to stay in the tree, Jacobs authentically sketches the main characters’ deeper motivations—especially Leila’s reaction to her parents’ divorce. Ultimately, Jacobs delivers a kind and uplifting novel about two characters taking a stand. Ages 9–12.

May 1, 2018
Grades 4-7 Being conned by his two siblings is nothing new for 13-year-old Marnus. What should be a fun summer break feels more like work, since Marnus' crafty little brother, Adrian, and popular older brother, Donovan, have arranged for Marnus to do all their chores in addition to his own. But things change when Leila, 13, comes to the door with her petition to save a tree. Marnus accompanies her to the park, and, before he fully realizes what's happening, they are sitting in the tree to protect it from being felled. Most of this novel takes place during their three days in the tree, incorporating their social interactions with the city crew trying to cut down the tree, with their parents, and with a variety of other townsfolk. Marnus harbors uncertainties about Leila's cause, but, as he shares their experiences, readers see that he has learned how to stand up for himself. Written by beloved South African children's author Jacobs, this thoughtful story offers a positive portrait of personal growth and activism. This translation uses British idioms and phrases.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2018, American Library Association.)