The Great Treehouse War, written by Lisa Graff, is a light-hearted approach to a difficult topic that alters children’s lives, namely divorce. It all starts when Winnie, a 5th grader, finds herself in the middle of her divorced parents’ battle of one-up-manship. She is pushed to the end of her patience and decides to do something drastic. This leads to Winnie finding that she is the center of a national media story, stemming from the fact that her and a few friends have locked themselves in her treehouse and the parents subsequently laying siege to the said treehouse. Luckily the treehouse is well equipped and spacious. It all ends with a memoir being written by the kids (which is their attempt to make up the missed home work/school time and which the reader is actually holding in their hands), with humorous side ‘sticky notes’ throughout the novel. This memoir explains how the whole Treehouse War was resolved, as well as giving insight to what each of the kids learned.

The Great Treehouse War is a delightful novel that would appeal to any middle grader, but especially one that has been affected by divorce. Lisa Graff has a way of crafting a story that takes something serious and turns it around with a different perspective, all while making the reader laugh and think.

Review of an Advance Uncorrected Galley

This book was sent to Compass Book Ratings for review by Philomel

Check out the other books by Lisa Graff:

A Clatter of Jars,  A Tangle of Knots,  Absolutely Almost

Content Analysis:

Profanity/Language:None 

Violence/Gore:  One child breaks their arm in a fall.

Sex/Nudity:  None

Mature Subject Matter:

Divorce.

Alcohol / Drug Use:

None