The Secrets of Tree Taylor by Dandi Daley Mackall (review)

It’s 1963, and thirteen-year-old Tree Taylor wants to be a writer; she has a book of inspirational quotations, and she’s determined to write something that will earn her a spot on her school newspaper. When she hears a shot near her home, though, and her doctor father runs to the neighbor’s house in his robe and slippers, she’s more afraid for his safety than she is interested in getting the story. When she follows him, she sees things that don’t quite jibe with the official story and her interest is piqued. As her investigation progresses, she learns that seeking the truth puts her in a position of great responsibility, especially in a small town where everyone has secrets, and those secrets require wisdom and compassionate handling. This is effective both as a period piece and a coming-of-age story, and the 1963 setting allows readers an opportunity to enter a world of party lines, family drive-ins, small-town doctoring, and a wholly different attitude toward privacy and journalistic ethics. Tree’s close friendship with an older boy doesn’t cause anyone undue concern; indeed, intergenerational friendships are natural and encouraged, and Tree’s fully functional family works through their conflicts with mutual respect for one another’s boundaries and roles. Certainly not all is sweetness and light in this small town as Tree learns about submarine races, infidelity, and domestic abuse, but one of Tree’s quotations, “To observe people in conflict is a necessary part of a child’s education,” seems to reflect the philosophy of her father as a character and Mackall as an author; the induction into adult concerns here is both gentle and wise.