Stand Tall

At six feet, three and a half inches, Tree has no problem with tallness. He does however, have many others to deal with. Stand Tall is a novel by Newbery Honor author Joan Bauer. The protagonist of the story, is a boy called Tree.

Tree is the tallest seventh grade boy in the history of Eleanor Roosevelt Middle School, tallest kid anyone in his town has ever seen, and with a title like that, it automatically makes him a freak. Tree has never really fit in anywhere, even though that is the one thing he would like to do. He fails on his basketball team, despite his height; unlike his older brothers Larry and Curtis who carried their teams to multiple victories.

He can't fit in at home anymore. His parents waited until Larry moved out and joined Curtis at college to drop the bomb: They were getting divorced. Now Tree has to deal with the constantly changing schedules his mother prints up for him that says where he is living each week, two very different parents, two dogs, two brothers, and to make everything almost as bad as it can get, his grandpa.

Tree's grandpa, a Vietnam war veteran, has just had part of his leg amputated and now has to learn to walk again with Tree's help. Another thing to make Tree's life a bit more... interesting, is the fact that he has also managed to make friends with the new girl in school, Sophie, an eccentric, outspoken 8th grader.

With the help of Sophie and Grandpa, Tree eventually learns that it is alright to stand tall and be himself... Even if he happens to be a giant 7th grader who is terrible at basketball.