{Synopsis} – “When Stanley Stanwright finds a bone poking out of the earth in his back garden, he is determined to take a picture of it and send it to the Young Discoverer’s Competition, thinking it will help bring his dad back home. But the bone begins to grow, reaching up out of the ground until it turns into a skeleton – a skeleton with an unusual interest in his unwell younger sister Miren.
As time wears on, Miren’s condition worsens, and the only time she is truly at peace is when she is playing with the skeleton. But Stanley is wary of him, especially when he finally manages to get a picture, and spots a scythe at the skeleton’s feet. . .
A whimsical, heartfelt story about a boy who finds a friend in Death with the help of an unusual tree growing in his back garden. With black line illustrations throughout by Victoria Assanelli.”
{My thoughts} – This book isn’t at all what I’d imagined. Instead it was so much more. It truly pulled at my heart strings. It made me feel happy, excited, sad and so much more.
Stanley is your average boy with a desire to play video games and the eagerness to help bring his sad back home. He has a little sister named Miren that is always sick. And a skeleton that apparently grew in his back yard.
It appears that only those with a true imagination can see the skeleton. Miren ends up becoming close friends with him and he helps her to feel better when she feels at her worst.
Stanley thinks he needs to protect her from the skeleton but eventually realizes it’s a good thing. It helps her to feel good when she’d otherwise feel really bad.
The book doesn’t say exactly what causes Miren to be sick, only that it has to do with her lungs. Eventually, she becomes so sick she passes.
I reccomend this book for any child that is sick and having a rough time. I think it could also benefit other family members and or friends in their tome of needing support and understanding of the situation in which their loved one is going though.
{Quotes I Enjoyed} –
{01} – Seven-year-olds get a lot of things wrong. Like how Miren told him cows pee milk, and playing video games can make your fingers fall off. Stanly wondered if he’d said dumb things like that was seven.
{02} – “Take some advice from an old woman. Live the life you have, because one day. Poof!You won’t have it anymore.”
Final Conclusion: 5 Star Rating.
