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A review by tinyautomaton
If a Tree Falls at Lunch Period by Gennifer Choldenko
5.0
I wasn't sure I was going to like this book so much, but it totally captured me, resulting in me staying up later than I should've because I had to read more.
One thing I really like about this book is that the author lets the little moments be. There are many times in the book where a character will do or say something that strikes you hard and leaves an imprint, but they aren't persued to death, which I found really nice.
The characters in this book are very well done. I actually got REALLY annoyed at Kirsten's mom whenever she did anything - I really couldn't stand her. And Brianna was just...oh my GOD, I couldn't stand her either. And I was so disappointed thay Rory didn't do anything, and I have to say, I don't think much of her either. This is a sign of a good writer, that her characters seem so real.
I think the tree in this book represents their family and how it was hurt and then managed to find a way to get better.
The title is very powerfull for me. I took it to mean two main things, but of course there are other interpretations.
What the title means to me:
a) The first is representing Kirsten and Walk's family, and how it seemed to fall and crash and what they do about it. Lunch period would kinda represent any normal time of day. Or it could specifically be their lunch period because many of the interactions that led up to the fall were during lunch period.
b) The second is more general. This book deals with screwed up "friendships" and racism and not feeling smart enough and family problems and people looking dumb on the outside when they're not on the inside and you name it, really. In some of the instances during lunch, and everywhere else as well, it seemed like nobody noticed the injustice and (here would be a nice place for a word that meant outrageous wrong stuff that sounded far more eloquent). It seemed to me that those moments were saying, "If a tree falls during lunch period...nobody's gonna notice." That's rather depressing, but that's how I took it. That the title was saying that moments like the ones in this book happen everywhere everyday, and they should be as obvious as a tree falling down right in the middle of things, but nobody seems to notice or care. Kinda like the elephant in the room or something.
So, this may be a book geared towards kids, but it's very powerfull and could speak to everyone.
Good day to you.
One thing I really like about this book is that the author lets the little moments be. There are many times in the book where a character will do or say something that strikes you hard and leaves an imprint, but they aren't persued to death, which I found really nice.
The characters in this book are very well done. I actually got REALLY annoyed at Kirsten's mom whenever she did anything - I really couldn't stand her. And Brianna was just...oh my GOD, I couldn't stand her either. And I was so disappointed thay Rory didn't do anything, and I have to say, I don't think much of her either. This is a sign of a good writer, that her characters seem so real.
I think the tree in this book represents their family and how it was hurt and then managed to find a way to get better.
The title is very powerfull for me. I took it to mean two main things, but of course there are other interpretations.
What the title means to me:
a) The first is representing Kirsten and Walk's family, and how it seemed to fall and crash and what they do about it. Lunch period would kinda represent any normal time of day. Or it could specifically be their lunch period because many of the interactions that led up to the fall were during lunch period.
b) The second is more general. This book deals with screwed up "friendships" and racism and not feeling smart enough and family problems and people looking dumb on the outside when they're not on the inside and you name it, really. In some of the instances during lunch, and everywhere else as well, it seemed like nobody noticed the injustice and (here would be a nice place for a word that meant outrageous wrong stuff that sounded far more eloquent). It seemed to me that those moments were saying, "If a tree falls during lunch period...nobody's gonna notice." That's rather depressing, but that's how I took it. That the title was saying that moments like the ones in this book happen everywhere everyday, and they should be as obvious as a tree falling down right in the middle of things, but nobody seems to notice or care. Kinda like the elephant in the room or something.
So, this may be a book geared towards kids, but it's very powerfull and could speak to everyone.
Good day to you.