cover image The Chinquapin Tree

The Chinquapin Tree

Jerry Kimble Holcomb. Marshall Cavendish Children's Books, $14.95 (189pp) ISBN 978-0-7614-5028-3

Holcomb's poignant debut novel is a survival story out of the Boxcar Children genre, but with a sad modern twist--it's their own mother from whom the children hide. Rather than let Children's Services rip them away from a stable foster family and return them to their abusive parent, Jessie Cloud and her younger sister and brother run away, up the Oregon coast. Struggling through tide pools, up cliffs and over sand dunes, they seek refuge under a giant chinquapin tree, Jessie's secret hiding place. At first, the gutsy heroine shoulders the responsibility for the survival of her weak, asthmatic sister and her silly little brother. But weathering the crisis teaches resourcefulness to all three, as supplies run low and they must forage for fruits, oysters, fish and berries. Jesse may liken their situation to that of hermit crabs (""like us, always living in somebody else's house""), but with new emotional maturity, the trio begins to move from a position of powerlessness to one of inner strength. Though some may find the book borders on the Pollyanna side, the direct, appealing plot line, a tangy Oregon seashore setting and a proper focus on child--not adult--points of view more than compensate. Holcombe's ending is fittingly nebulous, but her clear message--that the three siblings will survive no matter what--will be inspirational to readers. Ages 8-12. (Apr.)