A delightful, warm and moving story from Children’s Book Council of Australia (CBCA) Victorian vice president and beloved author of All the Little Tricky Things, Karys McEwen brings us, The Paperbark Tree Committee.
Twelve-year-old Art and his younger brother Hilary are great friends, best friends. When they move to Melbourne from a small town in Queensland things seem to be easy for Hilary, who is still in primary school.
However Art struggles to fit in at high school, and he’s become a target for school bully Jack. His dad is too busy to give him much attention, but Art has his stepmum, Sally, who is always ready to listen.
And there’s the paperbark tree. Art and Hilary climb into its branches and hold a secret meeting whenever they need to sort things out.
The only problem is Art’s not sure he still wants to be part of the paperbark tree committee. He’s getting older and he thinks he needs to solve his problems on his own.
The Paperbark Tree Committee is a heartfelt story about growing up and leaving childhood behind; it’s about family and being a good brother, fitting in and finding friends, and about making mistakes and learning from them.
Karys McEwen is a school librarian, bookseller, vice president of the Victorian branch of the Children’s Book Council of Australia, and education advisor for the Melbourne Writers Festival. She is passionate about the role libraries and books can play in the wellbeing of young people, and she writes the substack I Read A Lot.
The Paperbark Tree Committee is published by text publishing and is available from all good book retailers including QBD Books.
Image: The Paperbark Tree Committee – courtesy of text publishing