The Waiting Tree

Gr 9 Up—For Simon Peters, growing up in Waynesboro, Louisiana, has been difficult at best. Last year, shortly after his parents died in an auto accident, Simon's boyfriend's father caught them together and shipped Stephen off to a Christian conversion therapy center. Simon drops out of high school to care for his mute twin brother, Jude, and gets a night job at the local supercenter to support what remains of his family. He lives with Jude and his other two brothers: Paul, a religious bully who may be a drug dealer, and Luke, who just wants to escape to college. After his attempts to contact Stephen fail, his friend Tina offers to take him to the conversion center to see Stephen. After the trip, Simon is more convinced than ever that they are meant to be together. But when he gets fired from the Stop 'n' Save, Luke reveals that he is going to college in Baton Rouge in the fall and Paul announces that he is getting married, Simon sees the door to his future with Stephen slamming shut. Then suddenly, Jude, in an act of unselfish brotherly love, purposefully gets caught with cocaine, which may or may not be Paul's, and is sent to a group home in Oklahoma, freeing Simon from any responsibility. Homeless and unburdened, Simon sets out to get Stephen and begin their lives together. A promising idea, but clichéd characters and a muddled ending spoil the novel's effectiveness.—Betty S. Evans, Missouri State University, Springfield