The Crow Tree

The Crow Tree is the first in the Magical Midland Forest series of contemporary novels for young adult readers.It's set in a mysterious forest with talking animals and a secret passage to another time and in a tense and fractured American town next door.The story is told by a ninth grader named Marcus. He and his marching band friends usually stay to themselves. But with loggers clear-cutting the forest, Marcus is losing his only place of refuge from his parents' divorce and his struggles at school. Now a new virus has appeared, and the few Black students at Midland High are being blamed for it. Marcus and his friends join forces with a pair of talking crows and a stranger from another time to try to save their friends, the forest, and the school.A kind of cross between Stand by Me (Stephen King) and Lord of the Flies, this coming-of-age novel is set against life in America today--bullying, racial tensions, rising heat, and polarized adults--seen through the eyes of our young narrator.

-- Alan Kramer