effective, as it allows us to see how she feels about her family and her life. One particularly revealing scene is when she hands Miss Pricherd the list of chores. We see Trees struggle to demonstrate her maturity and her power. It is thus fitting that we see her world through her eyes, as her emotional growth is the focus of this novel.PERSONAL RESPONSE: Initially, this novel attracted me because of the presence of the ghost. However, what I ultimately found most intriguing was not Brothers ghostly visits but rather Trees struggle to take care of herself and her brother, her feelings towards her mother, and her attempts to make sense of her life after Dabs death. In fact, despite the effectiveness of the ghost in revealing Trees past to her, I do not like this tactic. The text is very realisticharsh issues are dealt with honestlyand I found myself being pulled out of the narrative at the mention of the ghost. It simply did not seem to fit....
