From School Library Journal
Grade 4-7–During the summer between fifth and sixth grades, Sabrina hears a voice coming from her town's 275-year-old balm of Gilead tree and believes it to be the ghost that supposedly haunts it. As she and her three friends become involved in learning about the landmark tree and about the girl who died when she fell from it in 1932, they decide to have a "sockathon" to raise money for a brace to save the dying tree from being cut down. A stormy climax leads to an unexpected conclusion, and the girls' activism has unexpected rewards. Delaney has created an appealing cast of characters, both children and adults. Short chapters, using the girls' names for headings, move the story along quickly, and there's enough action and suspense to catch readers' attention from the first page, a flashback to Eliza's fall.
Sockathon uses a group of friends and their growth as the basis for what will surely be a popular summer read.
–Beth L. Meister, Yeshiva of Central Queens, Flushing, NY Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.
Gr. 3-5. Best friends Sabrina, Megan, Connie, and Daisy are looking forward to a relaxing summer until Sabrina is contacted by the ghost of Eliza Baker, who died 70 years earlier after falling from a 275-year-old balm of Gilead tree located on the village green. When the girls learn that the diseased tree is scheduled for demolition, they decide to collect socks to raise money to purchase a tree brace. With each girl telling part of the story in alternating chapters, Delaney develops some interesting characters: Sabrina, whose perfectionist mother makes her feel less than worthy; Megan, who thinks the whole project is crazy, possibly because she has never heard the ghost; Connie, who finds herself easily intimidated--even by little old ladies; and Daisy, who conceives the whole wild sockathon idea. The ending depends rather heavily on coincidence, but this is a pleasant read for children looking for a not-too-scary ghost story.
Kay WeismanCopyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved
