Stand Tall [Hardcover]

Joan Bauer (Author), Ron McLarty (Narrator)

Product Details

• Hardcover: 192 pages
• Publisher: Listening Library (January 2006)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0307246647
• ISBN-13: 978-0307246646
• Average Customer Review: 4.3 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (25 customer reviews)

More About the Author

"I had moved from journalism to screenwriting when one of the biggest challenges of my life occurred. I was in a serious auto accident which injured my neck and back severely and required neurosurgery. It was a long road back to wholeness, but during that time I wrote Squashed, my first young adult novel. The humor in that story kept me going. Over the years, I have come to understand how deeply I need to laugh. It's like oxygen to me. My best times as a writer are when I'm working on a book and laughing while I'm writing. Then I know I've got something." Joan's first novel, Squashed, won the Delacorte Prize for a First Young Adult Novel. Five novels for young adult readers have followed: Thwonk, Sticks, Rules of the Road (LA Times Book Prize and Golden Kite), Backwater and Hope was Here (Newbery Honor Medal). Joan lives in Darien, CT with her husband and daughter.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

14 of 14 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A book for today's turbulent times., October 27, 2002

By 

Traci D. Haley (Prineville, OR USA) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Stand Tall (Hardcover)

Tree earned his nickname because he is tall and solid, like a Tree - he's 12 years old, 6'3" and still growing. However, life in Tree's world isn't so solid these days. His parents have divorced and his beloved grandfather - a Vietnam vet - just had his leg amputated. Tree compares his life to a war, but finds a way to work through his problems with advice from his grandpa and help from his new friend, a quirky girl named Sophie.

Joan Bauer is a perennial favorite of mine and is always guaranteed to make me think. This novel, which talks both about everyday life and war, is quite timely considering the turmoil our country is in. The one passage that struck me the most is this one:

"I think important things are worth fighting for, but there's nothing glorious about battle, nothing cool about holding a gun. It's scary and lonely and too many people die young. Never be a person who wants war - hate it with everything you've got. But if you've got to fight to protect people, try to do your job the best you know how. Protecting people is the only reason to ever fight."

Those words were spoken by Tree's grandfather, and it summed up my feelings about war perfectly - sometimes necessary, but *never* good. Food for thought. All in all, Stand Tall is a wonderful book that tackles real life problems and offers real life solutions. For young readers that are confused about what to feel these days, Stand Tall would be a perfect book for them to read - perhaps they will find some of the answers they were looking for.

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Review by Mirit, January 4, 2007

By 

C. Staff "and the Readers" - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Stand Tall (Paperback)

Stand tall! Standing tall is a metaphor for sticking up for yourself and not letting things such as words hurt you. This book Stand Tall has an amazing message. It shows what happens when people are self-conscious. Then at the same time it shows how the area that you're self-conscious about is a positive feature. It also shows that if you let words or actions get to you then you'll never be happy.

I think that the author, Joan Bauer, really captures the character, Tree, Because she seemed very connected to him. Tree was a seventh grader that had some height self-conscious issues. He also had many other issues to deal with during the duration of this book. He seems to not have many friends too. The good things about this book are that Joan was able to have several conflicts going with Tree, but keep them all under control. When he went through very hard times such as when his grandpa needed help with his leg he seemed to struggle until he met a girl named Sophie who seemed to know how to help. She was a strong character that knew what sticking up was all about. Sophie also went through tough times, but had already learned about letting things get to you and how that can really mess up your life. She helped Tree understand that no ones life is perfect and that there are hard times, amazing times, okay times, and many others.

This book has good quality writing for a teenage book. This book is easy to read because it's about a teenager so it doesn't use complicated words. The good part about that is that you get to focus a lot on the story. Stand Tall is not a slow reader. It seems very climactic so that you want to keep reading it. Almost every chapter something happens that changes Tree's life in a way. An example of that is when a natural disaster occurs and he has a lot of changes to adapt to.

This book is an amazing book and I recommend it to teenagers that need help overcoming self-consciousness and family issues. It helps you get an idea that you're not the only one going through those tough times. It makes people realize that people do care about others and that if you are self-conscious than you should start look at the good things about that area instead of being pessimistic.

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A STORY OF HOPE AND ACCEPTANCE, July 9, 2003

By 

Gail Cooke (TX, USA) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Stand Tall (Audio Cassette)

Young people like to fit in. They're often confident if they are like their peers; they hate to stand out in a crowd. It's difficult not to stand out in any crowd when you're 12-years-old and stand 6 feet three inches tall. Plus, you're still growing.

And, wouldn't you know? The rangy young fellow has a nickname because of his height - he's called Tree. He's heard all the jokes about being tall; he's heard most of them more than once. Unlike his brothers Tree doesn't excel at athletics even though everyone seems to expect him to be a basketball player.

Being taller than everyone else is enough of a problem, but there's another one - Tree's parents were recently divorced so he must divide his time between his mom's new house and his old home where his father and grandfather live.

His granddad, a Vietnam war vet, has a great deal to teach Tree about life and courage. Due to an old war wound Granddad has just had part of a leg amputated, yet he never stops encouraging Tree to accept life as it comes and encouraging him to be the best that he can be.

Veteran voice performer Ron Mclarty brings a keen understanding to his reading of this story of hope and acceptance.

- Gail Cooke