The Tree of Bells [Hardcover]

Jean Thesman (Author)

Book Description

Age Level: 10 and up | Grade Level: 5 and up

In this delightful sequel to The Ornament Tree, Bonnie leaves for college, but before she leaves she urges Clare to keep her dangerous secret from the loving, unconventional family who lives in the big, old Seattle boarding house. But Bonnie's secret is not all that concerns Clare. While letters bring word of her cousin's determined pursuit of a medical career, Clare wonders about her own future. She does not have Bonnie's fierce ambition, and she is unsure of what she wants for herself. She is in love with a man she believes loves someone else, and it often seems that everyone takes her for granted. But when Clare finds an abused child and his dog, their perilous world shows her where she is needed, and a mysterious young man shows her where she is wanted.

Editorial Reviews

From School Library Journal

Grade 7-9-Readers of Thesman's The Ornament Tree (Houghton, 1996) will enjoy catching up with the happenings at the slightly down-at-the-heels yet genteel boarding house in Seattle during the 1920s. Clare, the 16-year-old granddaughter of the proprietor, is left behind when her cousin Bonnie returns to college. Sworn to secrecy about Bonnie's plans to do medical missionary work in China in order to help her gain entry into medical school, Clare wonders why she has no desire for the adventurous life her cousin has chosen. Meanwhile, Clare is attracted to a blind, cynical young man who seems to view her as a child. Then the Ornament Tree, on which the family members have been placing notes containing their wishes, is felled by a storm. Although it is soon replaced by a tree upon which bells are hung along with hopes, things take a turn for the worse. A boy the family had rescued from a bad situation runs away to rejoin his abusive father; Clare's best friend contemplates leaving town rather than being forced into marriage; and word arrives that Bonnie has been seriously wounded in China. Although Thesman's rather repetitive message is that education and self-sufficiency are the best remedies for social ills, she structures Clare to be a more traditional, home-loving female than Bonnie. While the plot lacks the punch and pace of the previous book, fans of the characters will probably be interested in learning more about them.
Cindy Darling Codell, Clark Middle School, Winchester, KY
Copyright 1999 Reed Business Information, Inc.

From Booklist

Very much a sequel to The Ornament Tree (1996), this starts off slowly as we get reacquainted with the family of strong Deveraux women and their boarding-house guests in Seattle in the 1920s. Bonnie is now off on a dangerous trip to China before starting medical school, and the viewpoint has shifted to her quiet, younger cousin, Claire, who at 16 decides that she doesn't want far-off adventure and a blazing career but rather independence and self-sufficiency at home. Through Claire's eyes, we see the attraction of her lively, politically active community, led by her "ferocious" women relatives who fight injustice and help the poor, and who do it with style. No one is idealized, neither the women nor those they help, including a small boy and his dog, who find shelter in the boarding house. Best of all is the half-reluctant romance that grows between Claire and one of the guests, a warm, cranky, partially blinded World War I veteran who loves her. Hazel Rochman

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Reading level: Ages 10 and up
  
• Hardcover: 240 pages
• Publisher: Houghton Mifflin Books for Children; First Edition edition (April 26, 1999)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0395905109
• ISBN-13: 978-0395905104
• Product Dimensions: 8.6 x 5.8 x 0.9 inches
• Shipping Weight: 15.5 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (2 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #926,863 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Discover books, learn about writers, read author blogs, and more.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars really really good, April 24, 2000

By A Customer

This review is from: The Tree of Bells (Hardcover)

This was a great sequel to The Ornement Tree. It was one of the best books I have ever read. I Loveeeeeeeee how the end turns out.I definetly think the author should write a third one!

1 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Not the perfect sequel, July 14, 2001

By 

"ceraeno" (Florida, United States) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Tree of Bells (Hardcover)

Tree of Bells isn't exactly the sequel to The Ornament Tree I wanted. First, I didn't like it that this story revolved around Claire, a character I didn't like in the original book. Then Bonnie was totally written out by sending her first to college, then to China? Now, the story would have been a great one if Bonnie had SOME part in the story, but she didn't. I also was a little upset that Mr. Younger forgot all about Bonnie and went after Claire. All in all, this was a good book, but not a good sequel.